By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
Nothing much has happened since last we spoke. That’s pretty much it, have a good weekend.
Yes, I jest (which is one of those lovely words you probably won’t hear in a decade or so, it’s barely hanging on by its single syllable now,) but there’s a smidgeon (another one) of truth there. Writing about politics in this zero-sum political culture — lawmakers staring one another down over an abyss of self-interest and, for a scant handful, self-delusion — is an exercise in hurry-up-and-wait, progress bogged down to a snail’s pace just when we need some desperately.
In this exhausting turmoil of alternative reality and truthiness glut, can reality to be found? Oh look! In this moment of radical ignorance and hubris, here comes a heavy-hitting aspect with the muscle to explode some mythology, blast some inertia! Those of us in the know are expecting this first exact square of Pluto and Uranus to define some of the change ahead.
Politically, I think of it like a cheat sheet. Personally, I’d rather it wasn’t a boot-up-the-ass wake-up call, but even that’s worthwhile at this point, and I say that having lived through a few. When it’s time to move foreword, best to initiate it yourself, so let’s do this. Come on, universe! Throw us a bone! Make our forward momentum so obvious not even the sleepers can miss it!
Those who are flinching at the “bring it on” quality of that statement are surely aware that we can no longer entertain the fiction of a clueless, compliant citizenry moving backwards into an unsustainable past. Those of us who still respect scientific thought are white-knuckled at the apparent inability of American politics to confront the truth about climate, environment, food and water security. What stands in our way? BP, Chevron and Exxon Mobil. Monsanto and frankenfoods. Shale gas and “clean” coal. Citizens United money.
Those who value a global collaboration toward peace, prosperity and civil rights can no longer tolerate our nation’s privatization (read that profitization) of militarism, healthcare, and financial services. We long ago determined these to be critical not only to the nation, but also to the world, and more, to the continuation of our species on a planet less and less able to meet our alarming demands for energy and sustenance. What keeps us from policing these industries, renewing their effectiveness in service to the public? Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, DynCorp. Big pharma and for-profit hospital conglomerates. A too-big-to-fail Wall Street that fails on a regular basis, taking our money with it, and a corporate-cozy Supreme Court that just handed the Chamber of Commerce its seventh straight win, delivering big business a “perfect” term thus far, and with only days remaining.
We need a big message, in no uncertain terms. An attention grabber. No time for flinching now, the clock is ticking. But even as I say that, I’m painfully aware of the difficulty in getting us all on the same page. It’s hard to imagine that such different realities have been able to coexist side by side for so long, but we have only been at stalemate for a short time, historically speaking. Once, political parties thrashed out legislative progress with compromise for public good, not private gain, using the art of gamesmanship and stewardship. Once, public service was an esteemed goal and statesmanship something to be admired.
Now that those days are gone, the GOP has done us all a service in giving us four straight years of obstruction; they’ve clarified their position as corporate-party regressives. Fearing modernity and equality as much as the Taliban does, they ignore the wisdom of their own holy book and insist on putting new wine into old skins, dooming them to eventual obscurity. Those eager to strip women of reproductive freedoms, who are sure they’ve been trickled down to (not on), and who still fear a murderous, heathen global community “jealous of American freedoms,” will hold their noses and vote for their non-Christian candidate, eager to rid themselves of the black liberal.
Those who are looking for 21st century policies have a similar hesitancy, given Obama’s inability to shift the game left and his dependence on Clinton-era financiers and Bush-era military advisers. Of course real progressives are looking for more policy nuance and global equality than Establishment politicians offer, but to be fair, the Prez made attempts to accomplish all of his campaign goals while pushing a boulder of stark opposition up-hill. He’s accomplished a surprising number of them, given the order of difficulty. And because of how far right our political reality has been pushed, Obama is not only able but willing to be encouraged leftward. Let’s be clear: of the two parties, only one is capable of being moved.
