“Given
everything we’ve seen from the president, it’s almost certain that Trump
sincerely believed Blagojevich’s sentence was unfair. So he tried to shake down
a children’s hospital, using state funding as a way to extort campaign
contributions. What’s the big deal? That’s just shrewd deal-making. Would we
really want to live in a world where public officials can’t wet their beaks?
But more than that, what Trump is really after is the normalization of
corruption. The fact that Blagojevich was a Democrat makes it all the better.
Trump would never argue that Republicans are clean and Democrats are dirty; he
wants to convince you that everyone is dirty.”—Paul Waldman, WashingtonPost.com
The Waldman/WAPO article cited above is extremely disturbing if you
happen to believe that there are decent, honest, even self-sacrificing
individuals in this world, and that innocence
lives, despite the efforts of cynics like Trump. Yes, this is a cruel, corrupt
world for many right now, but
believing that the corruption at the root of so much injusticde is “no big
deal” sinks to quite a new low. Why would Trump want to “normalize corruption?”
Perhaps because for him, corruption is normal?
The article goes on to characterize this quest of Trump as a ploy to
convince opposition voters to not bother voting. Why vote, if nothing you do is
likely to work? Why vote, when the corrupt—including Russia, according to last
night’s New York Times article on new
revelations about their meddling in 2020—have rigged the game and that’s just
the way it is?
Of all the misinformation campaigns we might imagine (see here for a lot more on that), Trump’s Russia-supported attempt to make us
feel helpless and hopeless could actually be the most damaging to our election
in November, and with the new revelations, it’s now not surprising that the GOP
plans for this year echo some tactics reportedly used by the Russians in 2016—targeting
potential Democratic voters with troll farm lies and distortions on social
media sites, attempting to discourage them and convince them that it’s useless
to vote.
“Resistance is futile” and “democracy is an illusion…why bother?” are
the ultimate Orwellian messages—messages that also echo White House Chief of
Staff Mick Mulvaney’s now notorious quip about his boss’s toxic blending of
dirty politics in foreign policy: “get
used to it.” In our early days as a Republic, people expressing such views
would have been run out of town on a rail. Today they’re given Executive branch
jobs.
In the last post we considered the Neptunian
challenges to this coming election at length, then analyzed two
candidate charts in that light. How would these individuals be able to respond
and perhaps even thrive in the dirty game of Trump politics that looms ahead?
In an interesting piece for The Atlantic, journalist Sarada Peri seems to pick up on the same Neptunian
dynamic in her piece entitled “Trump is going to cheat: How should
Democrats fight against a president who has no moral or legal compass?” This
excerpt was especially striking:
“But these concerns
about policy and broad cultural appeal are secondary to the true electability’
crisis facing whichever Democrat wins the nomination: He or she will need to
run against a president seemingly prepared, and empowered, to lie and cheat his
way to reelection.”
Peri goes on to explain why Trump will find it difficult to
run on his record—for those suburban voters he lost in 2018, his agenda to
break down Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security should all register as a
no-go. So what choice has he? To lie and cheat and scam the American people
into giving him four more years. Despite people being alert to their own
self-interests, Peri says, “But—and this must be said out loud—the facts may
not matter.”
 |
| The Nevada caucuses have experienced record turn-out. |
Trump’s campaign has already initiated some disturbingly
corrupt tactics to attract voters that Dems can usually count on—for instance,
handing out cash awards to individuals of color so as to pretend he’s their
friend? This, from Politico.com:
“Allies of Donald Trump have begun holding events in black
communities where organizers lavish praise on the president as they hand out
tens of thousands of dollars to lucky attendees.
The first giveaway took place last month in Cleveland, where
recipients whose winning tickets were drawn from a bin landed cash gifts in
increments of several hundred dollars, stuffed into envelopes. A second
giveaway scheduled for this month in Virginia has been postponed, and more are
said to be in the works.”
