This is today’s lead editorial from the New York Times. -efc
THIS IS ONE of those moments in history when it is worth pausing to reflect on the basic facts:
An American with the name Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a white woman and a black man he barely knew, raised by his grandparents far outside the stream of American power and wealth, has been elected the 44th president of the United States.
Showing extraordinary focus and quiet certainty, Mr. Obama swept away one political presumption after another to defeat first Hillary Clinton, who wanted to be president so badly that she lost her bearings, and then John McCain, who forsook his principles for a campaign built on anger and fear.
His triumph was decisive and sweeping, because he saw what is wrong with this country: the utter failure of government to protect its citizens. He offered a government that does not try to solve every problem but will do those things beyond the power of individual citizens: to regulate the economy fairly, keep the air clean and the food safe, ensure that the sick have access to health care, and educate children to compete in a globalized world.
Mr. Obama spoke candidly of the failure of Republican economic policies that promised to lift all Americans but left so many millions far behind. He committed himself to ending a bloody and pointless war. He promised to restore Americans’ civil liberties and their tattered reputation around the world.
With a message of hope and competence, he drew in legions of voters who had been disengaged and voiceless. The scenes Tuesday night of young men and women, black and white, weeping and cheering in Chicago and New York and in Atlanta’s storied Ebenezer Baptist Church were powerful and deeply moving.
Mr. Obama inherits a terrible legacy. The nation is embroiled in two wars — one of necessity in Afghanistan and one of folly in Iraq. Mr. Obama’s challenge will be to manage an orderly withdrawal from Iraq without igniting new conflicts so the Pentagon can focus its resources on the real front in the war on terror, Afghanistan.
The campaign began with the war as its central focus. By Election Day, Americans were deeply anguished about their futures and the government’s failure to prevent an economic collapse fed by greed and an orgy of deregulation. Mr. Obama will have to move quickly to impose control, coherence, transparency and fairness on the Bush administration’s jumbled bailout plan.
His administration will also have to identify all of the ways that Americans’ basic rights and fundamental values have been violated and rein that dark work back in. Climate change is a global threat, and after years of denial and inaction, this country must take the lead on addressing it. The nation must develop new, cleaner energy technologies, to reduce greenhouse gases and its dependence on foreign oil.
Mr. Obama also will have to rally sensible people to come up with immigration reform consistent with the values of a nation built by immigrants and refugees.
There are many other urgent problems that must be addressed. Tens of millions of Americans lack health insurance, including some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens — children of the working poor. Other Americans can barely pay for their insurance or are in danger of losing it along with their jobs. They must be protected.
Mr. Obama will now need the support of all Americans. Mr. McCain made an elegant concession speech Tuesday night in which he called on his followers not just to honor the vote, but to stand behind Mr. Obama. After a nasty, dispiriting campaign, he seemed on that stage to be the senator we long respected for his service to this country and his willingness to compromise.
That is a start. The nation’s many challenges are beyond the reach of any one man, or any one political party.
jinspace:
What an interesting perspective on the Obama win. . .thanks for sharing. Another way we might have “won the war on terror” is that we did not vote our fear of terrorists this time (as the Bush voters did in the past 2 elections), but our hope (and our financial fears).
Will you be returning to the U.S. in the reasonably near future? I found your description of the European attitude toward voting very eye-opening. Sounds like they have become very jaded what with no Obama’s of their own. Maybe that will change and then they will understand. . . or do you think it is too late?
I woke up early Wednesday morning to log on to the election results (I’m in Europe – just couldn’t stay up to watch the returns). I knew, knew, KNEW the NYTimes headline would have just one word – OBAMA – and glorious details of a landslide victory.
What a joy to have participated in effecting such a monumental, positive change. For me, too, the first time in 32 years of voting that I felt so damn good about my vote.
No one I know over here can fully appreciate how extraordinarily proud I – we – feel about what has just happened, nor how much I love my country even when I’m furious with my government. I’ve lived in southern Europe for nearly seven years. People here are well aware that they don’t share our patriotism, or our level of activism. They don’t get that to be angry or dissatisfied with your government is by no means the same thing as hating your country or trying to overthrow it with violence or giving it up to apathy. They’re the first to admit it, too. I’ve spent so much of my time here listening to Europeans complain in vague, uninformed generalities about America and about Bush and assert that we’re entirely responsible for the world’s ills (although I’d be hard pressed to disagree where the Bush admin is concerned), while doing absolutely nothing to improve conditions on their own turf. Nothing. They vote but without any real conviction, saying it’s all a farce because nothing ever changes regardless of who’s in office. And over here that may well be true. In Italy, the only reason voter turnout is always high is because Italian law states that civil servants (who comprise the majority of Italian workers) who don’t vote can be dismissed from their government jobs. And they campaign for their friends, not for a candidates’ platforms or proposals, because there’ll be something in it for them after election day.
For nearly seven years I’ve done my best to keep informed overseas about events at home, reading news and commentary online, writing letters when I felt I had something important enough to say, and signing more petitions that I can begin to remember in support of every worthwhile cause that reaches my inbox. First from a tiny village (pop. 400) in the Italian mountains – it took an hour to reach the nearest internet cafe – and later from my car in Spain, where I waited an entire year for the phone company to get around to installing a phone line in my house and so used to drive around with my laptop, looking for wireless signals. I have yet to meet anyone over here with that level of commitment to any cause whatsoever, let alone to the good of their country. Most of the people I’ve met over here wouldn’t even take the time to read a petition, let alone sign one.
It takes work to live in a democracy, and maturity.
So today I got this e-mail from a friend of mine at CNN:
“A fascinating quote from an Egyptian reacting to Obama’s win:
Saudi journalist Samir Saadi said that Obama’s election means “the U.S. has won the war on terror.”
…”Given Obama’s name, his background, the doubts about his religion, Americans still voted for him and this proved that America is a democracy,” he said. “People here are starting to believe in the U.S. again.”
If only people realized that there are millions of us who never stop doing what we can to uphold our democracy, that we respect our country, even when we’re disgusted with it, who try every day to help improve conditions, not just in election years. And that we know once again what we may have forgotten (justifiably, after two stolen elections) and what many over here don’t believe: that every vote really does count.
My my my what a collage. It even came with cookies. This kind of energy flow has to be able to fuel this country for anything.
