Your Turn: McNoPoly

I'd just like to know where it's written a convention is supposed to completely reset the political narrative?

After the Palin tsunami and Cindy's Minneapolis snow job, it seems all that's left off the "elitism counter-offensive" and the Cindy (and John) Show is this delicious piece of back-on-track New Yorker satire.

There are some great touches here.  Knock yourselves out.

(illustration: "McNoPoly " by Mark Ulriksen. The New Yorker.  September 8, 2008)

Comments

[Alex Blaze]

I particularly like the fact that the rules of Monopoly are ignored to make a checkers-like game where the foreclosures, etc., are close while the hotels and money are towards McCain.

But the obvious features - that McCain is Richie Rich and his wife's a snob - are great.

Big question: will this get as much play as the Obama-as-Osama caricature did? I'm guessing no.

[Karen]

Fun cover. Not as heavy handed as the Obama cover, but love Cindy and the look on McCain's faced in this. You could find that her disdain is aimed at him....Does anyone think the banister is comprised of letters? AB? Anheuser Busch (sorry for the spelling)?

[steve]

Monopoly is a long boring game that few like to play because of the time taken to do so.

Perfect comparison of this campaign!

The little boy blue pants on McCain are still making me laugh. It's also great how the artist put all the foreclosures/absence o' cash on our side of the board. We are obviously losing this game to McCain, he has all the cash we have the debt ... wait that's just like real life – all the financial hardship is on the American people while the leaders bathe in wealth.

Are those white shoes after Labor Day? He could be kicked out of the golf club with crazy anti-social behavior like that.
Good God, what was the NY'er thinking? White shoes after Labor Day ... it's beyond offensive.
; )

[roschelle]

funny..but still not as incendiary as the Obama/militant cover a few weeks back. The "maverick" is looking more and more like a sidekick...merely going along with the powers that be...he says and does whatever he thinks his champions want to hear. Just like calling lobbyists 'birds of prey' which is a total contradiction to what his true ties with these unnecessary evils in Washington are.

[Geoff]

Notice also what Mama is carrying on her tray as she emerges from behind the golden staircase: a couple more hotels for little Johnny to play with.

[Books Alive]

Gee, even a two-olive martini!

[bystander]

Personally, I love the short pants.

[shannza]

Cindy McCain, relegated to the background, provides for the man-child while he gets the glory. That's about right.

[voodooKing]

i was reading cindy as carrying john's testicles around on a platter!

[nimda]

shannza - My thoughts exactly.

[Phil Sheehan]

Johnny M looks an awful lot like Bob Novak here.

[ratfood]

FYI, Steve and bystander, the blue shorts are in reference to comic book character Richie Rich.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2158/2506805871_5a46539fd1_o.jpg

[jean]

Karen, I was trying to get OB out of the bannister, but AB is much more apropos.

[black dog barking]

Monopoly is a long boring game that few like to play because of the time taken to do so.

True enough, Steve, at least the way *we* play the game. Here is a minority opinion:

"It amazes us that Monopoly is thought of as a long game. It is possible to play to a complete, absolute, and final conclusion in less than 15 minutes, all within the rules as written. My opponent and I have done so thousands of times."

— The Search For Marvin Gardens, John McPhee

The McCain variant, marrying an heiress, is open to those of us with a true gift for bullshit. That little Johnny should then succeed in politics is completely unsurprising. Far easier to bullshit an electorate than those cranky Navy jets that kept crashing on him.

The red things that look like Monopoly hotels are family mansions if one agrees with the count of the Obama campaign. Looks like Mama's packing a little surprise for Johnny for his next move. Sucks to be me.

[zatopa]

This board has no need for a "community chest."

[reallyoldman]

Intentional or not, this is the logical next step in the virile-ification of McCain's image, the subliminal sexualization of the campaign. At the convention he's surrounded by arm(ed)-candy veep, trophy wife and sexually active teens. Now, he's back at home, sated, relaxed, ready to play the game.

Next cover should be McCain as Hef.

[3O3]

Although the Obama cover WAS satire, sadly, this cover IS reality.

[Megan]

I thought Ms. McCain looked like the serpent, bearing apples. But I don't see how that would apply.

[LizDexic]

That video...jeez...was PAINFUL to watch. I think I'll go gouge my eyes out.

[Porlock Hussein Junior]

Not nearly enough hyper-interpretation here for my taste.

Has no one noticed that a Monopoly(R) board has only 2 purple properties? Baltic and Mediterranean, duh. The next thing, the one marked For Sale here, is -- ready for this? -- Income Tax.

[zzyzx]

This cover seems like so last week. Cindy in the background as all good republican wives must be, with her pearls and plate of food. John-Boy is on the floor playing, not yet in diapers. But he looks like the cat that ate the canary while playing with the economy. Shouldn't that be a look of boredom? He has said he isn't interested in the economy. Shouldn't he be playing with tanks and airplanes to have that grin on his face? Or is he just thinking of (the absent) Sarah?

Cindy may be in the background, but her stance indicates a self-satisfaction in knowing who has the money=power and who has international gravitas (by dint of her world-wide charity works) and who is playing with toys.

I've never played Monopoly (in my youth it was the Oil Derrick Game), which I believe was used by parents to keep children quiet for the evening before the saturation of television. So what are those little red packages on McCain's side? They look like the same things on Cindy's tray.

[Jawn]

LizDexic, the property marked for sale is Virginia Ave... Duh, indeed...

[14All]

Is it just me or do those legs and shorts give a feminine impression at first glance? What about his pose? Where's Palin?

[theWalrus]

I laughed when I got this issue in the mail. McCain as a spoiled little brat? Cute. I still think the Obama terrorist/fist-bump cover was perniciously inappropriate (and the reason I will not be renewing my subscription).

[theWalrus]

Had the cover shown McCain playing with Bush and Cheney on either side it would have had more bite.

[lawrence]

Where are his property cards? Typical of a guy who doesn't know how many homes he's got.

[Kris T]

The real caricature is the smug expression. McCain has nothing to be smug about.

[donna]

I'm rather starting to enjoy the Bull**** Moose Party.....

All this needs is Palin coming down the stairs lugging her dead moose....

[Neal Deesit]

Does anyone think the banister is comprised of letters? AB? Anheuser Busch (sorry for the spelling)?

...I was trying to get OB out of the bannister, but AB is much more apropos.

Every house that Johnnie McNopoly III (or Cindy, or a "family corporation") owns was acquired with Cindy's inherited Budweiser distributorship money. Appropriately, the balusters supporting the hand rails on the golden staircase incorporate the "Budweiser B", which sometimes appears http://flickr.com/photos/jdelmore/2552588159/>under a crown, to remind us that it's "The King of Beers."

[Neal]

7 houses on his side of the board--or is it 9? Only Cindy knows.

Cindy, in the background, there to serve the manc-child.

McCain--infantile, smug, maverick in tie only.