Like the crumbling power of the failing king in a Greek tragedy, the credibility of the Bush regime is deteriorating by the day along with its poll numbers. And also much like in a Greek tragedy, there is a fatal flaw in the main character of this story that is the cause of his demise. George W. Bush is unable to deal with reality; he neither perceives it clearly nor is he able to act rationally and expeditiously upon relevant information. Instead, he dwells in a delusional world in which he is the hero in a great unfolding drama, imagining that he brings democracy and freedom to the suffering masses of the planet and compassionate conservatism to the hungry at home. When caught in the contradiction between his world and the facts on the ground, he clings to his superhero myth, claims complete innocence over any misdeeds, and blames others for their incompetence or deception. Some people call this lying.
In 2001, while the Boy King was dwelling in this glorified presidential fantasy, he ignored warnings about the dire terrorist threat that eventually came on 9/11. At the time, he had been unable to even let the concept of terrorism interrupt his preconceived notion that only rogue regimes such as Saddam Hussein in Iraq posed a danger, one Dubya had been long planning to heroically destroy. When disaster hit at the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, he blamed the CIA and the FBI for failing to connect the dots.
In 2002 and 2003, while he nurtured his metastasizing fantasy of eradicating evil in the world, largely personified in his mind by Saddam Hussein, he ignored those who claimed there were no weapons of mass destruction and no real threat posed by that regime, and he ignored all warnings about unleashing a civil war and creating more terrorism by invading Iraq and destabilizing the Middle East. When the cakewalk turned into a nightmare, he blamed “the bad intelligence.”
In 2005, we now know, he was told in no uncertain terms before Katrina hit of the likely calamity that could be caused by this massive storm, but it did not penetrate into a mind obsessed with terrorism and with the valorous accomplishments he aspired to in the Middle East. He was unable to act with dispatch, and the bold leadership he likes to claim for himself was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he blamed the local officials and, eventually, “Brownie.” Despite warnings, he simply didn’t see it coming. After all, who could have anticipated the breach of the levees?
In each case, stories and evidence emerged belatedly that proved essentially that “Bush knew.” We have seen the quote from the infamous Presidential Daily Briefing of August 2001 and heard the testimony of former White House terrorism expert Richard “hair-on-fire” Clark. We have seen the Downing Street Memos and heard from the various ex-CIA agents who gave unheeded warning before we invaded Iraq. And now, we have seen the pre-Katrina video that shows us that the likely cataclysm was described in detail before the fact. Indeed, Bush was told about all three of his administration’s catastrophes early enough that he might have been able to effectively intervene to at least minimize the damage. He was told, but it is not clear that he heard anything.
One day, the same thing will be said of Bush’s fiscal policy which includes radically slashing taxes during a prohibitively expensive war and allowing a deficit to balloon beyond anyone’s wildest imaginings. Many have warned him of the dangerous waters into which he has led us. He hears nothing. In his misguided delusional reality, all is well. The same may be said for global warming about which a multitude of research abounds. The increasingly disturbing data suggests dire threats to the future of the planet. Yet again, Bush has done nothing to stem the tide of this frightening phenomenon. It doesn’t fit into his preconceived notions, so it doesn’t exist. As with most unpleasant things, his head is in the sand, like an ostrich who doesn’t want to see the danger approaching and thinks ignoring it will make it go away.
In astrology, it is usually an overactive Neptune and/or too much emphasis on the 12th house, the natural home of Neptune, that will indicate a tendency to avoid the structure, pain, and discipline of the “reality-based world” for a more peaceful and less stressful experience. Such planetary activity is usually found in the charts of people with a history of substance abuse. It can also be strong in a deeply religious or spiritual person who inwardly sacrifices personal satisfaction for the good of others. Generally, the sense of an ego-driven Self is weak, and the desire to merge into something larger, greater or just painless is quite strong.
This does not suggest that every person with a planet square to Neptune or a planet in the 12th house will be incapable of dealing with reality. These aspects, when not overwhelming the whole chart, can bring great inspiration and deep feelings of compassion, as well as a capacity to serve important causes for the benefit of many. At times, there may also be some minor difficulties staying on task or judging situations accurately, but nothing necessarily diagnosable. It is when there are multiple indications in a chart of this Neptunian disconnect from reality combined with a lack in the capacity for discipline, responsibility, and groundedness, as would be shown by a weak Saturn position, that serious trouble will come. And this is what we find in the chart of George W. Bush.
Bush has Neptune square his Sun and widely conjunct his Moon, thus negatively impacting his capacity for making clear, reality-based decisions (Sun) and somewhat untethering his emotions (Moon). It is also semisquare his Venus, suggesting (along with the aspect to the Moon) that he can get carried away with his feelings without deferring to the facts on the ground. Moreover, Bush has the Sun in the 12th house, which is an essentially weak position for the Sun, and one where a person is more likely to want to merge with some larger, higher, transcendent reality than to immerse himself in the details and struggles of the three-dimensional world, especially when that Sun is also square to Neptune.
To further clarify the picture, it is useful to consider the position of Saturn in Bush’s chart. Saturn generally indicates the capacity to focus on a particular goal and follow through with determination and thoroughness. Saturn is careful, steady, serious, and not prone to flights of fancy, being far too aware of the limitations of concrete reality. In Bush’s chart, however, Saturn is in the 12th house, where much of its strength is lost, as well as in Cancer, the sign of its “detriment” where it is unable to fully manifest its characteristics. Thus, the desire to merge with a larger experience and escape from mundane details and drudgery (Neptune/12th house) is not met with an equally strong capacity to slog through the hard work necessary to truly get the job done. In other words, what we get from the current resident of the Oval Office are promises about ridding the world of evil, bringing democracy and freedom to those under the yoke of tyranny, and rebuilding the ravaged city of New Orleans, but there is little reality-based perspective to determine if these things can actually be accomplished and no concrete, conscientious planning and determination to make these things actually happen.
