Message from Astrodem

Astrodem — a pen name because he works as a political consultant in D.C. — is one of the astrologers I worked with on the Mercury retrograde election story. He posted this to his Facebook page last night.

I cannot tell you how relieved I am that this election did not turn into a 2000-style fiasco with a contested outcome in the presidential race. This election had the strong potential to go in that direction. For most of the past two years, it looked like it was being set up to go in precisely that direction. And when historians tell the story of this election, they will be missing a huge part of that story if they fail to call attention to this plainly evident potential.

During that hour last night when the Romney campaign was refusing to concede, when Karl Rove was contesting Fox News’ electoral math for Ohio, and when Donald Trump was calling for revolution, we caught a glimpse of just how much American self-government depends upon the consent and legitimation of the minority, the opposition, the losing party. For a brief time, the major institutional leaders on the right appeared prepared to withhold that consent. Luckily, their better angels prevailed.

When thinking about what happened last night, understand that this all could have gone very differently. We are truly blessed as a nation that it didn’t.

28 thoughts on “Message from Astrodem”

  1. GSG,

    Thanks for clarifying and I agree with your view on that. I also agree with this:

    “I’m just thinking how far all that money spent by both sides could have gone to help solve real problems and help desperate people more directly.”

    That perfectly expresses what I feel as well.

  2. Hello everyone.
    Polarity. Might be just stepping off it into the one thing. Out of prejudice or preference into what is sound and real for that circumstance. It’s a question of volonté – of wanting to. And doing it – lovely Steiner quote, new to me – perhaps the election result is in part evidence of that type of effort.

    With Hurricane Sandy it seemed to me that the needful thing was to put intentional energy in in the opposite direction to the way the storm was turning. Lisa’s comments from the trees about maitrising our climate were very interesting therefore! (And do trees also speak/connect to each other underground (through water?) perhaps even to different continents?)

    This morning I woke up dreaming I had put my tent in a field to be of service to someone if needful who was staying at the house opposite (the field), when a tornado arrived and we (there were others) were ideally placed to pass our sexual (life) energy through our third eyes in the opposite spiral to the storm – I’m not sure we didn’t draw this energy through the earth too. (Conveniently woke up at that point!). The dream may be less literal in meaning.

    I don’t believe Mr Obama enters into the polarity with his heart it is more deflection tactics – otherwise their whole campaign would have trumpeted their successes and tried to paint the Republicans as ratbags rather than just interviewing them to find out what they said themselves about women and abortion and rape etc (it is different). Listen to Mr Obama’s inclusion phrases. Not polarity!

    I liked Sarah’s 9 of wands very very much (yes taken a beating but still there, experienced now, surely with more confidence, still building brick by brick, still respecting others), and the river of the water of life. Of course the dark figure dominates the foreground that is where we have come to and are at (a victory of sorts so far) but where we are going/looking to is connected to the life/spirit giving water and bridging the polarities? (the hierophant might still be a bit of a worry out of sight? Or not.)

    Lots of potential that is hopeful

  3. CC7,

    Of course you are correct and I do agree with you. It is all a matter of degrees and I don’t mean to imply that we are all contributing to this mayhem to the same degree nor am I saying that we have to agree with the other side… but labels and assumptions, even the subtle ones can become toxic and dangerous if we are not careful.

    Part of the great strength of the Democratic party is its inclusiveness, just as you say. But let us also remember that the Dems raised and spent a whole boatload of money too…and engaged in their own PAC attacks which rightfully or wrongfully kept the escalation going. I know that BOTH sides will say the EXACT same thing: “we only do it because the other guy will clobber us if we don’t”. And both are right in this assessment. As long as we are reduced to a two party system, and as long as we continue to frame our election process as a “war” (in our words and in our minds), then how will we end the downwards spiral to the bottom? I don’t know anyone who thinks that the WAY we conduct our campaigns is improving. However, if that is what it takes to get people of diversity feeling empowered and find strength in numbers then maybe it is just part of the process we have to go thru till we can all agree to do it differently. We could get there, just as we may have managed to diffuse the potential Merc Rx glitches, as Astrodem said at the top of this page. That was what I was trying to say.
    I’m just thinking how far all that money spent by both sides could have gone to help solve real problems and help desperate people more directly.

