Your Turn: Those Cards At The Economist

Between the faces, suits, colors, ordering, layering, orientation, scale, movement, background ... even the playing card analogy itself (gaming, betting, house of cards, 52 pick up) -- I hardly know where to start.

Your thoughts?

Up in the air (Economist)

(photo illustration: unattributed. Jan 12th 2008. Economist.com)

Comments

[mcc]

even the playing card analogy itself (gaming, betting, house of cards, 52 pick up)

The first thing I thought of when I saw the cards was that old deck of "most wanted" cards that the army was distributing in 2003 with pictures of the agents of Saddam's regime, where you were supposed to X off each as they were captured or killed. And the parody, that "crooked card deck" you find in lefty bookstores, with members of the Bush Administration on each card and Xes for the members who have resigned or been convicted of something.

And then of course the header at Time's Swampland news blog, where for the last week the header has been a collage of the faces of all the candidates, each of them being doggedly Xed out as one by one they drop out.

[Arctic]

I noticed the two biggest wildcards, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, aren't on the cover.

[Nelson]

Am I the only one that thought of the gender/race cards after seeing this cover? Of course, that really doesn't apply to all the other candidates placed below Clinton and Obama...

[Shane]

It could well be...as if we needed it...just another gentle reminder that the deck is stacked.

[lytom]

All smiling faces face up.
Face up the reality, that there is no other candidate that has a chance. No Green Party, no one else...That is the democracy.
Two parties and much the same, same deck.

[Aunt Deb]

Hasn't Edwards actually gotten more votes than any of the Republican candidates? Yet he's last. And smallest.

And yes, I thought of the 'most wanted' deck of cards, too. There's the nursery ryhme connection,too. The knave of hearts, he stole those tarts, and took them clean away.

[PwapVt]

At least they were clever enough not to pick the queen of hearts for Hillary. I can see the wingnuts, well the older ones, making her out to be the Manchurian candidates.

[The BAG]

Hillary trumping Obama?

[Rafael]

The Economist betting on the Democrats?

[Dale]

I agree with Rafael; it does seem like a pretty obvious case of the Economist "betting on" the Dems for '08. Though they hedged their bets by making McCain the King, not Obama -- even if Barack is given pride of place next to Clinton.

This could prove to be prophetic, as there seems to be an enormous discrepancy between the degree of enthusiasm for McCain felt by press and by the public. If Chris Matthews and his ilk can't help but swoon over the manly manliness of McCain, the public as a whole has seemed underwhelmed, at least until recently -- and at least until the media narrative begins to artificially inflate McCain's on-the-ground campaign narrative.

[Megan]

They gave up trying to figure it out and tossed the cards up in the air.

[woid]

At least they were clever enough not to pick the queen of hearts for Hillary. I can see the wingnuts, well the older ones, making her out to be the Manchurian candidates.

Ah, but it isn't the Queen of Hearts that triggers Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate.

It's the Queen of Diamonds.

The card they DID pick for Hillary.

(Who, with her short haircut, bears a certain resemblence to Angela Lansbury in the film.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchurian_Candidate

[MonsieurGonzo]

YouTube => James Gang: The Bomber :

“ I don't mind the games you play / but I don't like your dealin' ”

fwiw, McCain / New Hampshire i see as a political rebuke 'statement' by core blueblood Republicans to the RNC powerbase = BushCo candidate, Romney ~ whom the party will eventually ram through as the nominee, imho ~ Michigan & South Carolina being a firewall to stop McCain. The party knows it must coalesce quickly because their real challenge is to defeat Huckabee, who threatens to entirely transform the Republicans into a kind of ‘Christian Democratic Party’ in all but name : CHANGE = GOP -to- CDP ...is the last thing they want... iow, even if they lose the Presidency ~ by whatever candidate / means, if the GOP defeat the Fundamentalists: it will be a victory for ‘The Grand Old Party’.

If, in a weird sense, the Republicans are running for The Party, and corporate preservation ~ the Democrats are realistically running for The Presidency, and majority legislative power.

Edwards has, while few of us have been paying close attention, quietly gone quite mad: He is The ANGRY MAN; as-cast in the rôle of trial attorney: it's Us -versus Them! ...as some-of-us advocate he fails to become sum-of-us Presidential candidate.

That distinction belongs to ‘Obama!’ ...i can never resist the exclamation :)

for he exists, imho ~ not as A Man, but l'idée of this man; a cause célèbre... the Movement. CHANGE beckons some of us and frightens others; CHANGE may unite Red & Blue, but it is also divisive : known & new. He persists so long as WE fill in the blank=unknown character / future with our own ideals : Obama!, the man = movement must remain existential, thus.