Not far enough, you say? Not quick enough? Let’s see what the Pluto/Uranus energy has to say about that. Things change when we aren’t looking. Remember, in subtle ways we’re still getting over the shock of Bush v. Gore, the terrible error of Colin Powell’s vial of white powder. In our heart of hearts we still can’t believe that nobody in command went to prison for Abu Ghraib or to the Hague for war crimes. This week the right is after AG Eric Holder with a vengeance, orchestrated by slick-haired Pub attack dog, Darryl Issa, upset about an arms sting that went bad. Pubs have convenient amnesia when it comes to these things. What about John Ashcroft announcing limits to American freedom with the Patriot Act in front of carefully-draped nude statues? What about Alberto Gonzales hedging over torture and wiretap?
But the Republican party does not care about comparisons, let alone hypocrisy. They’ve pushed even their own envelope, exposing the radical edge of their party, having a temper tantrum on the public dime. A politically untenable situation: we find ourselves in a congressional stalemate and continuing emergency to government services even as election looms. The concerns of progressives — including civil liberties and an end to imperialism and militarism — have not been furthered by a weakened and capitulating Democratic party, so we’re left to support the status quo or throw our vote away. But …
BUT this is not just another political year — this is THE political year. And we’re well into it, to boot. What IS the defining message of this campaign? Obama named it: consciousness. Who and what this nation considers itself to be will be defined by the voters this year, a matter of growing consciousness. The two visions of America couldn’t be more stark, so now it’s time to choose: a party invested in the public welfare or one dedicated to protecting the private sector and enriching the highest earners. A nation based on tough-love and self-protectionism, or one based on a vision of equality and shared blessing.
Yesterday, I watched Mitt Romney address the Latino crowd, smooth and practiced, careful with his words. He started his speech with an attack on Obama and then laid out his (non)plan for the economy. Those of us with antenna to pick up Pub code heard a good deal of it in that speech, but Mitt made no apparent gaffes this time around. If he was vague about immigration, that was expected. While he sweetened the pot — guaranteeing a green-card stapled to every highly-skilled college diploma — he at least offered something besides a veto of the Dream Act, as he’d promised his base. He didn’t do himself much good with a demographic that cuts by big numbers to the left, but he didn’t do much harm. After all, he’s had eight years to refine his delivery. As I watched, I wondered how Obama — who has been unable to pass immigration law — might distance himself from his record.
Today, as I watched Obama’s address, I was happy to see him relaxed and easy in his skin. He was confident, direct; some say passionate. He talked for the second time in the last few days about doing what was right, about the difficulties we face and how it was time to decide what kind of America we would build together. He never mentioned Romney by name and moved me to tears twice, once when he spoke to the advocacy of the average citizen to right wrongs as ” … a million quiet heroes who love their country and believe they can change it.”
On some days, politics is simple. I was glad to see him. So — you know — nothing much actually happened since last week. The news is full of stories that make you shake your head: Julian Assange is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy, looking for an escape hatch away from American interest. Law and karma have caught up with Jerry Sandusky, who is facing an ugly future behind bars. Rielle Hunter, John Edwards’ paramour, insists she is not a home-wrecker. Last, and just barely believable, a recent poll found that 64% of Republicans still believe that Iraq had WMD.
Much of that is amazing and improbable, typical of our surrealistic times, but none of it is a bang-out message from the cosmos. If the universe insists on whispering today, then, it appears to be weaving a clear picture of the difference between an old paradigm way of looking at the world and a new one, asking us to choose respect and inclusion, ethics and ideals. When this president talks about “a million heroes” seeking to right wrongs, I think maybe he’s talking about us. That’s the message that makes my heart happy. Until the universe decides to talk a little bit louder, that’s the one I’m lifting up.
Appreciated hearing about the health care aspects, be, especially on the verge of the Supreme’s throwing their monkey wrench. One way or another, a decision will shift the projections and create turmoil.
Seems to me that this health care situation is the epitome of our current political dysfunctionality, an example of our inability to look at facts like intelligent humans. It’s hard to believe what a shitstorm of ignorance swirls around this issue.
No real progressive is in love with this legislation; it’s not actual health care reform, and once single payer was off the table, it devolved into a minimal effort to keep insurance from victimizing patients. The best of it won’t even kick in until next year, and people have NO idea what will be useful to them. What HAS been put in place is highly popular with the public. If the High Court screws with this plan, polls show that a majority want it replaced with something even more progressive.