  4. “but we have to step back and see the big picture here. because we have all helped to create this monster we now have to live with because we continue to propagate a “us vs. them” mentality”

    I don’t mean to be disagreeable but I think it is a bit off kilter to say “we” have all helped create this monster or that “we” continue to propagate an ‘us vs them’ mentality. The idea that both parties have contributed to the polarization equally is just not true. Liberals generally are far more accepting of different people and opinions than Republicans are. Recent studies have found liberal and conservative brains to be neurologicaly different.

    “The studies looked at things like differences between groups’ perception of eye movement, and aversion to threatening noises. Researchers also noted that Democrats had larger anterior cingulate cortexes, which are associated with tolerance to uncertainty, while Republicans had larger right amygdalas, which are associated with sensitivity to fear” (Lupkin, 2012).

    So it isn’t true that “we” all polarized everyone; Liberals want to accept Conservatives but Conservatives don’t want to return the sentiment.

    Lupkin, S. (2012) “Conservatives and Liberals Have Different Brains, Studies Show.”
    ABC News Online, Medical. Retrieved on 11/08/2012 from
    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/09/03/conservatives-and-liberals-have-different-brains-studies-show/

  5. Great message Astrodem…. along those lines here is another quote form Mark Borax’s latest newsletter which I found to be right in parallel:
    >> The great Austrian seer Rudolf Steiner used to schedule his most important social events on Mercury Retrograde. When an astrologer asked him why, knowing astrology, he would do such a thing as contradict the planetary forces like that, Steiner replied, “If our group doesn’t turn around these retrograde energies who will?” He was making the point that human beings are not passive victims of the stars but co-creators with them. The very same forces that would gather to stop you can start you if you’re willing to treat them that way, and dig down into your soul to muster up a powerful response. Between now and November 26 with Mercury Retrograde you can put this to test: any time it seems to you that things are breaking down, rather than blaming it on Mercury, try diverting your energies to the inner undercover track and see if some message of the soul comes through. <<<

    While it feels good to bask in the glow of a "win" during an election cycle, I cannot help but remember how utterly devastated and hopeless I felt when Dubby was elected. Here's the thing… this whole two party system that keeps us at each others heels nipping away, looking for blood points keeps us from taking the next real step which is to acknowledge that we are, as the President said in his beautiful speech, we are all of us Americans, and that includes the thoughtful, centrist Republicans and even the rabid right as well as the multi-coloured left and middle. What is hard to keep in mind is that just as repugnant and distasteful as their views are to the Left, our views are that to them. Having winners feeling proud and puffed and losers hurt an.looking for revenge is no way to go forward regardless of who is on "top"… we all loose when so much is at stake and we keep ourselves locked in gridlock when we think that this is what we have to do to survive. THAT is why this system is so very broken.
    I may get a lot of negative feedback here, but with this Mercury Rx I'm doing some soul-seaching myself and I've realized that I've been pulled into this polarity propaganda pretty deeply and I don't like it. I don't like looking at life thru an "us vs them" set of principals because that continues the warfare model and I am deeply devoted to peace. I'm not a pacifist, but I am not in favour of more competition in our culture…. simply put, it is out of control and does not serve the whole. The real winners in this election were the media. They received millions and possibly billions of dollars as each side tried to out-do the other. The media helps promote this kind of partisan drama because it is really good for their bottom line. They are part of the problem here but it is only because we have bought into the adrenaline ride that any competition brings. I know, I know…MUCH was at stake in this election and I am thrilled that Obama won a second term, but we have to step back and see the big picture here. because we have all helped to create this monster we now have to live with because we continue to propagate a "us vs. them" mentality and as far as I can see the only real big winners this cycle were the media.
    I don't know what the answer is…I'm not smart enough for that….but I do see that as long as we keep vilifying the "Other" we are kept locked in battle, having to defend, parry and attack in order to survive. I don't believe that this is the best way to live, but I have no model to hold up as something better either. But I do know that each "side" of any polarity has to be heard, respected and modified so that it can fit welcomingly into a greater functioning whole. It goes to the question that Eric is asking: "Is anyone listening?". We CAN find a way to neutralize the polarity but it takes listening and it takes humility. Think of all the Truth and reconciliation panels we've seen and how effect they can be in moving a culture out of deeply divided polarities and into healthier societies.
    Think of what we could have done with all that money that got spent on this election if we didn't have this warring framework that we keep cultivating election cycle after election cycle. Think of what we could have done for the people who are suffering in this country if we could have put that money into schools, roofs, heat and food. If we could do THAT with our policies and collective power of conscious intention, then we'd all benefit and the gap between "left" and "right" would become smaller and more easily bridged – in our own brains and in our societies….both have to happen simultaneously or we are not going to survive.

