For those who have taken to watching TV lately as a way of escaping the dismal reality in the Kingdom of Bush, the preponderance of the various Law and Order shows is quite striking. Just in the past week, I counted 43 episodes on three different stations. These fascinating and tangled crime dramas, as well as a myriad of others in which good triumphs over evil in a neat 60 minute package, offer a vicarious thrill to a justice-starved audience. By plucking an unerring resolution out of the jaws of chaos and corruption, they throw a few crumbs to our unsatisfied craving to see the criminal perpetrators of the past four years reap their deserved harvest. Indeed, in the reality based world, the criminal negligence that left us defenseless on 9/11 has been ignored, the country was aggressively pushed into a costly war on false pretenses, those who are poisoning the environment are increasingly unregulated and getting richer, there is ample evidence of fraudulent election results in three successive elections, and the US Treasury has been robbed to benefit the corporate elite and the wealthiest of the wealthy. But, to hear the punditocrisy and the administration spokespeople, the sun is shining brightly in the Land of Oz and all is well. And so, we who sense the gaping chasm between honor and integrity on the one hand and the grotesque corruption in high places on the other, wander around with this gnawing, righteous hunger and nothing to fill the ache but a few TV shows on the Yellow Brick Road.
The latest revelations in the ongoing saga of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Capital City swirl around the person of House Majority Leader Tom Delay. Every day seems to bring a new revelation of sordid schemes that trespass moral decency: expensive junkets paid by lobbyists; fraudulent campaign finance shenanigans in Texas; threatening judges who disagree with the Rabid Right; and other manifestations of power gone wild and totally unaccountable. But with Republicans in control of both Congress and the White House, and with most Republicans in the House beholden to Tom Delay for all kinds of smelly favors, will the rest of us need to just suck up another one and watch Delay blithely dance his way through all the controversy until some big event or soap opera-like scandal steals the stage once again?
Before investigating Representative Tom Delay’s birth chart, it is useful to take a brief look at the charts of two former Congressional leaders, former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (12/9/47 in Aberdeen, South Dakota) and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (10/9/41 in Grenada, Mississippi). Tom Daschle lost his bid for reelection in November 2004 and ended his Senate career with its leadership role as of January 2005. We find in his chart, from January 2002 through December 2004, a series of Sun Pluto configurations (transiting Pluto conjunct the Sun in 2002 and progressed Sun opposite progressed and then natal Pluto in 2003 and 2004, respectively) that intensified his power and impact in the world. During several months in 2003 and 2004, this Sun/Pluto energy was accompanied by the transit of Uranus opposite Daschle’s Mars, adding to his aggression, anger, and resolve, as well as bringing several unexpected difficulties that called for assertive action. Both of these power aspects passed with the advent of 2005 and the loss of his Senate career.
Although Trent Lott lost his status as Majority Leader in December 2002, he remains in the Senate and of some stature in the majority party. He has been under a progressed Mars conjunction to natal Mars since roughly 2002, continuing through 2005, but which was significantly triggered by transiting Pluto in 2002, ending in December with the end of his leadership position. As in Daschle’s chart, we find Pluto tied with a position of power, and the end of its influence coinciding with the termination of increased authority and command. Perhaps of greater consequence in Senator Lott’s ignominious fall from power, however, was the series of Saturn transits that dogged him during the end of 2004 and the first months of 2005, indicating a sense of sorrow, loss, frustration, and alienation during that period. These included transiting Saturn quincunx natal Venus, activating the natal opposition, transiting Saturn square the Nodes, and transiting Uranus square natal Saturn.
