By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
“I’m baaaack!” —Hillary Clinton, with a grin
Even as the echoes of the Uranus/Pluto energies begin to fade, the urge to act remains strong, but how, and to what end, rather like a pin-ball in play, bouncing, bouncing, making a clatter but not yet at rest. It’s probably best not to be too rash in considering our options.
This week a 22-year old Illinois man came to Washington for the Cherry Blossom Festival, taped a protest note that read “Tax the one percent” to his hand and shot himself dead on Capital grounds. A Florida mailman gathered up individual letters to each of Washington’s congress critters protesting corruption, and ignoring restricted airspace, flew his little one-man gyrocopter onto the Capital lawn. He described his action as civil disobedience “in pursuit of honest government that represents the people.” (He was white, there were cameras. We didn’t shoot him.)
On the Hill, approval of Loretta Lynch, candidate for Eric Holder’s replacement as U.S. Attorney General, has been stalled for 161 days. The White House is miffed and supporters have begun a hunger strike (to which I’d add they obviously underestimate the concern of those they seek to sway). Mitch McConnell has told the Dems that Lynch’s vote will be held up until the human trafficking bill — tabled by Dems due to a clause that refuses to allow funding to trafficking victims seeking abortion services — is approved. Yet another hostage situation in the halls of Congress, one that Obama hotly scolded Pubs about in his press conference with the Italian president on Friday.
Another big piece of legislation up in the air is the fast-track on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, passed through committee and fashioned into a bill, splitting the Democrats between those who are business-friendly and those who are progressive. Elizabeth Warren — who is NOT going to run for president, so the progressives should stop wasting energy and resources trying to woo her, and get on with business — and Bernie Sanders are championing the defeat of any fast-track legislation, while demanding a transparent look at all that’s being arranged behind the scenes.
Obama spoke to that question at the press conference as well, referencing China and our need to keep the ‘level playing field’ for America, but that means for American corporations, not the American public. Obama said, essentially, “Trust me, you know I’ve worked for the people since you elected me and I will continue to protect you.” But he is an establishment president, boxed into a fiscal reality that has been solidified over the last forty years, aided by — sad to say — Democratic President Bill Clinton with his nod to NAFTA, which resulted in millions of jobs disappearing overseas and increased American corporate plunder. The TPP appears to be even worse — or better, I guess, if you are a corporate CEO who is charged by law to put profit first and all else aside.
The TPP is too big to ignore and too important to dismiss because we’re ‘too busy.’ This is a battle finally begun (five-years awaited, negotiated in secrecy) and we’ll hear more about it, which is a very good thing since — face it — too many Americans have a limited knowledge of politics, even after having become aware that some knowledge of how these things work is critical to a less dangerous future. Time to pay attention.
But I need a break, so this week, just for ducks, let’s skip the hard stuff of plutocracy, policy and thwarted legislation, and take a look at the stable of presidential hopefuls who have already begun the tedious race for big money and popularity, pre-election and largely, pre-interest from the public. I’m a tad wary with this topic. I do NOT want to get stuck in this non-sense (two words) for the next 18 or so months because, essentially, it means very little. Paul Krugman made that point in an Alternet piece that points out the vast differences between the party philosophies, now that the right has become unyieldingly big business and anti-government, while lefty populism continues to grow in passion and commitment.
Yes, Hillary’s back as we knew she would be, just as we knew the glaciers would melt and Obama would be soundly ignored for all eight years. But this will not be a race between personalities, although they’re diverse enough on the right to fill the obligatory (you guessed it) clown car, bozo noses flashing in the sun and big shoes flopping.
No, 2016 will be a race about political policy, despite the sex of the lefty frontrunner. It would be a fine thing if we could include a third party, like the Green (with its stellar exploratory candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, among others), but this continues to be a fledgling movement, garnering less than one percent of the presidential vote. We’re stuck with the two we know best, warts and all (and the cure would come with a healthy dose of campaign finance reform for starters, then an inoculation of populist oversight and effective regulation, along with a commitment to accountability).
Traditionally, we like our presidential nominees to pass muster in central casting — at least the 20th century version — which is one of the reasons St. Ronnie the Reagan remains perpetually beloved, even as his tenure tore at the fabric of populist democracy established by FDR and gave permission for the racism, elitism and corporatism we see surrounding us today. We don’t want our candidates to be too young, too old, too fat or too thin, too radical or too wimpy, and God help them if they’re not white or male.
Enter the 2016 wannabes: a compendium of all of that and more. So early in the dance it’s hard to get any traction on the silliness between now and then, but for the record, here’s where we are today.