    Just sayin'.

  7. Fe,

    You wrote, “It’s not who was elected, but who elected them. The majority who elected the Presidemt were people of color. 71% Latino, followed by blacks, single women and young people.

    The age of the straight white male dominance in politics is drawing to a close. The Repubs played up that card and lost. There are more women senators in the US than anytime else. The rising demographic across the country is brown. With Latinos leading the way. Just in time for the end of the Mayan Calendar at solstice. So fitting.”

    I so agree. In fact, last night I posted something similar to this on my FaceBook about that very thought:

    “Wait for it; the backlash of all those fearful, racist, misogynistic and homophobic white people who are terrified of the “brown wave,” “marrying gays,” and “wimmin’s rights.” They are holding on to their “white privelege” with an unyielding grip on their guns and they will NOT let go. Dinosaurs! They see the end of their reign and they are shaking in their, sexist, bigoted, hateful, red-neck boots. Their billions of corporate dollars couldn’t buy the presidential election; that scares the hell out of them because the “unwashed masses” could not be bought. Corporations may be people because of “Citizen’s United” but corporations don’t vote; people do.

    As I bask in the euphoria of knowing that “we the people” outflanked all that money put up by super PACS and the Koch brothers, I am sobered by the reality that the same people who voted for Obama (and supposed progress) also voted back the obstructionists (with a few notable exceptions) into congress. Some change…but not enough. We MUST not stop now because there’s still so much work to be done; 2014 awaits!”

    This white-bread, pasty-faced, generic honkey is also proud that “the people” did the right thing. I embrace the “brown wave,” “gay marriage,” and the women in congress and feel the change that we see is not only inevitable, it is glorious indeed!

  8. Good evening everyone, and how good it feels, still!

    This entirely generic whitebread, non-minority honkey, white male is so proud of his country today. We managed to do the right thing yet again. No matter our disagreements or anger with PBO over his policies, secret and public alike, we must admit that he is open to change as we see it. If Romney had won, well, we really don’t want to comprehend that dark, alternate universe, do we?

    At least we can work to make this particular parallel universe our own and change it to how we want it.

    Fe – YES! Spot on. The gender and color shift is here, it’s real, and it’s about time. Yay for Tammy Baldwin, Tammy Duckworth, and the other new female Senators and Congresscritters. Yay for equal marriage rights! It was a good day for many.

    Astrodem: when I heard about Karl’s little temper trantrum, I got to thinking along similar lines to you. What did he know that no one else did? Was he expecting the Ohio Republican machine to pull something off and give it to Romney? It is Rove after all, so I don’t put anything at all past him in the manipulation department. It was like something was supposed
    to happen at a certain time, in Ohio, and it didn’t, which is why he was acting so shocked and put out. With the voter suppression efforts in Ohio and Florida, anything was possible.

    Unfortunately, we need to think about 2014 (groan…), and taking back the House. There will be too much blood until then.

  11. Carrie:

    It’s not who was elected, but who elected them. The majority who elected the Presidemt were people of color. 71% Latino, followed by blacks, single women and young people.

