For an administration that condemns the entertainment studios of Hollywood as a bastion of everything counter to GOP moral values (sic), it is a great irony that the antics of the Bush Cabal increasingly resemble a lively version of Hollywood on the Potomac. From its swaggering Wild West foreign policy to its ludicrous snake-oil budgetary numbers, life in the nation’s capital has begun to imitate art. Recently, we have even been treated to a special presentation of the Theater of the Absurd, where a faux journalist/gay male prostitute finds his way into the halls of power to help defend the “honor” of the administration from the attacks of the “liberal” media. Even FOX Broadcasting could not have come up with anything this brazen.
Indeed, the one shining success of the Bush administration, which stands in sharp relief to its huge clutter of failed policy, is its ability to manipulate and stage its presentation to the unsuspecting public. Using well-choreographed public events, campaign speeches, and press conferences, it has meticulously sculpted its own image with the skill of a Michelangelo. Due to this hitherto unprecedented message control, many perceive George Bush in mythic dimensions - the ultimate heroic, compassionate, and strong president, touched by the fingertips of God.
Needless to say, the Corporate Media has colluded in this unfolding prime-time president-as-superhero drama. While individual reporters fear losing access from the White House or being mocked into oblivion by the sycophantic conservative echo chamber if they step out of line, the executive boardrooms are happy to shore up an administration that offers them flaccid regulations and a sieve-like tax structure. The result has been a token mumble by the Fourth Estate that only barely informs the public about the multiple crimes of the Bush administration: the theft of the Treasury to enrich its friends; the drumbeat for war on false pretenses; the trashing of multiple international laws including the Geneva conventions; and the trade-in of a healthy, strong national future for a short-term, greedy power grab by the elite.
Galloping into this environment of stagnant, dumbed-down, and vapid coverage (with a few shining and stellar exceptions), like vigilantes into the realm of a corrupt and inept county sheriff, the bloggers of cyberland are rapidly replacing the mainstream media as the source of the biggest scoops and the most interesting and daring investigative journalism. Many significant recent stories, including GannonGuckertGate, began on the blogs and then migrated to cable and network news shows when the clamor was impossible to ignore. It may be that this painful kick in the behind will motivate the more somnolent journalists of the mainstream to inject themselves with some adrenaline before they become completely obsolete.
In any event, the rise of the blogs suggests a sea change in the world of journalism brought on by the growing role of the internet as a source of news. Astrologically, Uranus, the planet of freedom and revolution, is moving towards a square with the US natal Uranus, which rules the third house of communications and the media. This transit suggests a sudden awakening, rebellion, and transformation of the media that impacts the entire country. There are strong indications that this shift is already underway, but we can expect more momentous events in this area from March 19 through April 6 and during all of August 2005, when transiting Uranus will be waxing into its square with US Uranus, and from May 12 through June 9, 2005, when transiting Jupiter will be trine US Uranus. It is very possible that the media will pick up some significant stories during these times and run with them, despite their adverse impact on the administration. Given recent events, the newly designated Fifth Estate, the blogosphere, may be leading the pack.
What makes the coming Uranus transit so significant is that there are parallel transits going on in the inaugural chart and in Bush’s natal chart. Uranus will be opposite Bush’s Mars, semisquare his Midheaven, and square the Inaugural Moon from March 24 through April 15, from July 18 through August 16, 2005, and finally in January and early February 2006. This indicates momentous, upsetting, surprising events that will cause powerful transformations for Bush and his administration during these periods and, more generally, from late March 2005 through early February 2006. Bush will be angry and aggressive, and his administration will be quite agitated. In some way, the role of the press, possibly breaking from prior tradition or restriction, will be critical during these times.