Of those who have formally announced, Ted Cruz continues to use all his dog-whistles to call in the faithful, and it will be difficult to shake their confidence in him, since no one else has his religious bona fides (except perhaps Huckabee, who USA Today says will announce on Friday night). For the majority of Republicans, Ted is a truly wonderful human being but much too radical to be elected president. This assumes ANY Republican is electable as president, given their relationships with the Latino, black, female and younger demographics.
Rand Paul announced last week with his father carefully hidden in the back row among his supporters, not to steal Rand’s thunder, I would assume. His rambling speech was less than artful, and now he’s proven himself touchy, rude and sexist in early exchanges with women reporters, although he’s acknowledged his temper and pleads that he’s equally rude to man and woman alike. Rushing to his defense (no pun), shock-jock Limbaugh called Rand’s barking at Savannah Guthrie just an example of the candidate standing up for himself, inadvertently giving the Dems something to trounce him about. Not that they need an excuse, given Rand’s inconsistencies. The Tea Party likes this current streak of Libertarianism, which fits nicely into the Federalist position of states rights and “Don’t Tread On Me” civil liberties, but they’ll never ever EVER go for isolationism. The military industrial complex is one entire leg of fiscal stability in the U.S. at this point. Nobody on the right is interested in chopping off that leg.
Marco Rubio has announced, making himself out to be the hope for tomorrow. This line from his speech, “Yesterday is over, and we are never going back,” an overt hit at Hillary’s age, is belied by the tired ideas that keep his proposed policies mired in the past. Rubio is attractive and charismatic, and will perhaps find stronger purchase in the future, but right now he’s not going too far, too fast. He is considered unproven in a party that values its pecking order, and while touted as a Republican man of color (he’s Cuban), it’s best to remember in a party mostly supported by old white people, he’s a MAN OF COLOR.
While he has yet to commit, ditto that for Indian-American Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, whose approval numbers are so slim at home (around 24 percent) he’s hinted at asking Duck Dynasty’s deeply and disturbingly fundamentalist patriarch, Phil Robertson, to join him as vice presidential candidate. Once promoted as the face of young Republicanism, Jindal keeps shifting farther right, which is fine for the base but not for party prospects. Well to remember that while in college, he practiced exorcism on his roommates as a tenet of his faith: good with Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, but pretty much a deal-breaker with mainstream America.
Newly verbal this week, Chris Christi is smug and belligerent, bigger than life (also no pun) and the kind of take-no-prisoners politician that ran Tammany Hall back in the early days of this country. He doesn’t take no for an answer and insults those who don’t agree with him. Yet to announce his candidacy, he’s declared that if he does, he will beat Hillary, will not tolerate marijuana use in those states that have legislated for it and will make major changes to Social Security. Big talk from a man whose numbers are tanking at home and whom the religious-right wouldn’t touch on a bet.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker led the early pack of hopefuls, his ego helping him rise to the top like a hot air balloon. Walker has made a name for himself by killing off unions, culminating in a recent vote that rendered his state “right to work” (which means the right not to pay union dues and then wonder too late what happened to all your worker protections). A recent survey indicates that his stronghold demographic — political independents — now disapprove his job at home by a 24-point margin, and he’s lost a big chunk of party support since October. Like Rick Perry, his answers to political questions were not up to snuff. I think of Walker as someone like George W., not the sharpest tool in the shed but canny and well connected. That is likely not enough to get the nod this time around.
Rick Perry, enhanced by thick-rimmed dweeb glasses to make him seem less dim, is in New Hampshire with the other wannabes this weekend to schmooze the electorate. Rick called Hillary a “pig in a poke,” linking him as ideological kin to the Pub county supervisor in Milwaukee, whose mouth had already made her a public figure for nicknaming Hillary “Ovary.” Brace yourself for much much more of this, since Clinton IS the threat they’re facing, and sexism is the easiest brass ring to grab as the calliope plays.
Hearken back with me now to those 2012 news bulletins regarding Hillary’s pant suits. Resolve to push past this inanity, not wallow in it. Promise to examine, support or critique her policies against a progressive template. I suspect some on the right have evolved enough to keep their yaps shut even if they’re thinking sexist thoughts, but certainly not all. Some of the theatrics are fun, if not taken to heart. Pushing aside the pig and ovary comments, this week her stop at Chipotle for lunch was portrayed by FOX News as an overt nod to the Hispanic vote. Perhaps this week she’ll pick up Chinese takeout and put everyone into tailspin.
So far, Hillary has done a pretty good job of embracing progressive concerns, although some of it seems a direct turnabout, as Dem. Gov. Martin O’Malley, as yet undeclared, has accused. She may be good on environmental issues now, but in her last gig as Secretary of State, she acted as an encouraging voice for international fracking. She has talked about amending the Constitution to rid us of Citizens United, but she’s also projected her campaign to cost some 2.5 BILLION (with a B!) dollars, so I suppose one would have to follow the other, eh?