When crisis happens, some freeze and freak, some get busy. I usually spin around in circles for awhile until the momentum spins me forward on some course of action. Materially, I am thankful everyday for what I have, which is leading me to use the resources at hand more fully.
I do enjoy the manifestations of positive energies around me. The process of change in itself can become exciting. But sometimes I fall into sorrow for the self imposed suffering I see around me (how judgemental of me). Old programming tells me to pray when I feel that, new programming tells me to send those folks good energy (a horse a piece, where the hell did that come from?).
But a friend and I decided we are no longer praying for the suffering but for the truly empowered strand in people. Putting energy into the black column instead of the red (no pun intended). This is the energy I believe will take us through anything.
Personally, the most difficult thing I deal with is not being done or having resolution: not being this or that. Everything is in process, one long evolutionary process.
So Obama man what’s the plan for our country? We are waiting and watching. Or should we be submitting our concerns? He said he will listen to us.
~Janes…
Fe’s house? I’d say mine, but I’ve got 20 big, strong men up on my roof today, laying the new one down.
Oh well… I plan to carve a cave deeper into the vapor. Will spend the rest of the day writing fifth-world porn, I think.
It would be interesting to see what the history of Grand Park is, just to get the flavor of the site. Anybody know? Janes—your ghost dancer vision is pretty compelling.
Brendan:
I think you, me, and the entire nation were more than aware of the energy of the country and the planet. Its like we were tired of just vocalizing or verbalizing our dismay and disgust. Nothing but action would do now.
Fe:
I can’t explain it, but they were there. And they weren’t the only ones. Watch a tape, you’ll see what I mean, I think. It might help to get a fever first though. It’s going to take me a couple weeks to get words out of…whatever it was.
Gardner:
Drum call is like an internet connection across time and space. It’s good your husband can still do it: if I did it I would probably either dissolve or get brain damage. I think that’s true for most people, I’m really not kidding.
mystes:
Yeah. It would be nice to go somewhere for the weekend to get out of the vapour, but where would we go? It’s everywhere.
~j
Fe – Yes, indeed it was the Repub analyst, (something) Martin who said that (I needed help to remember his name and got it). He was with Harold Ford and they both looked like they’d been talking to Dr. Smirnoff at length already. What was funny was that Martin had a big a** grin on his face the whole time he was discussing McPalin’s downfall. Strange times…
As for functioning, yeah, it all just froze up on me. I can’t define it, I just couldn’t think straight and even think about typing for the whole week prior. I woke at 3:30 on Tuesday, and had to clear my mind for a while (okay, meditate is closest) in order to fall asleep again. It wasn’t easy. Slept like a baby last night (which is rare, ‘cuz that’s almost 50 years ago now!).
Yes, time for the next step indeed. I’ve been feeling that this is the time to re-make our society completely in energy, environment, living standards for all, personal relationships, the whole schmeer. We need to make sure we humans make it beyond the next 50 years. We need to have a sustainable civilization…
What happened on Prop 8? Geez, what a step backward that was. Regardless of one’s orientation, to deny basic human rights is just so 20th century! Let’s move forward people!
~janes! I just about fell out of my chair reading your post! YES!! I wasn’t sick, but I felt *drugged* all day yesterday. Hysteresis: Had stuff flying around me all day and the longer the day went on, the harder, lower and slower it flew. Finally I just gave up and went to bed, at like 9 p.m.
I know this vibe. Same as the Millennium. And of course, I am still swimming through Saturn. But the moon is in Aquarius, half-phase and growing – 7 days past the New: the day that the Delphics kept they mouth shutinsky, the better to hear It All.
Back to it. . .
M
Jane:
What’s the 4-11 on ghostdancers? Please detail.
Brendan:
If you were like me, you were probably frozen in a moment of time prior to November 4th. Couldn’t function. Couldn’t sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night Tuesday at 4 am, and was ready to blog and chat with my friends on the East Coast, who were getting up to go vote.
I ended up going to dance class to feel myself back in my body again.
When I got home, it was tie in to my computer and when the first polls closed, Dr. Smirnoff was on hand tending to my already frayed nerves.
So glad its done. Now, onward to the next step.
Fe:
Good advice (For closure, let’s just enjoy this day) and thanks for the many good reads here.
JanesDefense:
Hope you are feeling better by now. Lots of us feeling physically drained today I’m sure.
B&BW:
Bill Clinton’s Sun is at 26 Leo and that makes him a Leo doesn’t it?
Fe,
I love coconut and oatmeal! Thanks for the tip!
JanesD,
Ghost dancers!! I got chills when I read that.
We participated in many reburial ceremonies back in the 80s, until all the native bones were returned to their rightful burial grounds. These were bones that were in museums and in anthropology depts at the state museums.
There was an old Indian prophecy that said when the ancestor’s bones are buried, the circle of life will begin again. The Indians didn’t understand the prophecy because the ancestors were already buried. Now, all of the bones have been reburied.
My Indian husband makes videos of cowboy re-enactors and always ends with himself playing the drum and chanting a ghost dance. I am still puzzling about what he’s really playing out. Me and his friends are like, why are you doing this?! Yet there is a reckoning feeling to it, and maybe closure too.
Uranus is the awakener. Maybe we are arriving at that moment when we will begin to wake up. No fear and no projecting allowed. No more hate, war, crime, revenge, anger, or harmful words.
I was dreaming that Obama was elected yesterday morning when I woke up and my dead father was telling me to go vote. And…I mostly have this gut feeling that none of us are good enough to wipe McCain’s ass, and that everything happened for a reason.
“And yes, I heard the comment about Dr. Smirnoff last night on MSNBC! It did strike me that there was an open bar somewhere near the set last night, and that it was being heavily utilized. People were just loose once the later counts began rolling in.
Merry Christmas/Yule everyone, it’s a little early this year!”
Brendan:
You mean Dr. Smirnoff was there too? I thought he was just partying at my house in berkeley!!!
Having been suffering from a brain freeze for about the last week, I’m finally able to write on blogs again. (So sorry Fe – I just burned out at the new moon – I can’t explain it otherwise)
I haven’t felt the least bit optimistic about any national election in years, and I have been voting for 31 years now. Watching the results yesterday was absolutely edge-of-the-seat drama, waiting for the first results, and to hear McCain take the early lead was an “OH NO, NOT AGAIN” moment that lasted for too long.
