House of No Trumps

Now I don't know if you're bridge players or not, but appreciation of my cunning play on words here relies on knowing that 'no trumps' is a suit in the card game called bridge -- odd name for a card game, but never mind. It also relies on knowledge of the last name of the current Republican candidate for president of the US (he who shall not be named), as well as the name of the 2013 Netflix TV series 'House of Cards' .

To explain why I bothered with this tortured play on words, I will say that having come to 'House of Cards' late and just finished season two in which Kevin Spacey becomes president, a season that aired in early 2014, I have decided that what with the timing being about right and the candidate who shall not be named having a penchant for TV -- and a profound lack of his own ideas -- it is more than likely that he got the idea to run for president himself from Kevin Spacey. Stranger things have happened, especially in America.

It makes perfect sense, really. Hollywood seems to have a much better grasp on reality than what passes for the 'real world' of American life and politics. So why wouldn't Americans take their cues about how to act from Hollywood? I know I do.

Kevin Spacey has a lot to answer for

Still, I would recommend 'House of Cards', if only to get an insight into what the 'real' world Republican candidate, who shall not be named, is going to do next.

Not having finished all four seasons, and I believe there is a fifth in the making due out in 2017, after the 'real' world election, I can't tell you what ultimately happens to Spacey. But if the producers are paying attention, and, like many Americans, DON'T want that candidate who shall not be named to win, they will bring the release date of the fifth season forward to before the election and ensure that Spacey comes to fitting end. Perhaps he could throw himself off of a tall building with his name on it. Or, he could get stuck climbing a very high wall, crying out: 'I'm stuck! I'm stuck!', with no one, on either side, willing to rescue him.

No trumps is a hard suit to play, but played right, there are the most points to be gained.