She’s depending on smaller donors this time around, and mimicking Obama’s use of social media, but there seems little doubt she’s already lined up her billionaires. The charity that she and her husband and daughter run hasn’t given up on foreign contributions as yet, and likely won’t. They will have to establish an unscalable wall between money for the poor and any hint of pay-for-play. And of course, there’s Big Dog Bill. What to do with Bill.
Since she is likely the Dem candidate, and the first woman president, Hillary could benefit from a liberal tune up. If she’s going to turn out those voters who could lift her boat in 2016, she needs to get a sense of how passionately they want progressive change. Warren isn’t running, but it’s apparent that Bernie Sanders is, and that will put the right questions on the floor in debate. Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chaffee, a popular Independent ex-governor, along with O’Malley from Maryland, seems anxious to climb on board. Add hawkish Jim Webb from Virginia, and we still don’t know about Joe Biden. That’s a quorum, then, and a platform for some of the more important issues to get a public airing.
Although there are no sure bets on the right, and Jeb is considered far and away too moderate to suit primary voters, it seems reasonable that he will find his way to the nomination. Of the proposed candidates, Jeb is the most house-broken politician. However, his embrace of immigration reform is a black spot on his resume, and he has a lot of private baggage, including fishy business deals over the years, a Hispanic family, and his older brother, once the Decider, now a painter. Despite those hiccups, Jeb is conservative to the bone, although a party set to ‘primary’ old faithful John McCain for not supporting a right-wing agenda may not appreciate that. I loathe the idea of a Clinton/Bush dynasty campaign, but there seems no avoidance, given the dearth of likely challengers. Frankly, I don’t think it’s much of a contest, and much less about personalities than policy and money.
The choice, I believe, will be stark enough that there will be little doubt about what’s being voted for. WHO turns out to vote will again be the issue, I think. The country is by and large more liberal than conservative, and it has looked on the Pubs’ obstruction with a good deal of trepidation. Although the party hits the right cultural notes, many of their own aged and aging party members may have trouble accepting attempts to change Medicare, Social Security, and even that highly effective Democratic project known as Obamacare.
Doug Sosnik, adviser to Big Bill Clinton back in the day, wrote a Politico article titled “Groucho Marx’s Republican Party: Why the GOP is in more trouble than you think.” In it, Sosnik elaborates on this Groucho quote: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
Right now, the GOP’s biggest problem is that the country isn’t looking for the kind of change that their party is offering. The Tea Party-inspired insurgent wing of the GOP is so consumed with completing its political takeover that it’s either unable or unwilling to do what it takes to appeal to the group of voters Republicans need to take back the White House.
All the talk of Clinton’s inevitability in 2008 has soured the pundits on using that word, but I will. Unless something monumental happens, Hillary is inevitable as our first woman president. With many months to go, we would do well to push her as far to the left as possible, knowing that she will default back to moderate when the time is right.
So this is that moment when the left can get traction on how it expects its leadership to behave. This is that period when the political expectation is larger than mere rhetoric. The whole nation will be discussing the issues we care the most about. And seriously, dearhearts? That IS change we can believe in. We’ve come a long way, baby, from the dark, if hopeful days of 2008, and that’s a very good thing.
JG, a strong welcome back to you and thank you for a very well researched, written and at appropriate times, witty article! Points well taken to push Hillary and her party machine as much to the left as possible since the pendulum will ultimately recalibrate toward the center come election time. You are correct, in your description of our government. Unfortunately, it wasn’t designed with a two-party system in mind so a third party (like a Green Party) won’t prevail and the original constitutional design of checks-and-balances is off kilter because of the party system (party alliances rule, not an executive branch checking Congress, or a Supreme Court Checking the other two branches, for example). Obviously, once in office, Hillary will still need to work with Congress to get any legislation and budget passed, but it would be good to see her move more of a populist agenda and not be beholden to the corporate establishment.
For Hillary to have a successful campaign no matter what it will come down to money and the vote. She will have to raise the money to fight the money that will be levied against her– especially that spent by the Koch brothers and other oil families who will throw it in PAC to “fight issues” (i.e., not directed at “Hillary”) so they can “exercise their First Amendment Rights of Free Speech,” guaranteed by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizen’s United. Remember that Citizen’s United was against Hillary in the first place. But let’s hope that after HIllary has secured her place as POTUS, she can work on meaningful reform by using her leadership position. Real campaign reform will likely be drive through the States by the constitutional amendment process.
I look forward to reading more of your reviews so hopefully you won’t grow too weary of it all over the next year and half of campaigning. Especially the refinement of the candidate selections–yes, Eliz Warren is not running, woo her for other assistance in the campaign (and later, as an ally in the Senate). Thanks again for your piece this week and welcome back!