While I don’t believe
these tactics—which smack of bald-faced bribery—will pull the wool over too
many eyes and result in people ignoring Trump’s onerous policies and racist
behavior, they could do some damage. Especially to those running their campaigns
with integrity. Trump’s following a well-known authoritarian playbook principle
here: deceive the people into thinking you have their interests at heart long
enough to get their vote, and then wham! Let
them know where they really stand
when it’s too late to do anything about it. Let’s hope people wake up and smell
this particularly creepy cup of coffee. The stakes are way too high here.
 |
| Nothing's sacred, it seems. |
Finally, Peri calls
out Republican enablers of Trump’s corrupt campaign by pointing out how the
dirty tricks compromising election security have already begun:
“Using guerrilla tactics, his supporters jammed
up the Iowa Democratic Party hotline on caucus night to sow chaos. Then, when
the results indeed yielded chaos, Republican trolls, including Don Jr., tweeted
out conspiracy theories about a rigged election. Worst of all, congressional
Republicans are shamelessly
blocking election-security bills, including two that would
specifically fight foreign interference in American elections.”
It would be
interesting to know if Russia had anything to do with jamming up those phone
lines—it’s certainly a do-able tactic for a troll farm, so we can’t really rule
this suspicion out. So yes, the dirty gloves are off, folks—Trump has clearly
realized that, with the GOP Senate’s help and a subservient Justice Department,
that being openly corrupt is his best path to success. Not something to hide or
be perhaps slightly ashamed of; no, corruption is something to crow about now—the lower the better.
 |
| Speaks for itself! |
No
wonder every one of the 11 criminals he pardoned or showed clemency to today
was convicted on some kind of bribery, corruption, racketeering, fraud or
mishandling of the public trust. He pardoned a Giuliani associate/former N.Y. police chief convicted of
conspiracy and wire fraud, etc. These are his people – why not? Not to mention,
he’s found the perfect self-serving tool in these pardons for grooming new
campaign surrogates,, collecting campaign donations (see here for much more on this) and stoking outrage to “trolg the Libs,” just to see them
squirm. “If you don’t like it,” he seems to be saying, “try and stop me!”
So perhaps we didn’t know how good we had it with our American “rule of
Law” approach to justice up until now. On the one hand, with our national Sibly
chart’s Pluto return very near completion, is any of this truly
surprising? The demise of our democracy has been rolling down the tracks like a
fog-enveloped freight train, and too many simply haven’t noticed what’s
approaching until it arrived. And here it is—the hallmark of authoritarian
regimes is that elections are never fair,
so we have decisions to make as a people, whether to fight to preserve our
fair elections or not. For as long as Trump occupies the White House going forward,
we will never be able to count on justice being truly “blind,” or even done at
all—or on being protected by the Justice system ourselves. Only the proven
corrupt and those who can be used for political purposes need apply for help.
So where does that leave his opposition and the rocky road ahead to
November’s election? In the hands of candidates like the ones whose charts
we’ll consider ahead. Just to frame the discussion, we’ll be focusing on how
each candidate is likely to be able to handle that Neptunian cesspool of
lies, misinformation and cheating that’s threatening to subvert their
candidacies and steal the election in November.
Let’s begin.
Sen.
Amy Klobuchar
Senator Klobuchar has been a rising
star in the Senate for some time now, but she’s had a problem with name
recognition out on the campaign trail. Her fortunes shifted a bit through the
first two nomination contests, finally, and word has it that she’s the only candidate that stumped all 99 counties in Iowa. Chuck Todd
noted that she also “outevented everyone in New Hampshire,” so what she may
lack in that elusive quality of charisma, she makes up for with commitment and
a solid work ethic. Her now familiar narrative centers on being from a
struggling, but industrious Minnesota family (“my grandfather saved money in a
coffee can in the basement”), so it’s safe to say that she is targeting the
working and middle classes with her message and policies. She has a special
affinity for the farming community, which can’t hurt, especially in her home
state of Minnesota. Wikipedia summarizes
her background nicely:
“American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota. A
member of the Minnesota
Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota's affiliate of the
Democratic Party,
she previously served as the Hennepin County attorney.
In February 2019, she announced her candidacy
for the Democratic nomination
for President of the United States in
the 2020 election.
Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar is a graduate of Yale
University and the University of Chicago Law School.
She was a partner at two Minneapolis
law firms before being elected county attorney for Hennepin
County in 1998, making her responsible for all criminal prosecution in Minnesota's most populous
county. Klobuchar was first elected to the Senate in 2006,
becoming Minnesota's first elected female United States senator,
and reelected in 2012
and 2018.[1] In
2009 and 2010, she was described as a "rising star" in the Democratic
Party.[2][3]”
I’ve watched her closely on the
debate stage several times now—she’s had stronger showings every time, with the
exception of the debate on February 19th, where she was put on the
defensive by relentless attacks from Pete Buttigieg, a fellow moderate who
probably sees her as a prime target. At times in that debate the animosity
between these two seemed personal—unfortunately Klobuchar gave her fiery Mars
(Aries, see below chart) free rein to react with visible anger and
disgust. Women candidates are often held to different standards than
their male counterparts when it comes to emotional expression, so we’ll have to
see what impact her angry display will have on Nevada results. Will she fall
prey to pressures arising from that stereotype?
Or will her work ethic impress and crowd out that negativity?
Of course, she’s one of only two
women remaining in the top-tier of Democratic candidates who make the debates
(Tulsi Gabbard hasn’t been on the stage for several of them now), yet it’s hard
to see where Klobuchar’s gender has ever been a real obstacle for her. My take
is that she normally comes across as
very professional, and she’s not shy about sharing her successes and stellar
qualities. I get the impression that she owns her power and knows her mind,
which might inspire confidence in voters.
Klobuchar’s platform is decidedly
centrist (she opposes Medicare for All, for starters), and from the rise in
numbers that she experienced in Iowa and New Hampshire, it’s possible she’s in
touch with what people are looking for.
Between Klobuchar and her chief
centrist rival, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (see chart from last post here), they captured 44.2% of the New Hampshire
primary—this says that stripe down the middle of the road has gravitational
pull, so it’s not to be ignored. The question is, who’s the best candidate for
leveraging that opportunity? Indeed, Klobuchar may be seen as a “safe”
alternative to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and/or Bernie Sanders, whose policies veer
far more to the left.
So, how would Klobuchar handle the Neptunian
onslaught of misinformation, distortion and dirty politics coming from
the Trump camp? The analysis below considers her chart from that perspective. As
with the last post, we’ll be examining the candidate charts alongside this
year’s Aries ingress—this should give us some idea about the path ahead for
2020.
Biwheel
#1: (inner wheel) Amy Klobuchar,
May 25, 1960, 12:56 a.m. DST, Saint Louis Park, MN; (outer wheel) Aries
Ingress 2020, March 19, 2020, 11:50:01 p.m., Washington, D.C.. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Klobuchar Venus conjoins Moon and Sun
(Gemini); Sun widely conjoins Klobuchar Mercury (Gemini); Ingress Neptune
(Pisces) squares Klobuchar Mercury (Gemini). This strong Gemini
energy explains Klobuchar’s facility on the debate stage, and when she
points out that she’s won every race she’s been in, that might be her strong Venus
at work. Even so, the transiting square from Ingress Neptune to her Mercury
suggests that she may experience some challenges keeping her thoughts
straight if a misinformation campaign targets her.
Trump’s chart features a
natal Mercury-Neptune square (Cancer-Libra), which explains a lot of
his duplicity and delusionary thinking, but it’s difficult to predict how
Klobuchar will experience this particular combination. She’s only polling at 9%
in the latest national NPR/Marist poll (knocking her back from much better results
in Iowa and New Hampshire), so maybe it’s a moot point. She’s a fighter (Aries
Mars) and a strong Venus (Taurus) might lend her some
charm for the road ahead.