That the Republicans hate ‘Obamacare’ so much mystifies me, even as they are repeatedly told that our health care is a shabby 37th globally. Their attitude is completely counter-intuitive. They have refused to legitimize HCR despite the fact that 1] the mandate is/was an approved device of the GOP which 2] guarantees participation and glorious profit to insurance carriers in a kind of lotto-win they can only dream of, and yet because it’s Obama’s signature piece, it’s demonized.
Maybe much of this is the echo you speak of Mystes, dark PR and frightening rumors of the kind that make children pull the covers over their head. But lies and misrepresentation is potent stuff, hard to dispel once they’ve taken root.
According to some projections, much of the new policy that’s already in place will remain, no matter what happens, because people are demanding it. It was ALWAYS just a place to start. And if the Supreme’s rule against it, there will be big backlash against the judicial body — their approval rate is already the lowest in decades.
Next week my little band of county Dem’s will again erect their booth in the town square, offer liberal materials and conversation, and attempt to introduce a handful of candidates to locals who will only want to know what church they attend. I’m not looking forward this year. A mind is a terrible thing to waste but here in the Pea Patch, that’s how we roll.
The Dem club wanted to hold a public forum, get someone to speak to us about the health care changes, unsnarl all this confusion and give us a clear picture of how HCR will benefit the public but we haven’t been able to find anyone. That’s pretty sad. The administration should have had a task force of educators available to sell this thing around the country; they know how to do that, it’s an epic fail that they didn’t.
At the heart of it, of course, it’s always about education. I watched Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO offering, Newsroom, tonight — I adored West Wing and I’ll likely follow this one, as well. It was ruthlessly panned in advance, but it engaged this old liberals’ heart, gleeful when the dialogue spoke truth to power and common sense to the uninformed (even if it’s just ‘pretend.’) Seems to me that even OFFERING a drama about the failure of media to be more than corporate shills tips the energy and informs the public.
As you can see, I continue to look for the pony in the horseshit. Thanks, dearhearts, for playing this weekend. Be blessed, all.
Further reason not to despair over the health care decision is that transiting Asclepius is conjunct the U.S. progressed Sun at 7+ Pisces. Transiting Venus, as she prepares to station at 7+ Gemini is square the prog. U.S. Sun but is also conjunct the U.S. Sibly natal Uranus in the 6th house of health as well as the progressed U.S. Uranus.
However, Pres. Obama has a natal Nessus at 0+ Gemini conjunct his natal Moon at 3+ Gemini, which is where the May Solar Eclipse was and where the midpoint of Pluto and Saturn is but it’s also where transiting Jupiter is.
The President’s natal Chiron at 5+ Pisces is at the midpoint, the North Bending which supports growth, of the transiting nodes of the Moon, and transiting Hygiea, daughter of Asclepius who is a healer in her own right is also at 5+ Pisces. The Moon is the ruler of the birth chart for the Patient Protective and Affordable Care Act (aka Health Care Reform) and is in the 1st house at 5 Cancer 32 and trines Obama’s Chiron as well as transiting Hygiea. She is opposed by Pluto at 5 Cap 22, is squared by the Sun at 2 Aries 55 and Saturn at 1 Libra 09. Nobody ever thought it would be easy, but on Tuesday the Sun will conjunct that Moon that trines the President’s Chiron and transiting Hygiea. Plenty of reason to not give up hope.
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Something has caught my eye regarding this moment of Uranus-square-Pluto Jude.
You say that our tolerance of the nation’s privitization/profitization of military, healthcare and financial services has reached its limit. At this moment not only Chiron, but Asclepius and his daughter Hygia are conjunct Neptune in Pisces.
Furthermore, Ceres has just reached 0 Gemini (where the recent Solar Eclipse took place), and where Jupiter and the South Node are located too, along with Venus only 5 degrees from him. Neptune and these other symbols of healing are square the nodes. If the South Node is a release point for the no-longer-useful, could it mean that Jupiter, Ceres and Venus are facilitating this release, and because they all square Neptune, Hygiea, Asclepius and Chiron (who, while in the north bending of the nodes, would benefit from the release), could it mean a drastic change in our government’s healthcare policies?