    The age of the straight white male dominance in politics is drawing to a close. The Repubs played up that card and lost. There are more women senators in the US than anytime else. The rising demographic across the country is brown. With Latinos leading the way. Just in time for the end of the Mayan Calendar at solstice. So fitting.

  12. carrie…if I may…Obama still president, Dems still in control of the senate and repubs still control the house. Where’s the big changes we hoped to see? Seems to me we are looking at 2 more years of stagnation.

    There are times when changes are not so obvious. IMHO, the biggest shift will be the new ‘energy’ in the house. A dynamic that will be most helpful to move some of the stagnant shit out the door. Really.

  13. A small data point I came across last night that I found amusing, and you might also. Since 1928, the Republican Party has not won a presidential election without their presidential or vice-presidential candidate having the surname of Nixon or Bush.

  14. Not so fast. Merc Rx (and recently square Neptune) makes me ask; why on earth would voters vote progressive Obama back into office yet vote most of the same obstructionist Republicans back into congess (Michele Bachmann!) when congress had a 12% approval rating and did NOTHING for the past 2 years?

    Think about that for a moment. Let that sink in. How (other than a few exceptions) are things any different in the government configuration between before last night and today? Obama still president, Dems still in control of the senate and repubs still control the house. Where’s the big changes we hoped to see? Seems to me we are looking at 2 more years of stagnation.

    Maybe that’s where the Merc Rx trickster played. All that money spent, all the hard work, all the phone calls and divison….and only minimal progress. Somewhere someone is laughing.

  15. I think that we will have to unveil during this retrograde Mercury and finds that there are certainly truths that will burst in the space of 6 weeks that will elapse

    With a retro mercury expect we have a few surprises to come 🙂

  16. Obviously, the mercury station retrograde did occur and it is describing what actually occurred, even if we don’t understand it fully yet. One element that has been discussed here over the past few months, is that this aspect often reveals previously hidden truth (s). One surprising truth that was revealed was that the race wasn’t close, despite endless polling data saying otherwise – even up until the very end. What is that about??? What happened???

  17. Astrodem:

    I think you’re on to something about Ann Romney. Nancy at Starlight News saw Jupiter in Ann’s chart when she did it last year. There was a Jupiter aspect which made her apprehensive about a possible Romney win.

    But given her voiced concerns over her husband’s fragile mental state, and her innate uncomfortableness with the public, I think she wanted the thing over with after debate 2. Jupiter in her chart was deep relief that the grueling trial was over.

    I haven’t checked in with Nancy today but will be doing a de-brief. She called it for Obama and that the real trial for the nation the next few months will not be a contested election, but the lame duck Congress and the fiscal cliff. Stay tuned.

  18. I see astrology as being a lot like psychology…in that when we become aware of the astrology, we are no longer prisoners of it. We have a choice whereby we can maximize the best potentials and minimize the worst.

    Unlike the 2000 election, we got the word out about the Mercury station on election day 2012. We got the word out early, we got the word out widely, and we got the word out beyond just the astrology community. We made the world aware of the Mercury station. In no small way, I believe this helped to shift the potentials in a more positive direction. The potential for disaster never disappeared completely — but our awareness of that potential allowed us to recognize it, minimize it, and contain it.

    The story of what happened behind the scenes last night has yet to be written. But my guess is that during that first hour or so after the networks called Ohio, there were people at the highest levels of the Republican Party and the institutional right aggressively pressuring the Romney campaign to contest the results.

    Now look, it’s perfectly reasonable to want to double and triple check the results before conceding a national election of this importance. And I have little doubt that the Romney campaign felt it necessary to do this. But let’s not forget who we’re talking about here. I have learned over the years that it is extremely unwise to automatically extend the benefit of the doubt and the presumption of good faith where Republican politicians and operatives are concerned.