The coming Uranus transit may also signal various rebellions regarding health care or worker’s rights, since natal Uranus is in the US 6th house. A whiff of this is already in the air at NIH where overzealous restrictions on employees are causing an angry backlash. With the same Uranus transit conjuncting Iraq’s natal Uranus (3/1 to 3/20/05), rebellion there and a desire to move into unexplored territory unhindered by US dictates may be on the horizon as well. Further indicating frustrations and severe difficulties for the US effort in Iraq, the Gulf War chart progressed Moon will be quincunx natal Saturn/progressed IC from March 10 through April 10.
At present, we are nearing the end of Jupiter’s two-month station on US progressed Mars, quincunx US progressed Midheaven, and conjunct Inaugural Jupiter that has coincided with Bush’s Jupiter return. Jupiter is the planet of expansion, optimism, and success. After February 23, this Jupiterian energy will be waning. Combined with US progressed Mars, it has brought an increase in aggressive bluster and hints of military action, most notably toward Syria and Iran. This transit has also included the increase in US troop deployment during the Iraqi election, as well as the feeling of success and optimism (Jupiter) surrounding that event and the potential for the spread of democracy it may have engendered in other Arab nations. As the transit wanes, we are likely to hear less threatening posturing from our government, and talk of attacking either Syria or Iran is likely to fade into the background. In addition, some of the more optimistic and hopeful mood regarding the imminent spread of democracy may diminish, especially as other events eclipse it come April.
Also benefiting the Bush administration currently is the tertiary progressed Inaugural Venus conjunct natal Mercury. The natal conjunction of these two planets in the 9th house of the Inaugural chart suggests an improved relationship with foreign nations during this four-year term, alternating between somewhat cautious and more robust, due to the opposition from Saturn and the square from Jupiter. The Venus/Mercury tertiary progression, which covers the period between February 5 and February 25, has brought a thawing of relations with our European allies, as evidenced by Bush’s somewhat successful diplomatic mission this week.
In addition, George Bush may benefit from Jupiter a little beyond February 23 due to its transit to his natal Moon (3/1 – 3/11) and then square his natal Sun (3/28 – 4/4). These periods will be small pockets of optimism, protection, and expansive rhetoric, but will not preclude the dynamic and dislocating energy of Uranus as it dramatically enters the scene in late March.
Also of significance in the past month, peaking on February 24, is the tertiary progressed Inaugural Ascendant square natal Neptune, the planet of illusion and deception. This has brought a sharp focus on the administration’s tendency to deceive, obfuscate, and present an untrue image of itself and its policies to the public. The well-pilloried Bush budget, consisting of math that would shame a first grader, and the Gannon/Guckert expose of a partisan Republican plant in the White House press pool are the two big stories that relate to this aspect. Although the focus on administration deception and dishonesty is likely to fade for a few months after February 24, this aspect has brought us a preview of bigger things to come. From roughly May 2005 through August 2006, more lengthy progressions will renew the potential for scandals and the issue of dishonesty and deception permeating the Bush White House. The Inaugural Ascendant will reach the square to natal Neptune from May 2005 through January 2006, and the Inaugural solar arc progressed Ascendant will reach its square to Neptune from September 2005 through August 2006.
As is becoming increasingly clear with each passing day, the Bush administration is one big shell game perpetrated upon the American people. Its glossily packaged policies and its heroic and moralistic image are frauds. Sinister and disdainful manipulation of the masses is its modus operandi. The Gannon/Guckert scandal is only the latest example of the administration’s willingness to deceive the public, but it may have stepped on the wrong toes this time by riling a once-complacent media. Even some right wing commentators are incensed that a faux journalist was able to easily slip into the halls of power when others who are eminently more qualified have been forced to withstand months of intrusive investigation for the same privilege. Even if the mainstream media remains comatose in the face of the Bush regime’s continuing crimes, the blogs are gaining impact daily as a potent, alternative news source. After all, nature abhors a vacuum.
It remains to be seen what effect the explosive energy of Uranus will have when it comes thundering into expression early this spring and continues to pound away at the administration for many months thereafter. But we have to wonder if some of the sudden revelation inherent in this transit will be an exposure of what lives beneath the surface in the glitzy swamp at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It would be a welcome awakening.