I wondered too about the midpoint(s) between Saturn and Pluto, now at approx 1 Gemini and Sagittarius, and if they couldn’t represent a catharsis of relationships (Saturn in Libra) via the south node and a catalyst via the north node for new modes of operation? In terms of government regulations this could cover lots of catagories, but since the Supreme Court now has the future of the new healthcare law in it’s hands (Chiron!), might there be a glimmer of hope from this epic square of Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn? It is a very subtle aspect between Neptune and Uranus, but a not-so-subtle sextile between Neptune and Pluto.
Just a thought.
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One of my liberal clients opined that we should put Mitch McConnell’s statement (that the No. 1 priority of the Republican party is to make sure that Obama can’t govern) should be put on a loop and played over the public airwaves.
“Problem is,” I replied, “most of my conservative folk are convinced that if someone as lofty as the Senate Minority Leader says it, there must be a good reason. They simply don’t examine the res of the statement, only the source as ‘one-of-us.'”
They really don’t. But most do have a moment of clarity (I’ve seen it flicker through) when redirected to basic civility: “He is our President. Ours. Not mine, not Dems, not union members; he works for *all* Americans – as do his actions and ideas. If you want something else out of the Presidency, go for it. But we all have to use the basic structures put in place by the Constitution.”
I’ve probably had some version of that conversation a dozen times in the last year. It always surprises me how it is received. I sometimes forget how much of these more vehement expressions are just echoes.
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what a time, when the self-deluded could almost be seen as the best of them!
We have indeed arrived at the much anticipated hour of the first square between the dueling gods of change, Uranus and Pluto. But to your point of “our surrealistic times”, I suggest we not overlook the rather hidden role of Neptune, the third god of change. How like Uranus to upstage the weekend with the surprisingly quick decision of the Sandusky jury, which managed to also upstage the Philly clergy child-sex-abuse trial conviction. But was it just Uranus?
There are aspects in astrology that are huge and in-your-face like Uranus square Pluto, but there is a softer, gentler set of aspects not designd to overpower or overwhelm but to subtlely influence outcomes. Uranus and Neptune are joined through a Decile aspect. It is a subtle aspect, a 36 degree aspect that equates to 1/10th of a circle, and will be perfected in the last week of July. Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker in their book “The Minor Aspects” have this to say:
“The decile aspect relates to the will or purpose of man’s higher spiritual nature and indicates the possibility of the individual being a vehicle for the expression of divine will in some way, as indicated by the planets, signs and houses involved. This is one of the reasons why this aspect is said to have an occult significance.”
The planets are Uranus (shock awakening, free of emotion) and Neptune (diffuse, escapist, ethereal); the signs are Aries (1st, fast, fiery) and Pisces (last, longing, liquid); the houses involved in the U.S. Sibly chart are the third (communication, neighbors, early education) and fourth (family, tradition, security). Then there is the presence of Pallas-Athene conjunct Uranus, known for her diplomacy and negotiating strategies, but also for her weaving skill. This is subtle upstaging with a purpose. The purpose is distraction, a fool-the-eye, sleight-of-hand skill of which Neptune is the Master. I won’t put the keywords together since we can all weave those together pretty well on our own. But think about the masses who don’t enjoy or revere the art of astrology.
In this country anyway, the “people”, most of ’em, relate to kids and home and sex abuse, and usually they are on the “same page”; family and home are priorities and sex abuse, especially of kids, is bad, bad, bad. I think you are right Jude, the Universe is whispering today, but the picture isn’t so much clear as it is clever. It gives us a perception (in the USA anyway) of a united front against the evils of power (church, Big Business like football) so as to diffuse the polarities of our political stands and entrenched fears of the future in order to lull us before the shit hits the fan. It’s why we use anesthesia before surgery; so it won’t hurt as much.
I, like you, choose the President’s message to make my heart happy and until the Universe speaks in a thunderous volume, we will can choose our preferred pain killer. Thank you again for your tireless efforts to inform and uplift.
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