The rest of the evening was just gravy however, and yes, I teared up during President Elect Obama’s speech. If I could have magically flown to Chicago, I would have been there!
Today has been a day to ponder what may lie in our future. I for one feel happy and optimistic that our national direction is now going somewhere better. We’ve got to clear away a lot of ill will and misplaced anger, and we will. There is far to go, but we’ll get there, even if we have to bum a ride on the train or hitchhike, metaphorically speaking.
I hear B&B’s words, and I appreciate them for what they are. Many, many of our fellow Muricans are feeling the same, and are perhaps even more fearful. I myself have little or nothing left to lose at this point: I have nothing in the market, little real property or goods of any value, and I don’t even have a job or health care. I have no fear, surprisingly, of the future. I will survive, I’ve done it before, and I’ll continue to do it.
What I do have is what’s inside, and that is more valuable to me than any gold.
And yes, I heard the comment about Dr. Smirnoff last night on MSNBC! It did strike me that there was an open bar somewhere near the set last night, and that it was being heavily utilized. People were just loose once the later counts began rolling in.
Merry Christmas/Yule everyone, it’s a little early this year!
PWAVERS-FOR CLOSURE, LET’S JUST ENJOY THIS DAY: (More on the White House celebration that erupted last night)
From Daily Kos:
“Like We Overthrew a Dictator”: Pennsylvania Avenue Last Night
by DemocraticLuntz [Subscribe]
Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 02:20:49 PM PST
That’s what fellow Kossack Pragmaticus said to me as we headed back down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to his apartment to check the updated results.
Things had started to die down a bit at that point, but people were honking, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!ing, running around like crazy.
After Senator McCain’s gracious concession speech and Senator Obama’s superb victory speech, many of the College Dems headed down to TAKE BACK THE WHITE HOUSE!!!! YEAAAAAHHHHHHHH!, joining the crowds of college students and others that had poured in to be part of history.
The scene on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was probably the biggest spontaneous patriotic celebration Washington DC has ever seen.
It was packed more tightly than (insert dirty metaphor here). Thousands of young people, pressed against each other, not for a rock concert or a countercultural event, but to celebrate the end of our 8-year national nightmare and the election of the next President of the United States, Barack Obama.
In addition to significant incoherent joyous yelling and noisemaking, a whole bunch of chanting and singing went on.
Chants I heard and remember ranged from the mildly negative to the downright weird to, as Mike Gravel would say, “jingoism, jingoism, phony genuine patriotism and jingoism”:
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!
Yes we did! Yes we did! Yes we did! Yes we did! Yes we did
Si Se puede! Si se puede! Si se puede! Si se puede! Si se puede
Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe!
Ole! Ole ole ole! Ole!!!!! Ole!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Quack. Quack. Quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack … Go … bama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Na na na na! Na na na na! Hey hey hey!!!! Goodbye!!!!!
The Braves tomahawk chant
Shave my/Lick my/Goodbye Bush!
The Star Spangled Banner was sung and we also sang God bless America!
After seeing someone with a Ч‘ЧЁЧ§ ЧђЧ•Ч‘ЧђЧћЧ” sign, some of my Jewish friends spontaneously broke into the Israeli national anthem (is it really any more out of place than the chant of the Mighty Ducks????; by the way, Obama won Jewish voters 78-21, as good as any Democrat, according to the exits).
After running into another “minyan” of Jews, I believe we joined hands to say sheh’heh’cheh’ya’nu veh’ki’yeh’ma’nu veh’he’g’a’nu laz’man ha’zeh (English translation of full prayer [the beginning is common to many prayers and we didn’t bother with it last night] Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the world, Who has kept us in life, sustained us, and brought us to this moment).
My most interesting experience was talking to two French students.
They asked “Is the United States always like this after an election?” My reply, of course, was “No! This has never happened before!”
Hey PWavers FORGOT TO MENTION:
My flourless oatmeal cookies were a big hit!!!
I just added unsweetened coconut to the mix and they had this beautiful, chewy, crunchy, spicy flavor that’s fabu with tea.
Really need to get home to watch the news and take in an afternoon respite.
Back in the evening to blog on in celebration.
“Math” is highly creative. Figuratively and Literally.
“Math” is what it is and is not what it is not.
“Math” is NOT what we can make of our future. “Math” is one tool we use to measure that which we have created.
Bull’n’Bear — comon’ jump in — the water’s fine — we’re swimming upstream but at least we’re not looking for excuses to stay on the beach.
This was amazing reading.
I have a suggestion for a solution. This is my 3rd time mentioning it and i will keep repeating it until someone here watches it.
ZEITGEIST: ADDENDUM
Google it and watch the movie.
Bull and Bear is right on for the worry. And everyone else is right on for the hope.
Both perspectives are true.
The American dollar is in fact GOING TO COLLAPSE. A new currency has already been created. It is called the Amero.
DEMOCRACY CANNOT EXIST NEXT TO CAPITALISM.
We need a whole new frame-work for how to run our nation. The World. I think even the most progressive writers at PW may have a difficult time realizing that POLITICS–THE WHOLE CONCEPT IS FLAWED.
Politicians don’t change things. Technicians do. Inventors do. Scientists do. And we all can by changing our ENTIRE THOUGHT PROCESS ON HOW TO RUN A COUNTRY.
RESOURCE BASED ECONOMY vs. MONETARY BASED ECONOMY. check it out.
b&b:
Another thing about our enthusiasm here on Planet Waves for the results of yesterday’s election. I think alot of us are coming out of a PTSD experience of being lied to, particularly the last eight years of the most law-ignoring regime this country has ever seen.
If nothing else, I would hope you’d have the good grace to allow people a sense of closure, which means that they can celebrate and/or grieve, without the need to provide an early onset of disgust and anxiety.
We’ve lived with that factor for too long. I think we’re also a little, no, ALOT fatigued with outrage. But I think we DO have energy for good ideas and solutions. That’s a good place to start putting energy into, instead of worrying, which produces–more worrying.
Bull’n’Bear;
Dude/ess —
Get a grip. Personally; screw the astrology and just listen to ALIVE and AWAKE people around you – who finally have a chance to feel themselves empowered to change the course we have been on.
And since you are not interested in moving – I suggest you set the alarm for 15 years from now and check up on the rest of us then.
