Editor:

Perhaps Ms. Lummis would be kind enough to let us "transplants" know where to find this coveted list of rural Wyoming values so that we can study hard and be lucky enough to have them "integrated into their psyche, into their soul," (Cynthia Lummis quoted in the Aug. 21 Casper Star Tribune).

Everyone reading this letter knows someone, or might even be related to someone who was not born and raised in Wyoming and probably calls them friend or even family.

Everyone reading this knows someone who serves on a board or commission, or volunteers in their church, volunteer fire department, or any other organization in their community who was not born in Wyoming and admires their involvement.

Everyone reading this enjoys the variety of entertainment opportunities, festivals, music, food, and art brought to us in large part by the good folks who were not born and raised in Wyoming.

And the common thread with all of these good people who were not born and raised in Wyoming is that they chose to live here and have assimilated into the culture of Wyoming, even though they didn't have access to Ms. Lummis' list of rural Wyoming values.

An interesting statistic would be how many people "raised on the coasts or in dense urban areas" who transplanted to Wyoming by choice have served in elected office as town or city council members, mayors, county commissioners, state legislators, or as members of Congress like John Barrasso, as Gary Trauner so adeptly pointed out.

And dare we not forget Ms. Lummis' mentor, who she is obviously trying hard to emulate, Barbara Cubin, is from California. I didn't know that having the highest absentee record of any sitting member of Congress was a rural Wyoming value. But then I haven't seen that list either.

Regardless of your political stripes, anyone who is not born and raised in this great state and lives here by choice should be appalled that a person seeking the position of Wyoming's lone Representative in Washington does not appreciate or condone your values because they are not those secretive values that are only attained if you are born here.

What's next? Can we expect Ms. Lummis to slap someone in a wheelchair if they ask a hard question? Do we really need a narrow minded Cubin clone representing us?

TIM GAUGHAN, Kemmerer