CNN is carrying a headline story right now about how the political center is the new “place to be.” The photo accompanying the story has a blue circle and a red circle, and where they overlap is the purple political center.
All very well and good, but oddly, they have the red circle on the left, and the blue circle on the right.
Peculiar juxtaposition, I thought.
It seems sensible enough to me. Red (socialism - left) and blue (conservatism - right).
Interesting take. Hadn’t thought about that. But really, isn’t the red=Commie thing a bit more archaic and less likely to be used nowadays to denote liberalism in the US than the current red state/blue state meme?
Damn that liberal media! Don’t forget that CNN is controlled by the Secret Order of the Phoenicians, who have been involved in a secret war with the Freemasons for thousands of years now, and it was the SOotP that let “slip” Columbia was travlling 18 times the speed of light when she broke up (thus, trying to signal the rest of the world that the Freemasons have access to alien technology).
Obviously, this bizarre use of red and blue (which, as every American knows, has been a symbol for how the states voted in the last Presidential election, with red being Republican and blue being Democrat) is to indicate to us that both parties are being controlled by the same secret Masonic cabal! Prepare yourselves for some bad shit to be coming our way soon. Obviously, the SOotP is planning to take things to the next level, with us being the pawns in the middle! :eek:
In the US these days, red is associated with conservatives and Republicans, blue with liberals and Democrats. It hasn’t always been that way, but it’s that way now. States that regularly vote Republican are called red states, Democratic states are blue. Since right = Republican = red, it’s odd to put the red circle on the left.
I wonder if Time deliberately put red on the left side because we read from left to right, and red is the more eye-catching color - especially compared to that light shade of blue. On the left side of the cover, it’s in a prime position to grab the eye of the person going down the magazine rack.
It kinda depends on how you look at it. I see red located “stage right”–ie, to the right of a performer looking out from the cover (stage). It works for me.
Maybe this is just me being weird, but when I visualize the American political spectrum as a line, I picture “the right” being located to the left and vice versa. I usually don’t think anything of it.
Perhaps whoever designed the cover graphic is an aviation or nautical buff and asked themselves “Is there any red port left?”
I’ll shut up now.
I’m guessing the graphics person did it that way because he or she thought the cover would work better.
On a news-stand, the magazines are often arranged so that the left 2 inches or so is all that shows. The red will stand out and draw the eye. Strictly a design decision, and a correct one at that.
Don’t blame me: I voted for Jahbulon!
I never thought about it, but I do that too. Weird!
It took me a moment to get it but that gave me the first good chuckle of the day.
Me three! I wonder what’s behind it? <darts eyes>
My understanding is that the red=Republican and blue=Democrat representation only dates from the 2000 election. Prior to that, there was no consistent scheme. Wikipedia even mentions the sea of blue from the 1984 election, showing all of the states that voted for Reagan.
Actually, before 2000, blue was used to denote the incumbent, and red the challenger.
Time magazine purports to be an international publication. Perhaps it was using the colours that most countries would recognise as broadly left and right wing.
I do that too. I think it’s because I read left to right, so I associate movement to the right with going forward and therefore with liberalism. 
The Illuminati.
And thus, the conspiracy deepens!