By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

We are seeing once again the power in a name, and we’re also seeing it isn’t always logical.

Take the discussion in New York about who will be named to replace U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the likely event she is confirmed as U.S. secretary of state. The front-runner is a woman who never has been a political candidate and has few qualifications other than she seems like a nice person: Caroline Ken-nedy, the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy.

If her name were Caroline Schmidlap, do you suppose anybody would give her a second look for the U.S. Senate?

Of course, she would be replacing another whose name — Clinton — helped her get the Senate seat. Could Hillary Clinton ever have been seriously considered a senatorial candidate if her name had been Hillary Murgatroid?

When George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, decided to run for the presidency, his candidacy was greeted by open Republican arms. They remembered his father of the same name. But if George W. Bush had been George W. McGillicuddy, would he ever have been considered seriously as a candidate for either governor of Texas or the presidency?

If John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr., were still alive and had decided he wanted the Senate seat being vacated by Clinton, New York Gov. David Paterson would have personally rolled the red carpet all the way from Albany to Washington, D.C., to make Kennedy’s journey to the Senate easier. Yet, Kennedy wasn’t a politician, and had expressed little interest in becoming one. He was a magazine publisher and socialite.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, who had no qualifications for the Senate when he was elected on the basis of his family connections, will do his best to get his niece chosen, but that shouldn’t take much effort.

All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content some comments may not be published. Please limit your telephone calls to two minutes or less. Repeat telephone messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of comments and space, some comments may not be published.

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“This is my first time to call the Red Line,” began a gentleman. “I live on Mainberry Drive and there is no traffic controls from Sunset (Avenue), southbound, until you get to Third Street. This has turned into a racetrack.”

A young voice said, “all I want for Christmas is to make it mandatory for people to spay and neuter their animals.” She went on to say, “between 400 and 500 animals are killed each year at our own animal shelter. Killed for no reason because people just throw them away. Please you owe it to small animals.” She concluded, “and merry Christmas.”

The same person called again, about the bill “AB 1634” that she supported. She is collecting signatures and asked they “be sent to our local animal shelter.”

A couple of callers responded to last week’s message from a woman who said not to eat vegetables harvested by illegal aliens and not having them clean one’s house. “Lets see where you end up by doing that,” (not eating said vegetables), and “stop hiring them,” said one lady.

A lady, who gave her age as 87, said she was driving on Madera Avenue “on Thursday, Dec. 27, a little after 9:30 this morning” near Almond when she saw “a Sheriff’s office car with two occupants and neither one of them was wearing seat belts.”

She said, “I just don’t think it’s right that a person gets a ticket for not wearing a seat belt, and these people should be looked up to and have their own seat belts on.”

A woman commented that “the Housing Authority needs to check out that things are being done fairly” after someone who “has been waiting for two months was passed over” and their spot possibly given to someone not waiting near as long.

A lady called and said, “I’m a caregiver and use the city’s wonderful Adult Day Care program. Recently they were forced to move to a smaller location. The staff does a great job, but the new place is very small and used by other groups. I hope they find a newer, larger location soon.”

A man had “a question about the free meals that went around in Madera during Christmas time. I think those meals are fantastic for people who are desperately in need.” However his “main concern (is) are these people truly in need?”

He also mentioned, “all those people at Griffin Hall for breakfast every morning. I see them drive away in their cars. I don’t see these people as that needy. I think it’s because it’s a free giveaway.”

A man commented, “another caller said how we can vote for our politicians, but didn’t say how we can vote them out.” He wanted to know the process to do this “before their time (term) is up.”

The same caller also wanted to “thank the people who call the Red Line about certain issues. The Red Line” he said, “gives our (city) council, our police department and people who are in charge of the city, views from the people.”

A man said, “from my family to the Tribune’s a happy New Year. I moved here three years ago and enjoy this truly local paper more than any other. Keep up the good work in 2008.”

A woman “thanked all the people who use their turn signals before they get to the intersection where I am waiting (as a pedestrian) to cross the road.”

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An online visitor who identified himself as Steve M., commented, “When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear.”

Another Internet reader, self-identified as Joe P., wrote, “It’s hard for me to believe that in order to read The Madera Tribune online (subscription version) I have to subscribe. The SF Chronicle is free online, and it’s actually a good newspaper. I can rarely say the same about the Tribune. Perhaps if the articles in the Tribune were of better quality, I would pay to read them.”

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Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24-hours a day by calling 674-4478 or visiting www.MaderaTribuneRedLine.com