No patience for those who block the road,
aword
“I have not heard a single word out of Obama that he will stop the borrowing – he cannot knowingly bring down financial ruin.”
If I were him, I wouldn’t come up with a solution yet, not without knowing the full extent of the problem.
“Is Obama the one who will end the borrowing and collapse the economy? Not by choice, but it appears it will be forced on him. Hence, his probable place in history alongside fellow Leo Herbert Hoover.”
He may, and he may not. But what are YOU going to do about it? Do you have a solution you can express to someone who can help? As for Hoover, that’s your speculation.
“Look I like Obama, I think he’d be great to have over for dinner, but this thing is going to bury him”
It may be, it may not. But what’s with the drama and the PANIC?
“Folks, there’s no government solution to this mess that any modern politician can even propose. ”
Which is exactly what we’ve been talking about. Its going to take leadership on high and will and work on the ground to make this happen. Not unlike our predecessors from the Depression Era.
“Do you know how they resolved this sort of credit bubble in the past? The king would reissue the currency. You want solutions? That’s the solution. Is Obama going to reissue the currency? Nope. Is there any other politician on the planet who can do it? Maybe Putin, but Russia’s economy is a rounding-error in the world economies.”
If you’re planning to take it this far, then I think maybe its time to reel back. There is such a thing as controlling your thoughts so that you can come up with a plausible solution. If we’re all going to be on this boat together, like I am with you here now, I want my fellow travel companions to not freak out while the boat’s on troubled waters. By staying calm, we can find our right minds and come together as a community and a nation to work through this.
I seriously think you are over-dramatizing an interpretation of a chart. As I posted Nancy’s read on the Pluto-Capricorn era above, she acknowledges times will be tough, but with hardly the sturm and drang you describe. Perhaps you should study it awhile before coming to conclusions about how anyone would handle it. Don’t you think that’s wise?
Is anybody else sick today? I had to call in to work, I have a really high fever and a cough. It’s been coming on for days.
My brother had tickets and invited me to drive out to see Barack in Chicago, but I was feeling too druggy to go. I’m not sure if it was the fever or the moment that made it impossible to stop crying from the moment Charlie Gibson called the election.
and did anybody else notice that all the newscasters were drunk on TV? Diane Sawyer couldn’t even stand up straight; some other cable channel guy was saying he did his projections with “Dr Smirnoff”.
Watching Barack’s acceptance speech felt like being on E.
Wolf Blitzer was talking to freakin *holograms*.
I think it’s all my Neptune. I have an extremely ineffective ectofilter.
A couple things were bothering me last night. A lot. I don’t want to talk about them right now because I don’t want to ruin the moment.
One thing: Ghostdancers.
Ghostdancers.
~j
Bull and Bear: I’m not sure where you are getting the idea that we are running from what you imagine to be clear astrological signs of disaster. To look at astrology as though it were a black and white matter of understanding when negtaive things are going to happen is to deny that astrology is the study of living, changing energies.
It is very true that we have some heavy transits occuring right now. There will be more transits of the same nature occuring in the future, but it is crucial to meet them head on with an attitude of willingness and confidence.
Uranus, for example, has as much to do with drastic change as it does to sudden, irrevocable awakening. Pluto transits can be power houses of karmic release, but they can also be incredible healing agents, as can Neptune and certainly Jupiter.
Also, there is only a limited amount of interpretation one can do without beginning to make predictions. I urge everyone to think about their need to predict what is going to happen and decide whether or not it is wise and open-minded.
-g*enevieve
I am attaching this, which is from Starlight News – Nancy Sommer’s site, which correctly predicted Obama’s win, down to the exact time the announcement of his win which was exact on his sun, yesterday.
“When looked back upon from many years in the future, after all the debris has been cleared and a hopefully more realistic, responsible, and productive nation has emerged, it may well seem that the dramatic failures of the Bush years were a necessary prelude to the transformation of the myopic, hubristic, profligate, and ultimately destructive attitudes of the past. Much like “bottoming out” in the life of an addict can lead to a more responsible and healthier lifestyle if hard work, discipline, and self-awareness are embraced, one can hope that the collapse of both the rampant militarism and the reckless economic policies of recent American history may ultimately be the opening to a much steadier and balanced nation. At this point, although change is clearly on the horizon, questions remain about the form, length, and difficulty of the transition, as well as where exactly it will lead.
As would be expected, there are several astrological indications of extraordinary change already in progress and that will be further manifesting in the coming months and years, at least some of which will be coming through a rather difficult and painful birthing process. We have previously discussed the transition from Pluto in Sagittarius into Pluto in Capricorn, which basically moves the world from a 12-year period of economic permissiveness and religious and partisan intolerance to a 15-year period of intense pragmatism, structure, organization, and, eventually, overweening control that will ultimately be transformed as we move to the following cycle.
Another element of Pluto moving into Capricorn, however, is that in 2008, this planet has been in hard aspect to the Sun in the Solar Ingress charts for the four seasons, the birth charts for the four quarters of the year, and, in the case of the Spring Equinox chart, the birth chart for the year. The Sun in these charts represents the head of government in the countries of the world, and this Pluto aspect during 2008, and especially strong from September through November during its last crossing of 00 Capricorn, indicates that the rulers of nations are under extremely intense pressure. There is a feeling that they are dealing with forces that threaten to overwhelm and possibly destroy (Pluto) their nations if not responded to aggressively. During this period several world leaders are even losing their position, including George Bush and Prime Minister Olmert of Israel.
A further indication of transformation globally is the upcoming Saturn/Uranus opposition. There will be five passes of this potent opposition during the course of the next two years, stretching from late October 2008 through July 2010. In its most generic definition, this configuration has to do with the structures of the past (Saturn) clashing with the inrush of awakening and transformation of the future (Uranus). When the two achieve a balance, Saturn can slow down and focus Uranus’ push to transform, making it more capable of solid accomplishment. Conversely, if Uranus’ force is more potent, such as during a station of that planet, Uranus can shatter the traditions and patterns of the past leaving confusion and chaos before things can get reorganized. If Saturn is near its station and Uranus is moving more quickly, the burdens and sorrow of the change might be more pervasive. In addition, much depends on who is being hit by the actual transits of Uranus and Saturn at the time of the opposition. Thus, how the drama unfolds depends upon many factors.