Last night on Bill Maher (which almost always seems like an echo of the very concerns I wrote about each Friday morning) the point was made that most other countries don’t have this Kabuki theatre election process. They have a month or two of frenzied campaigning and then the citizens choose. We start rethinking our leadership options two years into a Presidential term — sheer folly and distracting to the actual process of governance. Ridiculous.
Another bit of system dysfunction was pointed out by guest, singer and activist, Clay Aiken, who ran for congress in his home state of North Carolina in 2014 and lost. Due to ruthless gerrymander, of 13 state senators, 10 are Republican although 52% of the state voted Dem. Magnify that around the country and we have the template for producing the deep political divisions we experience today.
Good point about the money, Pisces Sun. Aiken also pointed out that NC has been all but bought by a billionaire, who, not satisfied with having the politico’s in his pocket, got elected himself. The amount of money projected to be spent on this coming election is — truly — obscene, considering so much need everywhere we look.
And with the Pubs determined, now, to show the nation how well they can govern as the majority, we should probably take note that they just passed a bill through the House eliminating estate tax on the .02% of über-wealthy youngsters awaiting inheritance. Maher sez that’s about 5,000 spoiled kids already spending like drunken sailors. And, seriously, given the level of food insecurity IN THIS NATION effecting half of our children, maybe Boehner could have thought of a more worthwhile project to take on! Crap!!
Pisces Sun, the title was a quote from Hillary (I fixed that on the intro, thanks for making it clear I should.) Me, I’m like the old coat hung in PW’s cyber-closet; been around a decade and more. But bless you for welcoming me so kindly, and let me return the gesture: please stop by any Saturday to chat, and thanks for your comments today.
Thanks, sorry I failed to get the I’m baaack reference,” kinda new here. But to your point, for Hillary to win, or any dem, it will still be critical for voters to realize that casting a vote is far more powerful than money, especially since corporations cannot vote (and I’d love to see an originalist theorist like Scalia and Thomas somehow explain to us how corporations had the right to vote back in the day…) Gerrymandering is a real concern and its unbelievable how it continues to occur today but then again, as you pointed out a white postal worker exercised “civil disobedience” at the Mall lawn in DC and was not shot by a cop…
We rely upon examiners like you, and us, to a good degree, to show transparency, since it must be transparent that rights are being eroded. For example, how long have black people been saying that they have been abused by the police? The beauty of it is, all of us have cameras on us at all times, what can be more transparent than that? It’s pretty difficult for a candidate to debate a video. In fact, I’d love to see candidates discuss their positions on police brutality and use of force policy in this country. How can a police officer feel threatened or fear for the life of another, when an unarmed person is running from him after he stopped him from a traffic infraction? And after he saw that the record shows that he is late on child support? Where is the physical threat to the police or society that requires the police to shoot the suspect multiple times in the back while the suspect is fleeing?
Again, the key is keep the debate on the real issues, and remember that we and only we can vote and must vote!
I know this topic breaks away from yours, sorry that it did, clearly a bit frustrated here (and its part of the aggressive male dominate energy that I seem to be addressing often these days–nothing to do with men, everything to do with the energy, which men and women possess and is pervasive in our society’s norms).
Hi Jude, and everybody else out there. I agree with everything you’ve written, and I think that Hillary is a shoo-in as well, but I don’t think I think that as much as you do Jude. Perhaps I’m feeling cynical about it today. I don’t think it’s a given that this election will rise above being about personalities. That, combined with what you mention about how it’s really all about who shows up that the polls, concerns me right now. Can Hillary draw out the young voters that came out for Obama? What about minorities? Are young voters, and minority voters going to show up at the polls? If not, how much of a chance does that give Republicans?
Hi Mike. Yeah, agreed — getting the youth out is going to be critical … and energizing people like me who would MUCH rather have a Warren up there, pounding the pulpit … but that’s why the next months are so important.
Even WITH Hillary in place, my comments today regarding gerrymander are in place until 2020 (another census year, and one that — if we go Dem again this year — will require a second term in order to give the Blue a chance to reshape the voting districts) so we are required … if we want to see some progress on these shores … to stump for a REAL progressive movement, based on income inequality, militarism and climate change, for instance.
THAT’s what’s been missing, that’s what’s so crucial … and we’ve got a big enough window to really do something, if we have the political will. Since the issues have become so extreme, perhaps that will urge us forward — we’re better at identifying what we DON’T want, than what we do. And there is already a growing movement on lots of liberal issues, they just need to be gathered under one big blue umbrella. That’s what Warren’s terrific at — perhaps she’ll step up on more than just finance.