Clinton (to call the candidate "Hillary" is to accept their talking point FRAME; ie., to deny the baggage of "Clinton" = Bubba, ugh: been there, done been dealt that, oui?) defeats Obama! by, imho ~ not running against him! = our non-party dealt / non-partisan idealism, after all.

fwiw, were i to advise Clinton i would say to her, “First, run against Romney. Get up in the morning and pound away at him like a punching bag ~ he's an empty suit; this entirely malleable silk sack of sand that the Republicans are obliged to hang there for you to just wail away, so have at it. Second, take away Dubya's crown, now...

...e.g., issue timely = news cycle hubris, really, "presidential proclamations" : such as Obama (responding to the crisis in Kenya, a brilliant stroke), and Clinton (announcing a 'fiscal stimulus package' in the same news cycle day as DOW down -250 and Bernanke & Paulson talking, "OMG, Recession!").”

“Force Obama to emerge from Obama!, Mrs. Clinton: the worst thing you / your surrogates could do now is to "go negative" on Obama! = our hearts' hopes. Rather, make him, the man run against you ~ before that existential idealism of Obama! the Movement = all our hearts gets yet another opportunity to overwhelm you, the Queen of Spades.”

[Peter G.]

Hmm. No joker. Ron Paul should be there too. If only for comic effect.

[TLE]

The thing I noticed first is that the Republicans are all on aces and kings; the Democratic candidates are on cards that all rank lower in most games. I also noticed John Edwards down in the corner as an afterthought, the only non-ace/face card. And that the Republicans are on cards with black suits, (spades is considered the strongest ranked suit), while the Dems are on cards with red suits (reminder to older folks of the political association the color red held for much of the last century?)

[Bluegrass Poet]

MonsieurGonzo! I love it.

[slouching towards paranoia]

Noticing the background: Playing cards = Nevada?

[RMT]

woid's onto something.

If the Manchurian Candidate link holds, then who will be triggered by the card? Bloomberg?

As for reading cards (for what it's worth):

This card will always represent a female in readings. In terms of the Diamonds queen, see her as rather independent, a good money-manager and generally quite disciplined in nature. She has a head for business and a strong creative streak that enables her to make money everywhere she goes. Negative traits include a demanding, domineering personality and a significant detachment emotionally in her relationships with others."

Ace of Spades: When the Apex or point of the Spade points up in the reading it means a conclusion, an ending. Considered the Death Card, meaning the death of circumstances, not people, 90% of the time. Remember, with death, there is always a new beginning. Death in reading cards is a door offering a new beginning. 2) Apex pointing down: The card is telling you about someone or something at a distance, not in this location, usually quite far away.

Jack of Hearts: Represents a male, usually with green eyes and dark blond to auborn hair, who is either young in age or young in maturity (as of "the spirit").

Suit of Clubs Personality Traits: Inventive, creative, visionary, altruistic.
King: Represents a male who is older in age or "spirit with brown hair and hazel eyes.
Ace: Indicates communication: phone calls, letters, online interraction. It is also a neutral card.

Suit of Diamonds Personality Traits: Materialistic, money-minded, on the "egotistical" side, aloof, difficult to know. In certain respects, these individuals enjoy being in the limelight. They are often great performers, business owners, investment brokers/bankers, tax consultants or real estate collectors.

http://newage.suite101.com/article.cfm/perceiving_the_suit_of_diamonds

[bg]

And not to forget Dylan:
Backstage the girls were playin' five-card stud by the stairs,
Lily had two queens, she was hopin' for a third to match her pair.
Outside the streets were fillin' up, the window was open wide,
A gentle breeze was blowin', you could feel it from inside.
Lily called another bet and drew up the Jack of Hearts.

Big Jim was no one's fool, he owned the town's only diamond mine,
He made his usual entrance lookin' so dandy and so fine.
With his bodyguards and silver cane and every hair in place,
He took whatever he wanted to and he laid it all to waste.
But his bodyguards and silver cane were no match for the Jack of Hearts.

Rosemary combed her hair and took a carriage into town,
She slipped in through the side door lookin' like a queen without a crown.
She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his ear,
"Sorry, darlin', that I'm late," but he didn't seem to hear.
He was starin' into space over at the Jack of Hearts.

[The Heretik]

House of Cards? Hillary? Interesting idea. But who are the jokers?

[JBP]

There is also the visual pun of Obama being the left bower.