In the first Saturn/Uranus opposition of this series, which will be exact on Election Day, Saturn will be reaching an opposition to degrees that Uranus has been occupying for months. In the US chart, where this Uranus transit has also been square the US Mars (21Gemini23) and opposite the US Neptune (22Virgo25) since April, the powerful winds of change have already been quite active in the form of a lively presidential campaign awakening the country to the prospect of Life after Bush, somewhat akin to a clarion call arousing us from a hypnotically induced nightmare. In addition, with natal Mars as ruler of the 4th house of security and home, this transit has also brought the ravages of the home mortgage and foreclosure crisis and is clearly complicit in the burgeoning economic crisis that threatens many in their sense of personal financial security.
Saturn is now about to reach its first opposition with Uranus at 19 Virgo/Pisces, and shortly thereafter make a station square US Mars (21Gemini23) from November 22 through January 20, 2009. It is as if the big changes wrought by Uranus – the promise of new presidential leadership and an economic crisis in uncharted territory that has not yet had its full impact – will become concretized and made real (Saturn) for the first time as we move into November and December. Moreover, with the Saturn station so prominent in the US chart, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s chart, and Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson’s chart, it seems likely the current economic fixes will not be enough to forestall further contraction in the economic sector at the end of the year. And with Uranus also stationary at the degree of its exact square to the Spring Equinox Ascendant in Washington, DC (19Sagittarius16) in November and December, further intense turmoil and volatility are very likely until early January. Put another way, the outside-the-box (Uranus) attempts to fix the economic crisis will face the difficulties of real world of implementation (Saturn) and be dragged down by fear, caution, and intransigence (Saturn) probably until the next president begins to move us out of the acute phase of the crisis and into the more long-term, ongoing management of this transformation.
As might be expected, the 2009 Inaugural chart carries within it the inherent tension of this Saturn/Uranus opposition, further signifying this will be the most momentous planetary configuration of the next few years. The push toward creative new solutions will be focused, disciplined, and at times thwarted by the exigencies of difficult political and financial realities. In the 2009 Inaugural chart, Uranus (19Pisces56) will be conjunct Venus (17Pisces47) and opposite Saturn (21Virgo24), suggesting just how directly this push/pull dynamic will impact the next administration, due to the importance of Venus as the ruler of this Taurus-rising chart. Of great help in soothing the stress of this Saturn/Uranus-Venus opposition will be the trine from Mars (18Capricorn29) to Saturn, as well as its sextile to Venus and Uranus. Interestingly, this earth-sign Mars/Saturn trine is mirrored in Obama’s natal chart, describing his and likely his administration’s measured, steady, and thoughtful approach to problem solving.
The Saturn/Uranus opposition of the next few years clearly is about moving rapidly forward into unexplored territory all the while dealing with the pull of the past and the need to proceed carefully. It has begun in a Uranian-inspired, sudden, and severe implosion of the financial sector that is still in progress and with long-term ramifications. Several other factors also indicate significant transformation yet to be realized over the next decade and beyond and will be discussed in future articles. The movement of Pluto into Capricorn and, with it, the onset of a series of Pluto transits in hard aspect to points in the US chart for the next several years suggest a long period of slow, steady shifting within the US in several areas, at times in the midst of fierce power struggles (Pluto) but ultimately very transformative in a profound sense. In addition, US progressed Mars has recently shifted direction to a retrograde movement that will last for much of the 21st Century, moving the US away from its rampant militarism and towards a more cautious and inward use of its resources. Thus, as described by numerous planetary configurations, a time of very real change is at hand. Though it is not likely to be easy or smooth, it certainly seems to be necessary, as old forms prove no longer appropriate or effective in our rapidly recalibrating and globalized world. ”
In other worlds, we’ll survive it, AND our world view will be changed. I think, in the long run, that’s a good thing.
bull and bear:
As for gangs roaming the streets–they already do. This is what decades of urban neglect have led us to.
“Folks, there’s just too many astrological signals here to run from.”
and let me add, its not like we didn’t know. We do.
No, BnB–I can’t. Because I’m not looking for blanket optimism. I’m not looking to *spin* the upcoming transits, either. What I see is more nuanced than that. I also have faith in the resiliency and imagination of humankind. Sure we’ll be tested, but that’s a good thing. It means we’ll have to grow. (Isn’t that one of Saturn’s functions? To mature us?) You won’t find me crying in my soup line bowl over that. And here’s where we will part views again: you cannot reduce my vote, my sentiments, my thoughts, or my experience of this moment in history to a *transit*. Neptune is much more than the planet of illusions, just as I am much more than the thoughts I’ve posted on this comment stream.
Btw, if there are so many astrological signals to “run from”, where do you propose we run TO?
“Fear of food lines, gangs roaming the streets and a dust bowl. Yes, more so. Nothing we’ve experienced in the past 50 years, not Vietnam, Nixon, 9/11 or the two Bushes have prepared us for this. Folks who may be able to tell us what to expect are now over 90 years old, having been adults during the early 1930s.”
OK:
Let’s go over the 1980s and the beginning of homelessness in the cities, where people were dumped from state institutions and allowed to live on the streets. Then, let’s look at the last few decades of people on food stamp and welfare programs, who go to places like St. Anthony’s or Salvation Army here for a meal. Here. Now. As for dust bowl–let’s look at the depletion of the Oglala Aquifer, the biggest underground water source in the continent losing depth, while the lack of rains in the Southwest and increasing drought caused by climate change is going make development in the fast-rising Southwestern states unsustainable.
I think we’ve been at this crisis for decades now. Three, to be exact.
“Astrologically, we are also facing Saturn transiting the U.S. Neptune at the mid-heaven (9/11 rectified chart with ASC at 12 degrees Sag) and Neptune transiting the U.S. Moon. As a nation we are utterly unprepared for Saturn slamming our Neptunian illusions and this is playing out on the public stage (Moon). All our nascent hopes we cherish today will be wiped out by these transits.”
I think a big part of our illusory cherished hopes are that we can continue proceeding along the same track as we have and think its going to come out ok. That’s the hard reality that we face after three decades of Republicans took over with “sunny optimism” in trickle-down economics and un-regulated markets.