As to Hil’s chances, if she keeps hitting the populist “for the people” buttons, she’ll get our attention. Meanwhile, it’s up to the foot soldiers (us) to begin the march. Thanks for your thoughts today.
Wonder what youth-friendly vp might ultimately emerge?
good point, keep us thinking!
Great goddess Judith! You are on point today and so glad to add my own welcome back to Pisces Sun and Michael Mayes with their bright minds working overtime. Michael, didn’t you say you were from Louisville? If so, are you hearing what I’m hearing ? It’s Thunder Over Louisville Day and right now the jets are making all the noise. It will give way to the massive fireworks show tonight but it seems an obvious nod to the U.S. Sibly (natal) Mars in Gemini. . . . .a lot of loud noise. . . . which could also symbolize the hootenanny we refer to as Election Campaign Season.
U.S. natal Mars squares U.S. natal Neptune in Virgo, and therein lies the rub. Too often the noise from the U.S. just doesn’t make sense. Or it’s just too far fetched to be believed. This year’s U.S. birthday chart – July 2014-June 2015, called a solar return chart, had Mercury at 24+ Gemini, pretty close to the U.S. natal (Sibly) chart’s 21+ Gemini Mars. That would go a long way in explaining the volume of rhetoric we’ve had for the last 10 months, and this solar return Gemini Mercury was trine solar return Mars…and solar return Ceres. . . and solar return Vesta . . all conjunct solar return North Node at 24+ Libra. The U.S. Sibly chart’s Juno is at 20+ Libra and Juno demands equal time. For everyone.
Well, brace yourself, the next U.S. solar return chart ( July 2015-June 2016) ALSO has Mercury at 24+ Gemini. Not quite the same emphasis (Mars) this time, but he does oppose Pholus (small cause big effect) at 23+ Sagittarius, and squares Chiron at 21+ Pisces. Mercury also sextiles Jupiter and Venus in Leo and sextiles Uranus and Persephone in Aries. Those guys and gals, Venus, Jupiter, Persephone and Uranus, along with Pholus will form a grand fire trine. I would expect an impenetrable flow of grievances (Uranus will be conjunct the U.S natal Chiron) much of it coming in political advertising, that will last at least until the next U.S. birthday in 2016. The Press will love it. Us, not so much.
Speaking of Bill Maher, I just learned recently that he too has a natal Sun at 0+ Aquarius. He joins the club with Pres. Obama and Eliz. Warren (both have Jupiter at 0+ Aquarius) and Eric Holder who also has an Aquarian Sun at 0 degrees plus. In the Mt. Astrologer magazine issue for April/May 2015, author Chip Electronowiz (an astrologer who goes by several names) writes about Bill Maher that “his willingness to challenge the status quo has cost him some sponsors from time to time, but he has always come back and kept at his relentless deconstruction of the stupid side of consensus reality, particularly of the conservative and ‘politically correct’ variety.”
These 4, the Prez, Elizabeth, Eric and Bill are part of the vanguard I see leading us all to the 2020 conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn at 0+ Aquarius. A 20 year cycle is initiated at every Jupiter-Saturn conjunction and this one in 2020 officially ends the cycles in earth signs (for a while anyway) and officially begins the cycles in air signs. Lots there I don’t understand but it’s important in the scheme of evolution. Saturn and Jupiter symbolize cultural and societal movement (forward or backward) and the chart for their conjunctions give us a picture of what to expect for that 20 years. This one we are in now began at 22+ Taurus, was square Uranus in Aquarius but was also trine the U.S Sibly Neptune at 22+ Virgo.
That conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn took place in 2000 and it’s chart also had the Sun at 7+ Gemini (1 degree from the U.S. Uranus) trine Neptune at 6+ Aquarius (conjunct the U.S. Sibly south node), so there’s another built-in symbol of cacophony (U.S. Uranus trine U.S. south node) that the U.S. has to live with, clowns and all.
I’m totally with you Jude, Hillary will be our next President. For one thing, on Election day transiting Jupiter will be conjunct her natal Neptune at 11+ Libra and for another thing transiting Saturn will trine her Pluto, and for a 3rd thing, transiting Uranus will trine her Saturn, and for a 4th thing, transiting Chiron will trine her Mercury. Still, the clown show must go on.
be
Wow Barbara, wow! My first thought is that astrology is directing kobuki theatre with so much drama for us all to watch with an inevitable ending (we know the show will end).
Thanks for your added comments, brace ourselves indeed, this is going to be a ride whether we like it or not!
Totally agree with your assessment and the totally predictable ending Pisces Sun.