Of all the candidates, she’s been
calling the most insistently for Michael Bloomberg to stop hiding behind his
out-of-pocket ad blitz and actually show up to debate, and of course, that
happened in Nevada last night, where he was basically savaged by the other
candidates, especially Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Both women on the stage were
fired up and combative last night, in fact – must have something to do with Venus
(Aries) falling square Jupiter (Capricorn)![1]
This reflects how both targeted the massively wealthy man on stage
(Bloomberg). The combativeness was probably also stoked by Mars (Capricorn) square Uranus
(Taurus), disposed by that warrior Venus. The men on the stage seemed a
bit mystified by their female colleagues, but only Pete Buttigieg dared to
question Klobuchar in fairly harsh terms. As I noted, that did not go well.
Klobuchar’s chart features four planets/luminaries in home signs: Mars
in Aries, Venus in Taurus, Mercury in Gemini and Saturn in Capricorn. This
suggests that she’s capable of firing on all pistons in both her personal and
professional life. Her reputation as a passionate/determined “warrior” for her
constituents is supported by her Mars-Eris conjunction (Aries), which
may also account for her tenacity and self-confidence—and the anger she showed
last night towards Buttigieg’s needling. She generally behaves with a lot more
equanimity, but somehow Buttigieg’s approach threw her off balance and onto the
defensive. That leaves us to wonder if she will be able to stand up against
Trump’s brand of needling and verbal abuse. He certainly won’t be any kinder
than Buttigieg was—this is a point to watch going forward.
 |
| Klobuchar's centrist agenda could help her with some, but hurt her with others. |
Klobuchar Mars (Aries) inconjoins her
Neptune (Scorpio); her Neptune squares her ASC-DSC (Aquarius-Leo). At
their worst, these aspects would have a “muffling” effect on Klobuchar’s
ambitions, undermining her ability to move forward at a pace that matches her
efforts. Yet, these are natal aspects
and she’s been living with them forever, so maybe she’s worked out how to
navigate the frustrations of this nebulous trap. Perseverance is key: Neptune
is capable of breaking down enthusiasm and commitment, but at best,
it’s capable of firing people up with idealism. Hopefully, the latter is the
case with Klobuchar—she seems to have some grit stored up for just these Neptunian
occasions; again, the best case scenario would be that she doesn’t
respond defensively. If she can handle the Neptunian onslaught—lies,
distortions and nebulous threats—she could
perhaps effectively counter Trump’s cheating.
Time will tell—she has some
formidable competition in the centrist lane, so she has to distinguish herself
from those rivals, including Michael Bloomberg.
Ingress Node (Cancer) squares Klobuchar Mars
(Aries) and trines Klobuchar Neptune (Scorpio). This, together with transiting
Pisces
Neptune hovering within orb of Klobuchar’s South Node (Pisces) amounts
to a lot of emotional “water” in the situation. That could be a positive, given
that this year promises to be quite emotional—deploying that kind of energy for
the right reasons may be just the ticket, if people respond. Again, public
opinion (Node) will undoubtedly weigh in on the emotional dimension of
her character during the caucus. Anything she can do to make sure her emotions
come across as expressions of her idealism (Neptune) would be
helpful. Trump is equally, if not more emotional in his campaign appearances,
but then normal expectations for behavior never seem to apply to him.
It’s interesting also that
Klobuchar’s North Node conjoins Sibly Neptune (Virgo, chart not shown): if
she gets the chance, perhaps she will be able to convey that 1) she’s seriously
committed to her path of public service (Virgo), and 2) she really “gets”
what the so-called “American Dream” is about (Sibly Neptune). This
could mean that she will manage Neptunian challenges as well as
anybody can—she’s “been there, done that!” (Pisces South Node). This
may also make that Mercury-Ingress Neptune square a bit less concerning—she’ll be
challenged to mentally “process” Neptunian energies (which is
difficult for any one), but she’s
likely up to the challenge.
Let’s see how the other female candidate is likely to fare
against the same challenges.
 |
| Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) |
Sen.
Elizabeth Warren
After seeming to disappear off the
campaign radar screen for a couple weeks, Senator Warren came roaring back in
last night’s debate. Of all the candidates on stage, she did the most
effective, even aggressive job of holding Michael Bloomberg’s feet to the fire
over past issues with women in his company and with his failed “Stop and Frisk”
program as NYC Mayor. He was not amused,
to say the least, and he had very few helpful answers for her.