That’s where a new solution needs to be found. This is the price of karma. We’re going to need something other than big-government to fix the problem. Ironically, under the soon to be last Administration, government got even bigger, and handed out cash like it was coming in an endless supply barrels, with no impetus to re-gather or re-focus the country into making ACTUAL PRODUCTS. The September financial collapse is exactly the first point, which will undoubtedly be followed by another and yet another. I have no doubt in its waning days, the Bushies are going to do their best to cover their tracks before they leave-erasing hard drives, re-dacting e-mails and all of that.
Obama wasn’t kidding when he said we have a steep hill to climb. Sensing what already has happened to us, from false-flag alerts to drowning a city–do we really imagine that the worst that’s about to come doesn’t already have a precedent?
Folks, there’s just too many astrological signals here to run from.
While Saturn transits your U.S. neptune……and Neptune transiting your U.S.Moon…I’d say you all…. as citizens…. need to stop projecting all your own personal angst and guilt ridden traumas onto a perfectly optimistic future….and take the Aquarian road to learning how to work in groups…(music is good for that)……while using the strategies of Saturn to shape the creative process that Neptune opens up for you……and get a little more feminine energy in there in the form of intuition as Neptune caresses and sensualises the U.S. Moon…… and simply learn to trust the pulse.
My dad was right….
Americans……….”Overpaid…Over-Sexed…and Over Here…”
How optimistic…is that…?
PH
bkoehler: “I really do think we are all in it together, and most of us are glad to be there.”;
Thaddeus Ethelred: “A strong leader can help a lot, but all of us will have some heavy lifting between now and then.”
I love the fact that he called all citizens to action in his speech last night and knows this will be a team effort.
If he had a Messiah complex, like some people accused him of having, he would think it was all on his shoulders. He knows this is not a one man job, as evidenced by the bright minds he surrounded himself with during his campaign (I would imagine his Cabinet will be just as stellar), and this quote released by Newseek today:
* So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that’s green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’.” http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581/page/2
Fe/bullandbearwise:
Thank you for your perspective, Fe. I’m a child of war survivors as well, and when I hear my relatives’ stories about what they went through, it’s a total paradigm shift.
I draw strength from that because a) they survived with next to nothing in the worst possible circumstances of poverty and violence, and b) that generation understands what’s really valuable in this world. And it’s certainly not “things” and “having more things” which seems to have taken us off course and depleted the earth’s resources.
Astrology is subject to interpretation and it has no objective will of its own. It’s a tool; we work with the energy, based on our intentions, growth level and density level.
Right on, Fe. Well informed is well-armed, I say.
If astrology only points us in the direction of fear when hard times come, we need to find a new compass. Obviously I don’t think astrology does that, but some interpreters of astrology do. This says more about them than astrology. Yes, I look at the next fifteen years with concern and caution, but no, I’m not fearful. Like a good compass, astrology gives me a sense of place and helps me find my bearings, but it doesn’t tell me what to think, do, or say. That’s left to me to decide.
I’m dancing for the revolution, not because I think New Jerusalem has finally descended from heaven, but because revolution is even possible. I’m dancing for the power of new beginnings, and for vision and for hard work. These are the experiences that make me grateful to be alive. I have openly stated my cynicism towards politics, and I know I’m not alone. But beneath every cynic is a passionate believer who’s been sorely disappointed. I’m not naive about human nature, but I want much more for others than they seem to want for themselves. Last night, for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t disappointed. I think I’ll retire my cynic’s hat for awhile now and exchange it for the one that says “Practical Mystic”. The solutions to our problems must be practical, but only by dreaming can they avoid being cynical. Let me dream, if only for this bit.
To the question of whether Obama can do anything about the state of bankruptcy that our nation is currently in (Financial and otherwise) one only has to look to history. FDR was a president that was elected during a depression and got pulled into a world war – those were dark times indeed. I think one would be hard pressed to find another president that epitomized hope like FDR. Those were tough times, but tough times brought out the best in some people and Franklin proved that he was up to the task.
Times of great struggle call people to find the strength within themselves. The upcoming transits suggest a time of fierce difficulty and dramatic upheaval. In 2015 or so when we look back on what we’ve just lived through I’m sure it will be from a different world than the one we live in today. Whether that world is better or worse will depend on what all of us do with the challenges and opportunities that present themselves. A strong leader can help a lot, but all of us will have some heavy lifting between now and then.
“I also found it poetic (to say the least) that Obama’s acceptance, the cultural climax of our time seemingly triggering a Great National Orgasm of Relief, took place in Chicago’s Grant Park — the very same site of the 1968 Democratic Convention protest demonstrations that many would argue were the climax or flashpoint of what we now think of as The Sixties…”
SubGothius:
I agree there is something quite karmic about that, and maybe there is something to the cyclical nature of our world and the old adage of what comes around…
“But astrology has proven time and again to provide the framework for events and reactions to those events. For the next few years, the events are so precipitous that I really don’t think “presidency” or even “sovereignty” is within the framework of what the stars are shaping.”
bull and bear:
Who here does? Obama is no messiah. Anyone who thinks that is dead wrong. He is a signal, though that the country’s awareness of itself is about to change, and that is long overdue, which I believe is what we’re here celebrating.
“Remember, Pluto in Capricorn set the stage for the American and French Revolutions when Pluto passed into Aquarius. We are only at the start of Pluto in Capricorn, so the utopian promise that we mistakenly believe is here with Obama won’t be developed until after 2024.”
You’re right. Probably not firmly settled into until 2024. But it has to start somewhere. Obama is, as we’ve said, no messiah, but a signal of a sea change in American politics. Alot will need to be unearthed in what the Bush Administration and thirty years of Nixon-Reagan Bush has done to the nation and the planet. That is forty years of American policy and a world that is about to catch up with us as equals. A huge shift planetarily.
Is this something to fear? Possibly. But I think fear is exactly the wrong emotion to face this next set of challenges.
“Meanwhile, the next 15 years brings us only sickening episodes of trashing the old order. It’ll take that long for it to die.”
Agreed, but we don’t have to listen to that, nor should we indulge that in our new leadership or its opposition party. If anything, this is an opportunity for the new party in power, and to encourage the outgoing party–to examine the way business as usual has been accomplished, and to focus instead on the holistic view of the problem–the systemic diagnosis versus the quick fix or easy gain. In fact, we should make any and all leaders, existing and aspiring, take a pledge to be not only aware, but cognizant of the problems as a whole, with a further promise not to waste our time with anything less than viable, realistic solutions.