An interesting set of coincidences has caught my eye which includes the December 2020 Jupiter-Saturn conjunction taking place in the same degree of Pres. Obama’s Jupiter at 0+ Aquarius, and the opposition between the transiting Sun to transiting Sedna in November, 2020. These 2 events bookend a lunar eclipse at 8+ Gemini (the degree of the U.S. Uranus) and a solar eclipse at 23+ Sagittarius. The solar eclipse chart includes Venus at 28+ Scorpio.
28+ Scorpio is where Pres. Obama’s MC is and where the Sun will be when it opposes Sedna, meaning that Sedna, at 28+ Taurus will be conjunct Obama’s IC in November 2020. Somewhere (at PlanetWaves) I mentioned that presently transiting Sedna is conjunct Hillary’s north node at 24+ Taurus. I noted yesterday the coincidence of the present 2014-15 U.S. solar return chart’s location of Mercury at 24+ Gemini being where he will also be in the 2015-16 U.S. solar return chart. Hillary’s natal Uranus is at 25+ Gemini. Maybe something she isn’t expecting will be discussed during her talks with the People.
It looks to me like after Obama is freed up from the Presidential gig he will include among his projects a concern for the oceans, lakes, etc., and perhaps Pres. H. Clinton will ask him to lead an international program (or vice-versa he will ask her) addressing this environmental disaster.
When the solar eclipse of December 2020 takes place, transiting Venus (conjunct Obama’s MC) in Scorpio will sextile both transiting Jupiter and transiting Saturn in Capricorn, on their way to their 20 year conjunction at 0+ Aquarius. This will loosely connect to Pres. H. Clinton’s natal Uranus at 25+ Gemini in a yod fashion. The solar eclipse itself at 23+ Sagittarius will be opposite Pres. Clinton’s natal Uranus at 25+ Gemini, which is one degree from where the U.S. solar return Mercury is this year and next year. With transiting Sedna now conjunct her natal north node, I feel certain she will be addressing the water issues during the coming months, if not weeks.
Transiting Neptune only a few weeks ago made his first conjunction to the U.S. Ceres and square to the U.S. Uranus, and will do so again this August-September, and again next January and February, 2016. Perhaps a new crisis regarding water (or a neglected one) will demand attention at the solar eclipse this coming September. At 20+ Virgo, it is only 2 degrees from the U.S natal Neptune. The transiting north node will be at the “Aries Point” of 0 degree Libra, soon to move into Virgo, a healing earth sign.
Keep your ears open.
be
Just realized we will be calling both the Pres and the First Man “President Clinton” since that’s his permanent title. lol.
my bad. I guess if the wife of a pres. is “First Lady” then the husband of a pres. would be “First Gentleman”. And I suppose Bill would actually be “Mr. BC, First Gentleman and Former Pres.”
Maybe we can build him a personalized acronym.
That sounds like fun aword. . . give us some ideas, would you?
Hey Be, what do you think of ‘Solar Arcs’? Have you read Noel Tyl?
I’ve had this book for about 8 years now, had to put it down after browsing, and now I’m curious again.
It’s premature for me to ask right now (considering I just found it like 10 minutes ago) but, what do you make of predictive astrology, and what methods would you use besides intuitive observation to ground the swirling mayhem of possibility?
I’m curious with you Be, ’cause you write of past and future. I’m also curious if anybody else has ideas on the subject of precognition..
Jere
Don’t use them jere, but sometimes use the progressed planet positions of the U.S. Sibly chart to get added explanation on timing. I look for connections (degrees from the past that connect to degrees in the future, or aspects with the same general meeting that connect past and future.) I also rely a lot on my guides. 🙂
Thanks Barbara.
I was just reading today that more and more ocean dead zones are being found by the scientific community. These are areas where oxygen levels (due to ocean warming and oxygen depletion) are so low that most species of fish can not live and recovery of the ecosystem takes hundreds if not thousands of years~
https://theconversation.com/ocean-dead-zones-are-spreading-and-that-spells-disaster-for-fish-39668
September is a strong hurricane season for the gulf and Atlantic states in the US, it also is a strong drought and wild fire time frame for the West and mid-west and tornado area for the US heartland. Couple the extreme storms season with the issue of our oceans (higher seas increase the energy and thermals of the oceans which affect the storms) and there is a high probability of super storms and natural calamities. So basically, climate change is the issue and disregard of planet earth is the debate.
When you separate yourself from the earth, you justify taking from her (and others) without remorse and in the most self-indulgent way–enter most supporters of the Republican Party, whether knowingly or not. Yet, even Dorothy and and her traveling companions awakened from the poppy fields and realized that they had been drugged, maybe the debates will allow the American people to wake up to climate change and direct their attention towards the health of our oceans, rivers, wetlands and ecosystems. A bright spot is the work of the “The Frameworks Institute” a non-profit marketing group that has been working with this nation’s aquariums to help them frame the issue of climate change so to help educate donors, schools, families and children understand the effects of climate change. I’d love to see them work on Hillary’s campaign!
