Incredible Diminishing Readership

I am compelled to write. I get the angle. I come upstairs. The light goes on. I type in the light. All of a sudden something exists that didn't exist before.The writing isn't seeking readers but the writer is surprised by the ongoing reduction of readership. Sometimes I think, well maybe I'm wating my time when I write. Pretty sure my wife feels the same way based on her level of support.

Then the angle, then the climb, then the light, then the typing, then the existence.

Don't think it's gonna stop and it's only getting better.

I felt so privileged to get the angle on my last piece. Check it out. Can't remember the title but it's got an image of five cards and the words Gonna Pass On Clubs. It's worth a read.

Oh Hell, here it is

All About Trump

In many card games, trump is a critical factor. The player who calls trump has an advantage because they are setting the hierarchy of the hand to be played. The four trump possibilities in alphabetical order are clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. In pinnochle the trump's power is in reverse alphabetical order which means that an equal bid in spades is stronger than a bid in clubs which is the weakest of the four suits.

In euchre, the jack of trump is the most powerful card….the second most powerful card is the jack of the same color as the jack of trump. For example, if spades becomes trump then the jack of spades is the most powerful card and the jack of clubs is the second most powerful cards. The non-trump cards range in power from Ace (strongest) to nine (weakest).

Trump, in euchre is determined by bidding. Each player looks at the hand they were dealt and picks the suit that is strongest in potential trump. At the conclusion of the deal, the top remaining card is turned over. If that card is a diamond, for example…each player has the option of determining trump by ordering the dealer to pick up that top card. Picking up the top card makes diamonds trump. The dealer adds the top card to his hand and the game begins.

Every time that a player prefers something other than diamonds to be trump, that player passes. If all three non-dealers pass, the dealer has the option of picking the top card up or passing. If the dealer passes then the first person clockwise to the dealer has the choice of naming trump. The person who makes trump, along with the help of his partner is required to take three of the five tricks to earn a point. If that player and his partner win all five tricks, they earn two points. If they fail to win three tricks, they are euchred. They simply did not do what they said they could do. Their opponents get two points. The euchred team also has a mark placed against them. The game is played until one team scores ten points. If the game is for a dollar a point and the score is 10-6…..the winning team wins four bucks plus another buck for every mark against the losing team.

As the game is played, each player must follow suit. If a heart is led then a heart must be played. A player may trump that heart if they have no hearts in their hand. If a player has a heart in hand and plays trump, this is called a renege. A renege is a mark against the reneger and also gives two points to the team renegged upon.

In political terms in America, bidding can be seen as an election. Whoever wins the election has the power of determining trump. In our most recent presidential election, the winner was Trump. Trump gets to call trump on every hand for the next four years.

The possible trump cards which Trump can make trump are clubs , diamonds, hearts, and spades.

Clubs have these basic metaphoric elements; war, partisanship, weapons, nationalism

Diamonds have these money, taxes, economy, tariff

Hearts have these…. peace, negotiation, inclusion, social services

Spades….infrastructure, legislation, exclusion, law and order

Trump used a combination of these suits to win the power to make trump. Since Trump has so many Trump/trump cards in his hand, he follows suit less then any other player.

Nobody knows what the hell he’s going to do next.

Trump, via social media, deals out more hands than any other President ever and he alternates trump at a furious rate.

This game will continue for at least two more years unless a) Trump reneges egregiously (alienating his base by not doing what he promised he would do or disobeying the constitution) b) is caught crossboarding which means using illegal signals to gain an unfair advantage c) stacks the deck.

The game has never had a player like Trump before.

A renege or a crossboard is not a factor unless the player gets caught. The media is the den of watch dogs who watch each other watch the game and pretend not to be playing.

The stakes are high.

The Cards are on (or under) the table

We're all in the game

 

 

Comments

well maybe I'm wa[s]ting my time when I write. hard to trump that. but we all try. 

 

You're one of the folks who make it seem worthwhile

 

'it is the business of writers to create as true a voice as they can - if only to show themselves it can be done, and in the hope someoe out there is listening.' Al Alavez