Editor’s Note: I asked Fe Bongolan to provide us with a campaign news roundup as Obama and McCain go into the final stretch. The next 48 hours will be a telling spell of astrology. Tuesday at about 4 pm the Moon reaches its exact full phase, and 24 hours later Mercury stations direct. On the personal front this is a time to back off, not push anything you can avoid pushing, and ease through the astrology.
This stretch of time is a true hot spot of the year, and it is clear that many things hang in the balance; Mercury is stationing in Libra and the Moon is full in Aries with the Sun in Libra. Despite the Libra presence, the Aries energy makes this a potentially angry and self-centered Full Moon, particularly given that it’s conjunct Eris. Eris is not an asteroid; she is a planet larger and slower than Pluto, to my thinking the most important advance in planetary astronomy and astrology of the 21st century so far. Between this lunation and the associated Mercury station direct, we may have a good bit of mental chaos, identity crisis and relationship twisting and turning on our minds.
People wonder how a 12-sign horoscope can work; the truth is most of us act like puppets as the planets tug us around, no matter what sign we are. Pay a little extra attention as these days unfold. Expect things to go a little more slowly, leave space for the occasional bungle and change of even important plans, and let’s see what develops. And remember that the third and final presidential debate is happening right in the thick of it all. Fe is the most tapped-in person I know, well connected and obsessively informed…so you can count her observations for a little extra.
Thanks for tuning in…
Dear Friend and Reader:
I’M FINDING myself having an increasingly hard time imagining what’s been going on in John McCain’s head.
He was forced by the religious right in his party to make the worst choice of his political career by having unvetted Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate and next in line to the Presidency (McCain wanted Joe Lieberman as his choice for VP, the same Joe Lieberman who ran on the ticket with, yes, Al Gore). The Alaska Troopergate investigation revealed last Friday that the governor abused her position in a relentless vendetta against her former brother-in-law Mike Wooten defying governmental ethics laws, and providing the country further evidence of her amateurish leadership.
McCain “suspended” his campaign mid-September to fly up to Washington and “save the economy,” disturbing a fragile balancing act between both parties needed to sustain a majority vote to pass a bailout plan. His one-day interjection of political showmanship caused further delay in creating an accord between the parties, adding more days of economic anxiety for the nation. It shone an unwelcome light on the Republican Party that allowed deregulation to flourish for decades and helped create the crisis, solidifying the perception that this “suspension” by McCain was yet just another campaign stunt.
Then you have McCain’s campaign on the stump asking “Who is Barack Obama?” whipping red-meat craving right-wing throngs into a frenzy by Palin proclaiming “Obama is palling around with terrorists,” and getting responses that “Obama is a bomb-carrying Muslim,” “He’s an Arab!” and “Kill him!” In a just and perfect world, words like Palin’s would at least garnish you a trip to your local Secret Service headquarters for further questioning. But its October 2008 and there’s an election to win.
The media storm and public outrage over the Hate Talk Express (hat-tip to Democratic Underground for the term) during the last week-and-a-half caused a further drop in the polls and high unfavorability ratings. Its more than likely McCain was pressed hard by Republican Party leadership to ratchet down the race-baiting which was hurting not only his chances, but down ticket races for other Republican congressional candidates. Party first.