There is no way that the debate on climate change can be avoided in this election despite the likes of Ted Cruz and others. With the Pope declaring it a moral issue, more and more members of clergy will be taking a similar stance and many have already done so, along with of course, their fellow brethren throughout the world’s spiritual and indigenous community.
The cosmic signs tell me that we will see a true debate on values- what is truly important and where belief systems support certain choices. The unveiling will be refreshing and Clinton and Obama’s leadership toward healing the ocean and earth under Gaia and Neptune’s watchful eyes will be welcoming.
Thank you Barbara for shedding light on the upcoming astrology happenings. On Dec. 7-8 2015 the world’s leaders are to meet to sign the latest workable agreement on climate change, the US. has promised 25-28 percent reduction of pollution sources based on 2005 measures. Other nations are also working on their pledges, including China and India, leading users of coal. The global agreement is to come into force by 2020.
I read an article in this mornings paper regarding the Pacific Ocean warming, and the lack of understanding as to how or why it occurs. Off the tip of my brain I had a flash of Fukushima. Seriously man, a bunch of radioactive shit floatin’ through the crap.. Makes me wonder.
..Slight retraction.. it’s been called a warm ‘blob’ off the coast of California, which has been fuckin’ up the marine biology.
Keep those flashes coming jere!
Agree wholeheartedly Pisces Sun, today’s anniversary of the Oil Disaster in the Gulf is still teaching us what we need to do. Thanks for the reminder of September’s hurricane season too; transiting Neptune will again be conjunct the U.S. Ceres and square the U.S. Uranus.
Good point about the Fukushima disaster Jere, and the radiation and radioactive marine debris floating towards the Pacific coast- trajectory is Alaska south to California. The affected states and federal government have monitoring and cleanup programs that intercept and pick up debris that most folks don’t even realize occur, under the watchful eye of the EPA and NOAA but has to fight for funding by Congress. The States fund it as best they can and a lot of citizen groups are also involved.
Hi Jere — to your point:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/28-signs-that-the-west-coast-is-being-absolutely-fried-with-nuclear-radiation-from-fukushima/5355280
The article’s a little old (year and a half) but the research is prevalent. He doesn’t mention the “blob” that’s newer, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or marine biologist) to follow the path of the radiation, and the path of the blob.
Eat Kelp from Iceland…I am wondering why I’m headed north sort of “into it”, but we’re all “in it”, aren’t we?
Fuck!! Aaarghh! My brain freakin’ hurts…
Overwhelming. Everything is falling apart; nothing can heal things in time to save us. I hate this feeling. Where has all my optimism gone? I seem trapped in a loop of circular pessimism.
But I know there is beauty all around me so I speak this truth today to myself……
This too shall pass. There are good things happening and life will evolve beautifully.
I’m with you today man. I don’t know what the fuck happened (maybe I shouldn’t have read the news, watched that program on WWII, opened my eyes, or even woke up). I do possess hope, if not faith or belief.
Gotta shut down the electricity for a bit. Go outside, sit in the shade, stare at the garden, pet the dog, and hopefully recharge the spiritual batteries.
(I can see beyond my own personal lifetime. It gives me a sense of relief. But it doesn’t confront my sense of responsibility. I always wondered what folk meant when they said, “Jere, you’re a lost soul.” Maybe I am.. I still have work to do here on this plane.)
I wish us all the luck a Sag. can muster! And maybe I’ll have a global social breakthrough ‘without’ going bonkers..
For now, Peace where you can find it,
Jere
I believe that we create our reality. I really believe that. I guess I’m a little depressed about what I have been creating. I want to do better but I continually let me down. There are inherent conflicts that seem to be unfixable – How to complete the task of self love – that is the conundrum.
My world reflects how urgent it is becoming for me. I can simply not blindly go along with it, I never could. I want to feel the beauty of all creation as one. Feeling good is my right! Maybe it is the hardest thing to achieve but it seems the only thing worth reaching for. The frequency is always there but sometimes I cant seem to find it. So I have to keep adjusting the dial.
. . falling apart so we can learn how to put it back together cowboyiam. You probably have a Neptune aspect working on you, I get that way sometimes too. Besides, we hardly hear of all the good stuff happening, only the bad stuff. Keep the faith.
A whole lot of Neptune Be, Its in perfect trine to my natal Neptune in Scorpio and exactly opposed my Pluto Sun conjunction. One of the more blunt effects is I cant drink responsibly lately so I had to stop completely. But you can also see that drinking is also more appealing as well. Just cant seem to regulate it and it has become the relief valve of choice. So now I am reaching for my better solutions consciously.
