Eugene weekly., October 21, 2010, Page 4, Image 4

letters
TO THE EDITOR
IN MEMORY OF
KEVIN DOUGHERTY
It doesn’t seem possible that almost a
year has passed since I was told the shocking
news about Kevin. It is still so fresh in
my mind. I’ve heard and read about
parents losing a child through
war, accident, drugs or illness.
I have always felt a certain
amount of sympathy for
them. I never realized the
extent of their pain until I
experienced this myself.
A child is a being
who formed slowly
inside you and then
with the help of God
breathed life. When you
lose this child you also lose
a part of yourself.
I was comforted by the
accolades paid to Kevin by
people who knew and loved
him in his adult life. They
knew him better perhaps than
his parents or siblings as he
moved a great distance while
still quite young. He made
infrequent trips back home. I’m
happy and comforted that over
the past few years these visits
were more often and longer and
we got to know and love him and
his children deeply.
We are told life goes on, and
so it must, but you realize it will
never happen for this child you
love. The pain in me is so deep
it will never go away, but I’m
grateful to God for allowing me
to experience a mother’s love.
Frances Dougherty
Inwood, N.Y.
EDITOR’S NOTE: An informal gathering
of Kevin Dougherty’s friends and
coworkers is planned from 4 to 6 pm
Thursday, Oct. 21, at the EW offices,
1251 Lincoln St.
4 OCTOBER 21, 2010
EUGENE WEEKLY
REBUILD, NOT WRECK
Wouldn’t it be nice if candidates for
public offi ce were to offer-up honest,
truthfully and commonsense solutions to
some of society’s most vexing problems,
rather than just practicing the politics of
social destruction?
Wouldn’t it be great if instead of
promoting the use of a wrecking ball
in the junk yard of social, economic
and governmental disarray, candidates
would roll up their sleeves and roll out
a plan to rebuild and restore our society
to its highest and greatest potential? As
Abraham Lincoln said, “Any mule can
kick down a shed, but it takes a real
carpenter to build one.”
Wouldn’t it be grand if we could
get past the jackass politics of personal
destruction, and work together to fi nd
honest solutions to real problems?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to start
rebuilding our society, using virtue, truth,
honesty and hard work?
Please vote for those candidates who
are willing to build us up rather than
just continue tearing us down. Let’s stop
kicking down the shed, for a “real” new
direction.
Bill Fleenor
West Lane County Commissioner
CORPORATE TOOLS
I was not surprised to see that the
“alternative” weekly in Eugene suggested
(10/14) voting straight down the Democratic
ticket, given that they posted a frightening
image of Republican domination on the
cover. The other reason I was not surprised
was the failure of EW to contact me for an
interview despite the fact that I am on the
ballot as the Progressive Party candidate
for the U.S. Senate.
Perhaps if your readers knew that there
was a real alternative to Demican and
Republicrat corporatists in the Senate, they
would ignore the self-fulfi lling fallacy that
voting for a third party is “wasting” your
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