In the past month, we have had startling evidence of this craven policy of self-interested dishonesty at the expense of the Republic. In mid-May, we were stunned to learn of the administration’s many early warnings, previously denied, during the summer of 2001, of an imminent terrorist event on American soil, likely utilizing an airline hijacking. Then came the shocking memo from FBI agent Colleen Rowley, which pointed out, at best, gross negligence and incompetence in the pre-9/11 intelligence kingdom. Like a snake in the grass, interspersed amidst these rather riveting stories, were several ominous terrorist warnings from top officials, throwing the country into a tailspin of anxiety. More recently, during further significant testimony on pre-9/11 intelligence, we were given a frightening headline of a dirty bomb plot quelled in the knick of time by our trusty officials. Needless to say, such terrifying headlines wiped away any discussion of information critical of the Bush administration. But despite such prodigious attempts at damage control, these flagrant maneuvers may ultimately have backfired.
Throughout the media, both national and global, the Bush administration has been censured for its callous manipulations of public opinion and its attempts to stoke up public fear to its own advantage. It has now become almost common knowledge that the administration has been cleverly distracting us with its hyper-inflated warnings and exaggerated stories of peril averted. Citizens are becoming cynical and lackadaisical about terrorist warnings. The credibility of the administration is in a shambles, so much so that we begin to dwell within the story of the boy who cried wolf.
Another example of this negative balance in Bush’s credibility is the current determination of Governor Jim Hodges of South Carolina to thwart Bush’s plan to dump spent plutonium in his state. Governor Hodges has called for state troopers to block the transport of this radioactive waste across the state line. What this comes down to is Hodges’ disbelief in the assurances of the Bush administration that this plutonium will be a temporary rather than a permanent part of the South Carolina landscape. Hodges wants an absolute guarantee that is legally binding since the president’s word is evidently not enough. The president’s word was certainly not enough in Nevada. Despite promises to the contrary from a campaigning Bush and despite insufficient scientific support, Yucca Mountain has been mandated to be a repository of nuclear waste, unless the Senate manages to stop it.
Astrologically, several configurations may be seen to correlate to recent events. Certainly the speed of daily revelations and sudden shifts in the political landscape may be connected to Uranus, the planet of sudden upsets and powerful, transformative awakenings. For nearly five weeks, Uranus has been nearly exactly stationary, in a minor hard aspect of 135 degrees, to Bush’s Sun. This aspect peaked as of June 10, 2002. Furthermore, due to the square of Bush’s progressed Saturn to his progressed Moon, the past four weeks have been somewhat upsetting and difficult. But it is to Neptune that we must turn to understand the underlying dishonesty and the perpetual weaving of illusion by the Bush administration.
By its very nature hard to define, Neptune is the Master of Illusion, the Ultimate Spinmeister. What you see is not what you get. In addition to this snake oil salesman archetype, Neptune also can indicate self-deception. Seemingly clear thinking is often infused with fantastic and unrealistic perceptions and plans, possibly even flavored with a divine or mystical purpose. This planetary energy is most at home in the inner life of the true mystic, the ecstatic emotions of the new lover, or the heightened sensitivities of the artist, where it can safely inspire a more sublime emotional state. But when focused on the realities of the political or global landscape, pragmatism evaporates, and an ungrounded, idealistic fantasy colors everything. In the geo-political game of chess, such grandiose schemes can cause enormous and dangerous repercussions.
The amorphous clouds of Neptune permeate the entire Bush presidency. In the Inaugural chart of January 20, 2001, Neptune is conjunct the Sun. The Sun in any chart is its heart, its true inner essence. Thus the inner essence of the administration is merged with an unrealistic, almost mystical sense of purpose. Its goals are not based in fact and practicality but on a subtly self-deceptive illusion. Moreover, the reality presented to the world is based on illusion, artfully molded to sell the snake oil.
In Mr. Bush’s natal chart, there is a Sun /Neptune square, as well as a Twelfth House Sun. Both of these suggest the same Neptunian themes mentioned above. In addition, the Twelfth House often implies a desire to retreat and avoid the harshness of the earthly world. Mr. Bush’s history of alcoholism fits perfectly with the implications in these two aspects. The alcoholic’s main defenses are avoidance and denial. A great deal of the work in recovery is to transform these tendencies, rather than continuing to ignore problems until they fester into nightmares.
In Mr. Bush’s natal chart, we also find very significant Neptune transits throughout most of his four-year term. These serve to reconfirm the strong Neptunian flavor of his birth chart, as well as the implications of the Inaugural chart. During most of 2001, and especially strong during a station from July through December, Neptune was opposite Bush’s Ascendant, completely coloring his view of the world (Ascendant). From February 2002 through January 2003, Neptune intermittently opposes Bush’s Mercury and Pluto, as well as quincunxing his Mars. Mercury/Neptune combinations indicate rather muddled thinking, often with a belief in the possibility of fulfilling divinely inspired but impossible tasks. The prominence in the President’s thinking, during this period, of plans to conquer Iraq is an example of ignoring the pitfalls of reality while focusing on the grandiose scheme.
The Mars/Neptune combination seems to erode Bush’s prestige to some degree. This is due to Mars’ rulership of Bush’s Midheaven, the point in the chart of world esteem and career. The first pass in February occurred when there was worldwide fallout over the infamous Axis of Evil speech and the emerging plan for steel tariffs. This transit will reemerge in July and early August 2002, as well as in November and December 2002, the latter perhaps indicating a less than happy outcome for Bush in the fall elections.
Other than a return of Neptune opposite Bush’s Pluto in September through early November 2003 (which looks to be a very difficult period by several other indicators), most of 2003 seems relatively free of the Neptune-like trance under which Bush currently spends most of his time. Saturn, the planet of very harsh reality lessons will be quite strong in 2003, and may be the reason for the enforced groundedness. (See Timeline for details.) By February 2004, however, Bush will be once again under a strong Neptune transit, a quincunx to his natal Sun, which continues through December 2004. Confusion, illusion, deception, and impractical, unrealistic goals may well be swirling around him at that time.
Operating under the smooth talking, fairy dust rules of Neptune, the Bush administration has created for us a game of Let’s Pretend. Though it is a bit like tiptoeing through a minefield, the game is simple. We must pretend that:
I’m sure there are a few more. Please feel free to add your own.
Clearly there will always be other planetary energies operating in addition to Neptune at any given time. But the underlying quality of Neptune seems to be a major component in the mindset of the Bush administration. In the myth of Icarus, the young man and his father attempted to reach the Sun on wings made of feathers and wax. Eventually the heat of the Sun melted the wax, and the two fell into the sea. The sea is Neptune’s domain.