There are cycles and there are the people who are part of the cycles. The change Eric talks about will most likely be painful, and long-ranging, but when a train turns around on a track, it doesn’t do so precipitously. It does so at an arc. And that arc will, as you say and I agree, will take years. Its a big arc we’re about to ride on. But we need to take it step-by-step-by-step.
If you can indulge me, I can sense your trepidation in the tone of your writing. I think you have every reason to feel a sense of unease with the era we’re about to embark upon. I share it, but I also admit, after living here on this planet for 50+ years, that I am as much a product of the trauma of the last eight and perhaps the last 40 years have produced.
My parents are war survivors. I was a six-year old watching the world near nuclear brink during the Cuban missle crisis. I am of the anti-Vietnam War generation. I’ve been through Nixon, Reagan, and two Bushes. Yet, I am still cautiously optimistic that we can still learn the lessons of the past if we commit ourselves to understanding the hard nature of our history–and learn from it at last. That’s the opportunity we have here.
I agree that we should have no illusions, and also want to add, we should have no fear. Fear is the last thing we need.
bullandbearwise,
Perhaps I should have avoided analogy and come straight to the point (although I liked what you did right there :-))…..
My point is, I would prefer a stable, calm, intelligent, methodical leader who isn’t erratic and doesn’t get rattled by the sh*tstorm (and I agree with you here, I fear we have not seen the worst yet) that is about to befall us.
It’s like the person who panics in an emergency situation, hollering and waving their arms frantically and causing mayhem for the people around them when all you want is to slap them in the face and tell them to sh*t the h*ll up because you can’t hear yourself think. 🙂 They’re not particularly helpful to anybody are they? Especially in cramped quarters like a ship or a stalled elevator (my claustrophobic nightmares)! 🙂
We need calm with what’s coming, and he’s the most soothing influence i’ve seen in a long time.
Not sure if this is Obama’s Mars in Virgo, but whatever gift he’s got to sift through the mire, we’re gonna need it.
Four years ago….in one of the blogs…..we looked at Erminie Lantero’s book on Chiron …in which she wrote that Europe had seen Fascism….and only when the rest of the world had seen it on their streets would the decide enough is enough……………
For me there is a guiding principle here…….one school of thought has it that the Jews were so apathetic about the formation of their own state in Israel at the start of the 20th century…that the Zionists orchestrated the 2nd. World War….Hitler was schooled by 3 Occultist from a very dark lodge in Berlin…….and simply murdered enough people to bring about the formation of the Jewish state in 1948….revulsion can be a powerful motivator….!!
“if George bush lead us to the road to peace…would you be angry..or relieved…..”
that was 4 years ago…
His grace in moving forward with Obama suggests to me that he has actually acheived something remarkable in giving people so much tonic…that they have simply said
“Enough is enough”
Nihilism has a very positive outcome….!!
He may even have outsmarted daddy Cheney…….
But thank God….. that is over……………..
PH
As my body learns to breath (normally) again, what a delight to read the above remarks from people who are also relieved and dancing ’til they drop. Bull & Bear, you seem determined to to be unhappy and fearful, and I wish you would follow Eric’s advise. If Barack had let all the gloom and doom predictions he was given affect his “fixed” determination to give it all he had, there would be no dancing today.
In fact, it is amazing that the energy he has displayed, especially in the last week when his heart was broken over the loss of his grandmother, has not flagged. Perhaps that might have even made him more determined to give it all he had.
Aspects in two charts seem to epitimize his claim that we Americans are to be partners with him in rebuilding our country. The Democratic convention chart had the moon on the 7th house cusp, if I remember correctly, which I took as meaning that we (the moon) were to be in partnership (with the democrat effort).
The other aspect – in his natal chart – is the yod between the sextile of Saturn (in 12th) and Pallas (cusp of 2nd) and both quincunx his Uranus conjunct NN in the 7th house. I’ve read that a yod indicates change and transformation, and with Uranus in the focal point, it would be doubly so. I’ve also read that a yod is. . . .”a compulsive “debt” repayment associated with the area of the chart pointed out”. I really do think we are all in it together, and most of us are glad to be there.
Hey bullandbearwise,
Another way to look at it would be, if you were on a ship, cruising into a mammoth storm, who would you want at the helm?
The American people told us last night who they want that Captain to be.
Hi bullandbearwise – nice to see some robust challenge on here.
I would like to add my dimesworth by suggesting that nothing in astrology is a dead certainty. I life even. Death and taxes maybe. There is something of HOW people respond to what’s going on around them, regardless of the aspects and transits. As soon as folks start banging on about whats ‘certain’ in life, I get a powerfully, strong, intuitive feeling that we are wandering into bollocks territory.
So here at PW, I appreciated an openness in approach and that includes much that has been written about Obama and his tenure as President. He’s got a tough path ahead – we all do. And it would be naive to assume it will all just be a fucking magic carpet ride the whole way.
But here he is. Here is change, on the horizon, as it is every second we are alive on this planet. We’ll see…
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE.
I feel like a spell has been lifted.
I also found it poetic (to say the least) that Obama’s acceptance, the cultural climax of our time seemingly triggering a Great National Orgasm of Relief, took place in Chicago’s Grant Park — the very same site of the 1968 Democratic Convention protest demonstrations that many would argue were the climax or flashpoint of what we now think of as The Sixties…
-Tyson
MEthinks this may be the FIRST day that I have been truly proud to be an American.
My entire life we have been murdering many of those that stood for change. Change from a model that served in the early days but even since then, the wounds we self-imposed have bled us almost dry.
If there is one great gift my parents gave me, it is the basis and opportunity to believe in people. Despite what I endured as a child (“whitey”) while we fought side-by-side with those selfsame people who would oppress me, it seemed so apparent that the “backlash” was based in fear and distrust; that a great healing was needed.
We have endured years of crap interspersed with some light places (Jimmy Carter) and while Obama is no god, our decision to give him this opportunity to lead us into overdue basic change to our ‘way of being’ gives us dignity, pride and a chance to recoup lost honor in this world.
I could already feel a difference in my high-school age children. They are ecstatic about Obama’s election. This is a man who they can touch, someone who is a ROLE MODEL for all of us – how badly we need that!