Another planet to consider in Bush’s chart is Jupiter, the planet of expansion, most known for the good luck and many blessings it can bring to a person’s life. As with anything, however, too much Jupiter can be a problem. When Jupiter is afflicted, especially to the Sun as we find in Bush’s chart (Sun square Jupiter), there is the tendency for a certain amount of arrogance, recklessness, and grandiosity. If this is part of a larger framework that includes an over-strong Neptune, there is the potential for delusions (Neptune) of grandeur (Jupiter) recklessly acted on with overconfidence (Jupiter). The deep humility and self sacrifice of Neptune gets tainted by the inflated sense of self of the Jupiter/Sun square. Moreover, in Bush’s chart, the South Node of the Moon is in Sagittarius, which is ruled by Jupiter, and indicates that there is a tendency to unconsciously act out the more negative Jupiter qualities such as grandiosity, recklessness, and overconfidence. Iraq, Iran, fiscal policy, the current nuclear agreement with India, the Dubai Port contract, all point to policies that have been entered into with a reckless overconfidence and little consciousness of likely consequences (Saturn).
Interestingly, during the much of Bush’s first term, he was submerged in Neptune transits with a consequent exaggeration of his delusional reality. As has been widely reported, he felt God chose him to go into Afghanistan and Iraq. He talked of fighting evil in the world, seeing himself as its savior. Neptune was opposed to his Descendant (2001) and opposed to his Mercury and Pluto (2002). By the time it was moving away in late January 2003, plans to invade Iraq were already finalized. Reality and its frustrations began to intrude beginning in June 2003, as victory in Iraq evaporated into chaos, when Saturn entered Cancer, and subsequently crossed the US Venus, Jupiter, and Sun, and Bush’s Sun and Saturn, through June 2005. This has been followed by Saturn’s crossing of Bush’s Ascendant, Mercury, and Pluto which will continue through early July 2006, bringing with it sagging polls, endless irresolvable obstacles, and numerous failures.
The two Bush Inaugural charts, the birth charts of his two terms, show us why even the hard lessons of Saturn have not seemed to penetrate the addled fantasies of the incompetent gang running the country. During Bush’s first term, Neptune was conjunct the Sun, which describes a weak chief executive prone to dishonesty and self-delusion. By the term’s end, however, transiting Neptune had moved to an exact square with the Inaugural Ascendant, tainting everything done by the administration with an illusory image purposefully used to obscure reality and manipulate impressions. (Remember the election of 2004 if you have any doubts: the Swift Boaters, Rathergate, and the dishonest election are but a few examples.)
In the chart for the second term, this very tight Neptune square to the Ascendant became a permanent part of the new birth chart. The entire modus operandi of the Bush II script became saturated with obfuscation, dishonesty, illusion, and self-deception. With the secondary progressed Inaugural Ascendant reaching the exact square to natal Neptune in January 2006, and the solar arc progressed Ascendant reaching the exact square by August 2006, this administration is now perceived in the public’s mind as totally incompetent and dishonest (Neptune). Its credibility is in tatters. Interestingly, tertiary progressed Inaugural Sun has been conjunct Inaugural Neptune from February 10 through March 10, a period which brought home through the pre-Katrina video tape and the Dubai Ports deal, following on the heels of the NSA wiretap story, how deeply duplicitous and untrustworthy the Bushistas truly are.
In past articles, I have written about the Chiron conjunction with the Midheaven in the Inaugural chart. This aspect suggests some kind of wound or crippling of the Bush II administration that renders the fulfillment of its goals very difficult if not impossible. I have speculated as to whether this “wound” might be Iraq or possibly Katrina. But it seems that it is really an amalgam of all the ineffectual deeds and dishonest posturing of the Bush years finally coming home to roost. This administration is crippled by its own incompetence and the fact that no one really trusts it anymore, neither to tell the truth nor to do the job. Not coincidentally, Inaugural Midheaven has now progressed to conjunct natal Chiron where it remains within one-degree orb and waxing though 2006. The sense of failure of this aspect is compounded by solar arc Saturn conjunct Inaugural IC through February 2007. Clearly 2006 and early 2007 will be the period remembered when the awareness of George Bush’s incompetence and multiple failures fully permeated the public’s mind.
Bush’s growing unpopularity continues unabated through 2007, while transiting Saturn crosses his Venus through June of that year, and tertiary progressed Saturn conjuncts his Venus through December. This is an aspect which suggests decreasing public acceptance and approval ratings that could actually descend into the 20’s. If impeachment were to occur, and I am not predicting that it will, but if it were, it would be in 2007, with Saturn on Bush’s Venus and Uranus square to Inaugural Mars. But as discussed in other articles and as will be covered again and again in the blog and future writings, big events are likely in 2007 and 2008, which may distract from these issues. And Bush himself will once again be under Neptune’s confusing and self-deluding tutelage in 2008, when Neptune opposes his Venus, just as Uranus squares the war planet Mars in the US chart. So there is no telling what that will bring during the last year of this blighted reign. If we are really lucky, maybe he will be in Crawford for it. But don’t count on it.
In the meantime, this tragic, fatal flaw in our president, his inability to engage in reality or to tell the truth about it, has brought the country to its knees. With three more years of this Ostrich Regime, the devastating effect of a totally incompetent government that cannot connect with or act appropriately with regard to the facts on the ground is quite frightening. There is no telling what the next great drama will bring or how much damage such incompetence will wreak. But, at least, an understanding of how deeply damaged this administration is, by virtue of its own fecklessness, dishonesty, and inability to work in the reality-based world, is now reaching prime time.