Yeowza cowboyiam, that IS a lot of Neptune. I can relate to your need to escape and you are to be commended for trying to stop the drinking completely. There are better times a’coming if we can just find the strength to believe it. Where is that darn Saturn when we need him?
Your posts are speaking to me Cowboyiam, I feel the same temptations toward chemical self intervention, but so far have only succumbed to a clove cigarette about once every six weeks. Just a little something to make me feel a little bit “bad”, but in a good way, if you know what I mean. Here’s a poem I wrote a couple of days ago, maybe you can relate to it:
Untitled
My feet crunch on the ash and cinders
of my end, this world’s end.
I walk as though I am still alive
as though this world still lives
and breathes, apparent life
rushes everywhere footed
on cinder and ash.
My desperation sees yours,
yours sees mine,
we say nothing, to speak
to it raises only blame
and pointless effort. What
will be born is beyond
our control, what will
survive the birth pangs
refuses to be named.
Love to you, hang in there, susycrandall
Susy that poem really nails it. Everything about the real world seems surreal and the complexity so overwhelming and pointless, just designed to keep us busy. And me I float along in the desert of the unseen wondering if I’m still here but then the next minute expecting something great to soon appear. Just hanging out today and focusing on some mundane tasks. Pleasant connecting with a few others though. Thanks for your thoughts.
Today we remember the disaster that happened in the Gulf of Mexico 5 years ago. It was a painful teaching moment, described in the Taurus conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 2000. Then, in 2000, Pluto was one degree away from being exactly conjunct the U.S. Sibly ascendant in Sagittarius,
Mercury in Gemini was trine the U.S. (Sibly) Moon and quincunx the U.S. Pluto,
Chiron and the Great Attractor (both only 3 degrees from Pluto) in Sagittarius were sextile the U.S. Saturn and quincunx the U.S. Sun,
Neptune was conjunct the U.S. south node and
Photographica the asteroid was conjunct the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn itself.
All of this made for an easily absorbed lesson, not meant to be forgotten in the deluge of events that would follow.
April 20, 2010 was 5 years ago and the next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction is 5 years from now, bringing to an end the Taurus lessons of values and becoming conscious of the resourceful Earth and of it’s fragile beauty. Only 5 more years to get it right or risk losing it all.
The astrology of the disaster in the Gulf is tied to the future Jupiter-Saturn conjunction as well as the last one, when the 2000 conjunction chart’s Mercury in Gemini squared Saturn in Virgo opposite Uranus in Pisces at the time of the oil rig explosion . The future Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at 0+ Aquarius will square the Sun in the Gulf chart at 0+ Taurus while it’s Venus in Taurus will be square the 2020 Pluto in Capricorn.
If we as a whole can learn from this lesson, and the many lessons we have endured since then, we will leap from that place of unconsciousness to become a more wise and civilized species, worthy of this lovely planet we call home.
be
Be (and Jude!) – sorry to use your latest comment as a springboard, and am off-topic, but right now there is the most terrible tragedy taking place in the Mediterranean sea, namely, the death of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty in rickety boats, the victims of ruthless human trafficking. It has grown out of all proportion, as the European Union cut back on search and rescue operations some months ago, in the cynical attempt to discourage people from taking this route, and the numbers of migrants have increased rather than diminished. I have dear Somali friends who made this crossing in 2008 – and right now one of them is waiting to hear news from his cousin, and doesn’t know yet if she made it over. My only hope is that this thing has become so huge, that these bastard European leaders are finally taking notice.
Don’t know how much coverage it’s getting in the US – here’s a Guardian link:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/20/two-more-mediterranean-migrant-boats-issue-distress-calls-as-eu-ministers-meet
It’s getting here Lizzy, the horrible news always does. I know it is impossible in your situation with Somalian friends, but the channelers often remind us to try and detach from as much of the heartbreak around us as we can in order to help others. They tell us that the “contracts” we sign before being born (and don’t remember) include such tragic deaths as a way to eliminate karma. Hard to believe but if this is so then those that die are so much closer to coming back (wherever that may be) on higher levels of consciousness then what we experience – for now – on Earth. I think you are very much on-topic and you know Jude will too when she reads your comment.
Thank you, dearest Be.
Hillary needs to be pri-married, and pri-married hard in order to putsch her to the left, indeed, as she will rubberband right as soon as she is elected, but perhaps not quite as far even though physics may disagree, and I suppose we can hope that the rubberband might break.
HillBill comes to mind as a Hollywood moniker for the two of them – let’s hope that gets squashed quickly. Oh – and the country will save money with Hill as Pres,–how much less do women earn these days? The feminizing of the presidency…
. . .Precedent Bill Clinton (or Unprecendented Bill?)