Warren distinguishes herself among
the candidates with her reputation for having a detailed “plan” for virtually
every issue and initiative that she envisions will be important: health care,
gun reform, paid family leave, universal pre-K for 3 and 4 year olds, student
loan forgiveness, teacher raises, climate change, and on and on.
She’s acknowledged, in fact, that some
of her plans originated with former candidates (Kamala Harris, Julian Castro,
etc.), and that she asked their permission to feature
such plans in her campaign. In these
times, we have to admire that kind of transparency. As for her own approach,
she takes a solidly progressive, if not quite
socialist approach to many issues, but she’s an advocate for capitalism, as
long as its more cutthroat wealth inequality-producing tendencies can be
regulated sensibly. Like Sanders, she doesn’t have much patience with
billionaires, but she does seem to be more interested in making such
individuals part of the solution instead of the problem.
Warren has a record of
fighting Wall Street for the sake of economic reform (she was in charge of
organizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Obama), but I haven’t
heard her call for the same type of “working class revolution” that Sanders
promotes.
She seems to have a facility for
calling out others’ incongruities and catching key debate points on the fly,
and she has no fear of saying tough things out loud. She began the evening last
night by calling out Michael Bloomberg for being a “billionaire who calls women
‘fat broads and horse-faced lesbians’”—and when he went on to explain how good
women have it working for his company, Warren quipped that his defense was that
he’s “nice to some women.” I suspect
she can take Donald Trump on in a debate, with little problem. His tactics will
be dirty, of course, but she appears capable of landing some effective punches,
and she will definitely see through his machinations.
Let’s consider her chart.
Biwheel
#2: (inner wheel) Elizabeth
Warren, June 22, 1949, 12 p.m. ST, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ;
(outer wheel) Aries Ingress 2020, March 19, 2020, 11:50:01 p.m.,
Washington, D.C.. Tropical Equal Houses,
True Node.
Please note that we have no sure
birth time for Elizabeth Warren, so we won’t dwell on angles, house or Moon
placements.
Warren Sun conjoins Warren Uranus (Cancer);
these points sextile her Saturn (Virgo), square her Eris (Aries) and inconjoin
her Jupiter (Aquarius). It was clear from Warren’s last debate
performance that she’s feeling some heat and urgency about her campaign—Ingress
Sun (Aries) exactly squares her Sun-Uranus (Cnncer) and sextiles her Jupiter
(Aquarius). Between her Cancer conjunction and her Jupiter
sign, she has a fairly prominent Aquarian nature—which makes for an
“odd couple” mix for a nurturing, Cancer Sun, but she seems to make it
work.
She was the only debater on the stage that said “I believe in science” when asked about the climate change dilemma. She’s
an advocate for meaningful change, always targeting areas where ordinary people
are disadvantaged in some way (her specialty as a law school professor
was bankruptcy law), and this isn’t pie in the sky with her: she’s compiled a
long list of “plans” for every bit of it.
Virgo Saturn (which also inconjoins
her Jupiter) endows her with a steel trap mind for details, an
attribute that’s reinforced by her Gemini Mercury disposing that Saturn.
Her fighting nature and ability to make devastatingly sharp criticisms
(i.e., against Bloomberg) is clearly on display here, too, with Mercury
conjoined Mars (Gemini).
Interchart
T-Square: Ingress Saturn-Pluto
(Capricorn) opposes Warren Venus (Cancer); this axis squares Ingress Eris
(Aries)-Warren No. Node (Aries). It’s interesting that she shares this
set of aspects with Trump himself (Trump’s includes a Saturn-Venus conjunction)—could
it be that she will be able to counter him better because of this? Her
t-square, however, also involves her No. Node, which in Aries,
which reflects that warriorship of some kind is her evolutionary path.
It appears Ingress Eries is on hand to keep her motivated.