    I am speculating — based on my instincts about what was reported last night — that there is more to the story here. When the facts are finally laid out (if they ever are), it will be revealed that the Romney campaign’s decision to concede was not always a sure thing. I suspect there was a possibility — probably a strong one — that they might have done something else. And then they changed their minds. I’d like to suggest that this reversal might be what the Mercury station retrograde was signaling.

    When Mercury stationed, it was opposite Black Moon Lilith or the Mean Apogee — usually representative of a strong-minded, strong-willed, independent woman. Was there a woman who at the last minute intervened? Was there a woman who pulled the Romney campaign back from the brink? Was there a woman who told Romney, “Enough! You lost,” now end this thing gracefully?

    Is it possible Ann Romney saved us from disaster?

    Inquiring minds would like to know!

  19. Amanda: Thank you for posting that link. The question is whether The Donald is headed for the dustbin or whether there are an appreciable number who subscribe to his delusion. The disturbed cannot be dismissed out of hand, healing is needed. Those who favor inclusion need to practice it as well. May he of improbable hair find healing and reconciliation, along with those who give weight to his remarks.

  23. astrodem: Thank you for your perspective. It is indeed important to understand that things could have easily gone the other way, and that we (who are comforted by The President’s re-election) remain grounded in the reality that there is a lot of work yet to do.

  24. Hey astrodem:

    I started a draft of a Fe-911 piece when I first heard by Rachel Maaddow that Rove was going apeshit last night and tried to refute Fox News calling Ohio and the election for Obama. The working title was “Hello, President Kerry”, in honor of for State Secretary Ken Blackwell and Ohio vote suppression in 2004.

    78% Unmarried women, Latinos, African-Americans, other minorities. That’s who voted him in, particularly in the swing states.

    I had the TV on all night, dozing off in between. Woke up to Morning Joe and Mika and watched as the Repubs on the panel had to struggle with “How are we going to not become an extinct brand?” We need to reach out to Latinos, or we’re dead. Blah Blah. I was laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants.

    Mitch McConnell telling the President it is HE who has to reach across and take the extra time the voters have given him to do the job he was supposed to do (of course leaving out the fact that McConnell’s party has been leading the obstruction movement, bound and determined to make him a one-term President) — of course all the dog whistle racist innuendo is out there. Or Boehner saying POTUS’s re-election was not a mandate for making tax codes more fair. Joe Scarborough, I think the leaders of your party need to open their eyes and shut their mouths.

    I am so sick of these old tired guys. Wake up. We’ve been watching as you’ve been asleep. We beat your asses. As Ann Coulter said in 2004: “Get over it.” The world has turned.

  25. Astrodem … excellent post. As happy as I am about Barack winning this election, I am equally happy to witness karl and donald showing us who they are. The 1% got slammed and I should be more gracious … but I’m not.

    Regardless, RAY! and go Elizabeth Warren!!! Wow.

    Astrodem … tell me where you are, if you can share.

    mm.

  26. Hi, all PWers,
    Well, I cannot help believing that Merc rx was on our side last night. Something said in the fm podcast with the historical astrologer Monday night about the time of 11:40pm being significant in the charts made me wait until that time last night to see what would happen. That was when Huff Post Live interrupted their report by saying that something was going on on the air at Fox News with Rove hotly denouncing their own number crunchers concerning the math for Ohio., Something big had happened. Things did not go the way they had expected. I will just here say Thanks to my ruling planet, for a retrograde well done.
    +_+ ;>)

  27. Astrodem, thank you for words well thought and well spoken; a solid way to begin my morning.

    Considering all the jury-rigging that most certainly went on yesterday re: polling places and voting machines, it feels almost like a ‘landslide’ victory, considering Obama won both electoral and popular votes.

    Here in CA we won some and lost some ballot measures; into the night it looked like we were not going to fund our schools, but this morning’s tally shows that we’re still smarter than that (and will not be cutting education even more deeply thusly forcing privatization which has no doubt been the agenda of a few.)

    Sadly we did not insist on labels for GMO franken-non-foods which is a huge loss. I hope this now becomes a strongly pushed national issue.

    The hardest work is still in front of us.
    Now, however, we have momentum.

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