That McCain morphed back into a gentile senator from AZ last night was indicative of something powerful. He was doing his duty to his country by being his party’s candidate; now he is doing his duty by supporting what the American People Want.
The bully standing in our way may only have stepped aside, but he is no longer blocking us from moving forward; from turning the corner, and we have now experienced this — that when we can see what’s on the other side of the wall, we can realize that the wall is not really there. Where there was no “future”, now we have opportunity to create something that will serve us – as people, communities, a nation and a world – better than what we have just left behind.
Sharing in the Light,
Linda.Raven
I like the dancing metaphor ALOT, thank you fellow PWavers. I had these visions yesterday of a more elaborate and fully function voting system that can tabulate (correctly) all of the votes across the country instantly without malfunctioning machines and long lines — turning all the poll watchers (like myself) into joyous poll DANCERS. It’s a dream and I believe it’s time to dream big.
Yes we can.
::::dancing with you!:::
Shanna,
Don’t worry, my compassionate side always wins out and I already have extended my hand in friendship to some Fundamentalist Christians I know. It is that side of me that wanted Obama as president since he spoke in 2004. That side of me wants us united, Christian and Liberal together. My heart longed for this unifying moment.
Now we can show all those that need to see it, how Liberals are compassionate, we are decent and caring, we are open to bringing dissenting voices together. We are the light workers and we take the high road of love. :::smiling:::
We are also bridging the gap between white folks and people of color. That is good too. Our kids will know a better world because of it. It is good to hear that young Christians are the voices of change, too. That gives me hope! Thanks for letting me know that.
::::dancing in sheer joy!:::::
In the last 8 years, it feels as though we were scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Superficiality ruled the day, civility nowhere to be found, cynicism seeping so deep that we thought being jaded was the way to be after being burned by too many dissappointments.
This may be the shortest honeymoon period ever, and the biggest challenge ever to face a President, but it does my heart good to know that nice guys can win, with their dignity and self-respect intact, without having to tear anybody down to win.
I hope these actions show the world that we don’t have to sink into pettiness to get things done and Obama becomes a role model to a new generation.
Having heard Coretta Scott King at one of her speaking engagements, she mentioned how her husband was not feeling too optimistic about America in the last few days of his life. I like to think Martin Luther King is looking down now, beaming, knowing his struggles were well worth it.
I can now proudly say and believe: “Yes we can”.
The dream is alive today.
I’m giddy with patriotism, a feeling I have NEVER before felt. I have been such a cynic and to most degrees still am but this has lifted me, has lifted all of us. I am allowing myself to continue to feel the joy of this unbelievable grace. Then back to work. Service, responsibility and justice. Let THIS be the emblem of our revolution, let it be a revolution of sober joyful cooperation.
Love from the Nation’s Capital!
carecare7: DO extend that hand to the Fundies and show them the true nature of compassion and dignity. They will need it. I don’t say that sarcastically, either. I sit here surrounded by a conservative Christian culture (by no means monolithic, but very very strong), and I see CHANGE within it. An entire generation of “Christian leaders” (Falwell, Dobson, Bauer, et al) are freaking over the change they see all around them–*within* the church. Sojourners.com and Jim Wallis…Shane Claiborne…and loads of other, younger voices are not only speaking out, but *living* out a different model of faith. The Dobson/Falwell/Campus Crusade for Christ model isn’t yet dead, but their leaders are old men now, with an old agenda. They won’t go down quietly, but eventually they will go down. As a student of history and astrology, I take a long view on movements like these, and believe me, they may kick and scream, but their time on History’s stage is just a blip.
I know many Christians (most of whom you would call “Fundamentalists”) who voted for Obama this time. They have longed for change, they see change and they know what needs to change, both in their churches and in this country. Most, but not all, of them are young people. Having spent the better part of the last ten years working with these youth, I can say that they reflect the trends among the greater population of American youth: they are not naive; they are media-smart; and they are very, very engaged in practical service. They voted for Obama because they see a campaign run much like their own service projects, not simply because he’s the younger candidate. And, of course, they look to our economic, social and political failures and feel cheated and lied to by an establishment more interested in an ideology than meeting basic needs.
So please, yes, listen to your better self. Let the votes of our nation echo in our own hearts, for yesterday we did embody our better selves. And we’re going to very much need those better selves in the coming years. It’s not over. Listen to the Man–we need each other.
I’ve never felt prouder to be an American … it is a new day.
The hardest thing for me is going to be to extend the hand of unity to all those Religious Right and Fundamentalist Christians that had such a choke-hold on our government these past years. My inner heart (evil fool that it is at times) jumped for glee at the numbers, over 7 million people voted against the Religious Right agenda by voting for Obama. That means the Liberal Lefties the Religious Right is so afraid of have carried the day and Roe V Wade will remain as well as the push for legalized Gay unions. My bad child was dancing and screaming “IN your FACE!” while my sober adult compassionate heart was saying “We must join together.” My compassion won out but it will be a tough climb for me to extend the hand of friendship to all those folks that would gladly drag my daughters back to the stone age of being subject to the male domination of their bodies.
Pardon me if I dance in ecstatic abandon for the hope of my nation and my joy for having Obama as our leader. Four years ago, when I heard him speak, I said THEN, that I wanted him to run for President because his untiy message is what we needed. I can’t stop crying for the sheer joy of this historical moment.
Obama, like me, is a Generation Jones, not a Boomer, not a GenXer, but a Joneser. He is a trans-culture kid like me as well, raised in a different culture so he is not so America-centro but is global-centered and compassionate. He was raised with less and had to work for everything he has, like me. He is a parent of YOUNG children, like me, so he KNOWS how our society doesn’t support or value children and families.
I know it is a hard and long road ahead of us, but I have hope.
::::doing happy dance much like David of Israel danced into Jerusalem::::
YES WE CAN!!!!!
Carrie~ white-bread, 48 year old, centrist, Liberal, stay-at-home, secular, homeschooling mom of four young children in Flagstaff (OBAMA country!) Arizona
From the Onion. Just read it:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nation_finally_shitty_enough_to?utm_source=onion_rss_daily
I guess after eight years of the dry drunk in office, the first word that seems to be the most apropos is: SOBER.
He seems to be portraying that beautifully. Now to turn the entire train around in the next few years–that’s going to take alot…