It’s worth pointing out here that
Warren’s progressed Sun is at 8°+Virgo—conjunct
her progressed Saturn (Virgo). This puts both progressed points square
her natal Mercury-Mars—certainly a reflection of the workload she’s
been handling and the “sound the alarm” role she’s committed to playing in
these times. Another interesting detail: her progressed Jupiter (Capricorn)
conjoins Ingress Mars-Jupiter (Capricorn) and her
Sun/Pluto and Uranus/Pluto midpoints at that same
degree. It’s an amazing, ambitious
convergence of several energies that gives us insight into the role Warren sees
herself playing. Here’s what Michael Munkasey has to say about the Sun/Pluto
midpoint, with Jupiter:
“An idealistic desire to become number one; cheer or laughter
lightens your perspective on life; a need for creating a more complete set of
ethics or morals…a debasing of personal standards.”[2]
This suggests that the dynamics that go into fully embracing
power on the almost unimaginable scale of the U.S. presidency, which can
certainly be done for righteous reasons, despite our current experience with
Trump. Nothing about Warren’s behavior that I’ve seen suggests a lack of ethics
or morals, but she’s as exposed to temptations as the next person. As we know,
Trump has decided his best bet is to simply be openly corrupt and to challenge those with reservations to do
something about it! As for Warren’s Uranus/Pluto
midpoint (Capricorn)with Jupiter:
“Added insight into
legal and political processes which you use for expressing ideas about reform
and change; an excess of strong feelings about imposing major changes into the
many various paths of life.”[3]
Anyone who witnessed Warren’s debate performance this past
Wednesday can relate to this: Mars adds an abrasive, potentially angry edge to these midpoints and dynamics. It
could be that Mars will be “fuel” for Warren—according to Politico.com, her coming out swinging boosted her fund-raising significantly.
Ingress Neptune (Pisces) trines Warren Venus
(Cancer). It’s possible that Neptune also sextiles Warren Moon (Taurus), but
since we’re not sure of her timing, we’ll pass on that consideration. If her
chart did have this sextile, it would
increase her capacity for compassion and idealism, but this is also suggested
by her Neptune-Venus trine (Pisces-Cancer). She expresses both
qualities pretty nicely, and even though her idealism at times seems a bit
naïve and “pie in the sky,” once she explains her plans to address lofty goals
(like universal pre-K), those goals usually sound more rational and
clear-headed. These aspects also represent her ability to inspire others with
her ideals.
 |
| Warren communicates deep concern for human needs in her rhetoric and policies. |
These are fairly hopeful aspects, in fact—perhaps a sign that she
can handle the Neptunian energies at work on less lofty projects, like
misinformation campaigns, etc. Finally, if
her Moon (Taurus) is roughly where it’s shown here, it squares
Pluto (Leo), suggesting that her family life growing up was profoundly
transformative in some way, and she’s alluded to this in so many words when
describing her upbringing. This may help her
come across as authentically caring, compassionate and aware of human
needs.
So, I’m cautiously optimistic that
Warren will fare pretty well if she wins the Democratic nomination. The
question is, can she win the nomination? If
she can’t, she would be, in my estimation, a great running mate for whoever does win. She’s probably one of the hardest-working
Senate members and presidential
candidates, and she wears it well, being incredibly energetic and looking much
younger than her years (71) . In this
she distinguishes herself from Sanders and Biden—her fellow septuagenarians. As
much as we might hope such factors don’t really matter, they do.
 |
| Former V.P. Joe Biden |
V.P.
Joseph Biden
To my recollection, this is the
third time former V.P. Joe Biden has sought the presidential nomination, so he
has obviously known the agony of defeat without losing confidence in himself. Having
served two terms in the Obama administration, brought on by Obama for his
foreign policy experience, he probably is
the most knowledgeable and experienced candidate when it comes to national
security and international alliances and agreements, including the Paris
Agreement. That should mean something
to voters; however, Biden also represents most starkly the generational divide
that bedevils this race, so thus far, he’s just doing “okay,” not really
catching on in a big, sustainable way. We’ll
see what happens today (as I write this) in Nevada!
