It is time to speak the truth about those who currently wield power. The issue is not whether or not the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (sic) are lying or not. Nor is it that Bush and his cronies always use slanderous character assassination, often emanating from a supposedly independent or vague source, as a weapon in every one of their campaigns. No, the truth is far broader and far uglier. These men know what they want, whether it is to win the presidency of the United States, to deregulate big business and enrich the corporate elite, or to militarily move America toward some neoconservative fantasy of global hegemony. They know what they want, and they will do anything, anything, to further their agenda. They maliciously lie to put their adversaries and critics on the defensive and to distract us from the real issues; they incite fear in the population to garner support for their war aims and their disingenuous leadership; they slip a few sentences into legislation when no one is looking to facilitate the weakening of industrial regulation. The list goes on and never stops. The American public has been played for a patsy.
It is time for John Kerry to challenge not just the Swift Boat Liars, not just the Bush administration’s support for yet another character smear based on falsehoods in yet another election. It is time to challenge the whole House of Cards, the whole structure of dishonesty perpetrated on the American public since Bush first ran for governor in 1994 against the popular Ann Richards and used a supposedly independent third party to spread rumors that she was a lesbian. It is time to challenge the shameless win-at-any-price mentality that used yet another purposeful rumor in South Carolina in the 2000 election to spread the falsehood that primary opponent John McCain was emotionally unbalanced and had an illegitimate African American daughter. It is time for the Democrats to loudly and repeatedly connect the dots for the American people and not let these shameless lies distract the public from the naked and ugly truth. Americans have been deceived by the Great Deceiver, repeatedly, in order to facilitate the Bush agenda, an agenda in line with the wishes of the corporate elite and contrary to the needs, the health, the livelihood, and the goals of the American people. All of this has been shrouded in secrecy, distortion, and fabrication. This is the modus operandi of the Bush administration, and until the public begins to see the pattern, they will be vulnerable to the worm of deception that creeps undetected into the collective mind and wreaks havoc on the truth.
The current barrage of vicious lies from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (sic) has taken its toll on Senator Kerry. Veteran issues are of deep concern to the senator, and his sense of connection to fellow vets has always been quite apparent. This attack has likely been painful beyond the 10% loss in veteran support he has thus far sustained. The past few days have seen an aggressive, if somewhat delayed, response from the candidate due to transiting Mars square to his natal Uranus from 8/18 through 8/20. This is likely to continue as Mars moves to square natal Mars from 8/24 through 8/26. It may be that the astrological source of this chafing, negative energy can be found in the Saturn transit square to the Kerry/US composite chart Moon (22Aries30) which runs from 8/14 through 8/22. We can expect this stress on Kerry’s relationship with America, signified by the composite chart, to dissipate after 8/22.
There is only one further aspect that I see as problematic for Kerry from now until after the Inauguration (when cleaning up Bush’s mess will bring its own set of stresses). Assuming the currently accepted birth time of 8:03 AM is correct, this difficult period will run from 9/10 through 10/5/04 when converse progressed Moon will be square to natal Saturn. If the previously accepted birth time of 7:10 AM is accurate, however, we can expect this rough patch to be from 8/22 through 9/18/04. In the latter case, the Swift Boat lies may continue to do damage for several weeks, until about 9/18. In the former, this particular issue is likely to clear within a few days, only to be supplanted by some other hurtful issue or slander in mid to late September, continuing through the first days of October. (For now, we should assume the former time of 8:03 is correct unless events show the alternative pattern described here.) In addition, finances for the Kerry campaign may be tight during September due to this Saturn/Moon aspect, since Capricorn, Saturn’s sign, rules the second house of resources in Kerry’s chart. A vicious attack on John Edwards is also possible at that time since Kerry’s Moon is in the 7th house of partnership, and Edwards’ chart shows some strain with progressed Moon opposite Saturn through the month.
Despite the emotional upsets and obstacles likely from the converse Saturn/Moon aspect that will cover a few weeks in September and early October (or the alternative period from 8/22 through 9/18 based on the earlier birth time), the general trend in Kerry’s chart suggests growing support and benefit over the next few months. When his 3 Scorpio Venus receives a trine from transiting Uranus (3 Pisces) from September through December, so does the US Venus at 3 Cancer, forming a grand trine. The composite US/Kerry Venus (3 Virgo) will receive an opposition from Uranus at the same time. This suggests the US will find Kerry increasingly attractive during the fall months. The opposite will be true for George Bush.
While Kerry shares a Uranus trine with the US chart during these crucial months, Bush will share a Saturn transit which will hit the US Mercury (24 Cancer) while it transits square to Bush’s MC (24 Aries) and conjuncts his Saturn (26 Cancer). The negative impact of this Saturn transit on the US, from late August 2004 through May 2005, in terms of scarce resources, problems in trade and employment, and a slackening economy, will directly and adversely impact the reputation and career (MC) of George Bush. We are already seeing record oil prices, and these are likely to climb even higher and have a suffocating effect on the struggling US economy. This is likely to become very obvious when the August financial numbers are published in early September, just as the Saturn transit is exact for the first of three crossings. Perhaps people will begin to wonder if the burgeoning oil prices were enhanced if not created by Bush’s unnecessary little jaunt into Iraq. In any event, early September will bring an increasing sense of the difficulties we are in economically, and the impact of this is likely to put a huge damper on the GOP festivities in New York. It is also quite possible that the US death rate in Iraq will hit the significant 1000 mark during the first week of September, since the 8th house US Mercury is in an area of the chart associated with death as well as hidden resources (oil).
As we move into late September, October, November, and December 2004, the Saturn station will sit not only directly on Bush’s Saturn (26Cancer30) but square to his progressed Venus (25Libra50 by election day), just recently in orb of square to his natal Saturn. This configuration suggests an increasing desire in Bush to withdraw from the stresses of the world, a feeling of deep sadness and loss, and decreasing personal appeal. There is nothing in it to suggest victory of any kind. The progressed Venus /Saturn square continues through July 2005.
It has been said that “the Devil works with a grain of truth.” Those who use dishonesty to further their own ends know this instinctively. They put forth just enough that is believable in their self-serving story to make it hard for others to discount the whole charade. For Bush and his minions, these tactics are a way of life. They are masters of deception. We have seen this in numerous Bush policies that have crippled the regulation of polluters while pretending to clean the environment. We have seen it in the demagoguery used to convince a gullible America of Saddam’s ready-to-use weapons of mass destruction, when the unstated hegemonic purpose was to set up American bases in the Middle East and control the oil supply. We have seen it unleashed in vicious and dishonest attacks aimed at any significant and newsworthy critic of the administration or any threatening opponent. And we are currently witnessing it in the attempted political assassination of a war hero who is getting uncomfortably close to winning the 2004 presidential election.