Tom Delay’s chart (4/8/47 in Laredo, Texas), on the other hand, could be a case study for that of an aggressive, relentless, and manipulative politician. What we find is a series of aspects dating back to 1996 and continuing through early 2008 (give or take about a year due to the lack of a birth time) that indicate an extraordinary amount of combative, disruptive, and manipulative tactics to further his agenda. Tertiary progressed Uranus square natal Mars covers this entire period. In addition, beginning in 2003, we find progressed Mars square natal Pluto (2003 to mid-2004), progressed Mars square progressed Pluto (mid-2003 to 2004), converse progressed Mars opposite converse progressed Pluto (late 2003 –to early 2005), converse progressed Mars opposite natal Pluto (early 2005 to mid-2006), and transiting Pluto square natal Mars (2007). This latter aspect, transiting Pluto square natal Mars, will trigger the tertiary progressed Uranus square natal Mars from late December 2006 through November 2007, suggesting a period of heightened belligerence and aggression during that time. There is somewhat of a lull in these hyper-aggressive aspects until 2010, at which point transiting Uranus will then be conjunct Delay’s natal Mars for most of the year. Thus, we can expect the power-wielding Texas politician to continue rousing his followers, roughing up his enemies, and generally inflaming the masses through some time in 2008. He is likely to be especially dominant during the first year of the 110th Congress (2007), and possibly enjoy a controversial and bumpy resurgence in 2010.
This does not, however, promise a smooth and easy ride for the congressman. In fact, there is some possibility he will be constrained for a period, perhaps briefly losing his leadership role, only to have it restored in December 2006. He will be under increasing pressure from April through mid-July 2005, with the transit of Uranus conjunct his Venus, likely to bring swift and sudden revelations and changes that potentially can alter his status (Watch especially May 13 – May 15). Without a birth time, we do not know what areas of Delay’s life are impacted by this transit, but it will nonetheless bring a measure of unpredictability, agitation, and change. In addition, mid-October to mid-December 2005 will bring Delay a Saturn station conjunct his natal Pluto/converse Mars, suggesting a forced, though temporary, muzzling of his power during that time. The most likely loss of real power, however, will come around the 2008 election, though likely beginning somewhat earlier in the year, when a series of Saturn transits combined with the end of the dynamic and potent Pluto/Mars/Uranus whirlwind conspire to very significantly shrink back Delay’s enormous influence.
At the moment, Tom Delay is busy blaming Democrats for his troubles. To him and his followers, it is the vast left-wing conspiracy rather than his own corruption that is the source of his daily headlines. Likewise, Delay’s Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Bill Frist, is using a similar strategy to weaken supporters of the traditional Senate filibuster. Those who wish to maintain Senate rules and traditions are being labeled as “anti-Christian” and attempting to “filibuster people of faith”. This appeal to the sense of victimhood among the Christian fundamentalist right wing is a common ploy among the Republican leadership. According to a recent survey of one group of fundamentalist congregations, 70% had parents who abused drugs or alcohol and 30% claimed to have been the victims of physical and/or sexual abuse. If these figures can be even somewhat extrapolated to describe the characteristics of other fundamentalist Christian churches, it is no wonder these people are so susceptible to their leadership’s blatant manipulation of their sense of victimization.
It is important to note that the victim role seldom stands alone, usually alternating with both the persecutor and rescuer roles. In a blink, the “victimized’ and unfortunate Christian right can be mobilized into a rabid fury of self-righteous vengeance against their alleged “persecutors” or can be called upon to “rescue” the unborn or the brain-dead disabled. Republican leaders are shamelessly exploiting this emotional pathology and weaving it into the national discourse rather than focusing on responsible policy and action. Under cover of the stoked fear of the “government stealing your money”, a series of unaffordable tax cuts is transferring huge amounts of wealth to the wealthiest among us. Even worse, by demagogically pandering to a fear of homosexuals “destroying the traditional family,” Republicans have been able to harvest votes from people who will be ultimately harmed by GOP social and economic policy. As a result, the Republican stranglehold on the legislative and executive branches of government has led to an increasing cover-up of criminal negligence and corruption in many quarters. Tom Delay is the poster boy for this process.
It is up to Democrats to point out the hypocrisy in the Republican leadership that cloaks its power grabs and its dishonesty in the language of religion. It is up to Democrats to show people how they have been deceived and manipulated to their own detriment. It is an uphill climb that calls for clear thinking, decisive language, and courage. But it is only the truth that will set us free.