As discussed earlier, and more
thoroughly in the last post here,
Russia’s poking its nose into our election with a misinformation campaign that
picks up where they left off (if they
left off) in 2016’s election. One of their priorities, it seems, is to deflect
support from Biden to Sanders—with the ultimate aim of facilitating Trump’s
re-election (Trump has expressed a desire to run against Sanders, so maybe Russia’s
taking their marching orders from him or vice versa). Could Trump and Russia
end up being sorry for what they wished for? Stay tuned—the point here is how
all this might impact Biden’s chances at the nomination. This dilemma gives us
something tangible to ponder when we consider how Biden will be able to handle
toxic Neptunian tactics aimed at undermining him. Let’s begin.
Biwheel
#3: (inner wheel) Joseph Biden,
November 20, 1942, 8:30 a.m. War Time, Scranton, PA. ; (outer wheel) Aries
Ingress 2020, March 19, 2020, 11:50:01 p.m., Washington, D.C... Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Ingress Pallas-Mars-Jupiter-Pluto-Saturn
(all conjunct in Capricorn) oppose Biden Jupiter (Cancer) and sextile Biden
Mercury-Sun-Venus (conjunct in Scorpio). These aspects are both hopeful
and discouraging for Biden’s prospects, unless he is capable of absorbing
Capricornian pressures (stellium opposing his Jupiter) and
projecting them back out at his opponents. He’s a bit disadvantaged by so many
key natal points hiding away in his 12th house (his birth data is
rated “A”), but it may help that his Progressed Sun is in mid-Aquarius
and his Progressed Moon is in late
Aquarius, conjunct Sibly Moon (chart not
shown).
With the new Jupiter-Saturn cycle launching at 0°+Aquarius at the end
of this year, he may be emotionally and mentally “in tune” with the electorate and the future trends in government.
This might seem strange, given his age, but I don’t think we can count him out
because of his age, either. Other high profile politicos like Nevada’s Harry
Reid have made similar observations—that we shouldn’t count Biden out so
easily, so maybe we should listen.
Consider the fact that, of all the
candidates, Biden is the only Scorpio. This may, strangely, put
him at an advantage because Scorpio sextiles Capricorn and
several key points are caught up in that sextile, including his Venus.
Will the Ingress Jupiter-Natal Jupiter opposition cancel out the
protection afforded by his natal Cancer-Scorpio trines? Or perhaps it
will simply keep him fighting for his agenda? He will do well not to take anybody’s support for
granted under these oppositions—though he started out the race as the
frontrunner among fellow Democrats, he has to earn every vote just like
everyone does. His Jupiter is dignified in Cancer, rules his Sagittarius
ASC, and is well-connected
throughout his chart, so he’s still the beneficiary of some supportive natal
aspects.
As for the misinformation and smear
campaigns that seek to derail him, if anyone should be capable of withstanding
the machinations of a corrupt administration, it should be a Scorpio
“phoenix” like Biden. He’s known life-changing tragedies his entire
professional life and has kept on going—among the most shocking tragedy, he
lost his first wife and only daughter to a traffic accident in December 1982,
one month after winning his first Senatorial race.
 |
| Joe Biden's son Beau Biden was buried with military honors in 2015. |
So Biden raised his two sons
Beau and Robert Hunter (both were wounded in that accident, as well) for
several years as a single dad; his oldest son Beau served in Iraq and died of
brain cancer in 2015 (which influenced his dad’s decision to not run in 2016) and “Hunter”—who was a
Washington attorney and lobbyist before he got involved in Burisma in
Ukraine—has been the constant target of Trump’s attempts to smear his dad (the
Ukraine scandal and impeachment were about this). So Biden is no stranger to
difficulties and attempts to destroy his life.
And yet he comes back with the
intention of serving the country one more time—what he’s suffered doesn’t give
him a “free pass” to the presidency by any stretch (nor does his time with
Obama), but I’d credit his resolve and tenacity as being the light side of Scorpio
“phoenix” energy. He could be retiring with a handsome pension and an
honorable legacy—why put himself through all this punishing stress? He
says that he’s running because his son Beau made him promise he would, so
whether he wins or not, I think he deserves a chance to give it his best shot.
Biden Saturn-DSC-Uranus (conjunct in Gemini)
sextiles Biden Pluto (Leo); Ingress Uranus conjoins Biden Moon (both in Taurus)
squares Biden Pluto (Leo). We can only imagine the kind of emotional stress
that Biden has experienced in the past year, since his son Hunter has become a
political football and old “friends” like GOP Senator Lindsay Graham (SC) have
allowed the dark conspiracy-thinking of the White House to overwhelm his better
nature, actually supporting those trying to investigate his son, allowing Trump
to get by with his corrupt Ukraine machinations with impunity and so on. The
emergence of “enemies” like Graham is perhaps reflected in transiting Uranus
sextiling Biden 6th-7th house Uranus-Saturn—disruption
to alliances and the onset of repressive changes.
The misinformation campaign against
the Bidens itself, however, seems to be reflected more by Ingress Neptune (Pisces) opposing
Biden MC (Virgo). This is somewhat softened by the Ingress Neptune trine to Biden
Mercury (Scorpio), which rules Biden MC, but the damage to his
career and his family are both represented here. Obviously, this is a long
transit going on in his 4th house, and its impact can be quite
debilitating. Whether this put a “victim” label on his forehead or not remains
to be seen—his MC is still nicely supported by his Scorpio and Cancer
points, and it is being trined by Ingress Capricorn Mars-Jupiter
and Pluto (Capricorn). Quite a phalanx of energies to navigate—we can certainly
respect the challenges he’s up against from all this, even if he’s not our
first choice for president.
Finally, back to our initial
exploratory question: how will Biden be able to navigate the Neptunian
dynamics of our times? Will the misinformation campaigns targeting him
succeed in disabling his candidacy? Obviously, the Neptune opposition to his
MC
has to leave a mark, but it’s been there the whole time he’s been
running his 2020 campaign, and he was the frontrunner for months.
So we shouldn’t leap to conclusions—Neptune
can also enhance his “charisma” and lend him some celebrity appeal. If
he has the inner resources to absorb the corrupt efforts against him, recycling
them into something productive, he may withstand this latest assault and even
prosper. I think we’ll find out as we
get into the Super Tuesday primaries – his campaign probably won’t be able to
sustain tepid results in those five states. We may know sooner—Nevada could make
the difference, and hopefully those results will turn out to be clear, one way
or another.
 |
| The delegate count going into Nevada. |
Final thoughts
An emboldened Neptune calls upon us to
dis-illusion ourselves as best we can. This is especially key this year because
people will vote against their own self-interests
for various reasons. We saw it in 2016 and we’re seeing it again this year,
with reportedly 40%+ of Latinos polled
saying they would vote for Trump. There’s some question about the credibility
of this “Telemundo” poll, but considering how badly would-be immigrants at our
southern border have been treated by Trump’s immigration policies, does this
make any sense?
No, but there you have it—under Neptune’s sway, perfectly sane
individuals can be enchanted into supporting very dangerous leaders. This makes
misinformation campaigns, gaslighting (i.e., Putin saying we’re “paranoid” if
we think Russia’s involved, while Trump chimes in, calling his own intelligence
services’ conclusions a “hoax” and accusing Democrats
of running a “misinformation campaign!” It sure gets old being blamed for
what he’s doing—again, Gaslighting
101.
So, we’ll know a lot more after Nevada results come in later tonight.
So far, it’s looking like Sanders has the lead, but the night is young. In coming posts and as the field of candidates narrows, we'll take a deeper dive into the remaining candidate charts and if he's still in the race, we'll definitely consider Mike Bloomberg's chart, as well.
Hang on for the ride!
Raye
Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former educator. A graduate of
the Faculty of Astrological Studies (U.K.), Raye focuses on mundane,
collective-oriented astrology, with a particular interest in current affairs,
culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public concerns such as
education and health. Several of her articles on these topics have been
featured in The Mountain Astrologer and other publications over the years.
She is
also available to read individual charts—contact her at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.
© Raye Robertson 2020. All
rights reserved.
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