Alex's Asteroid Astrology

No, AAA isn’t branching out into porn or online dating. We’re doing a little current events twofer, specifically regarding American Media CEO David Pecker and US Representative Duncan Hunter, both of whom were in the news the week of August 19^th (though where they found the oxygen for that is beyond me, as the Trump Show rolled on through its worst week ever). Pardon the pun, but there’s not enough meat here for two full articles, so we’ll just target the highlights.

Actually, Pecker’s tale connects to Trump’s. On Thursday the 23^rd news broke that the media mogul, whose company publishes the “National Enquirer” and a dozen other tabloids and fitness mags, had flipped on longtime friend and political ally Donald Trump and, having been given immunity, was cooperating with prosecutors in the Southern District of New York’s probe into Michael Cohen’s actions on behalf of the 45^th President. Ouch! Pecker has known Trump for decades, has been a frequent guest at several of Trump’s resorts and golf clubs, and even flown on his private plane. Et tu, Dave? And all this just as a wistful Trump was opining to a Fox News reporter about how such “flipping” should “almost be illegal.”

Among the friendly favors Pecker has procured for Trump over the years is sinking a bevy of bad publicity, in a practice known as “catch and kill”, where a story is bought outright and then never published, guaranteeing it remains untold. Reporting suggests that at one time, Pecker had an entire safe devoted to such smothered stories, and at least one of these is of special interest to federal investigators, involving payments made to former “Playboy” model and Trump inamorata Karen McDougal, paid $150,000 for her story of their torrid love affair, scant days before the 2016 election, only to find that the “Enquirer” had apparently run out of space for the article. Too bad. Former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen’s plea bargain asserting that Trump had full knowledge of the payment, directed him to make it to influence the election’s outcome, and reimbursed Pecker had come just two days before, and investigators wasted no time in looking for corroboration from Pecker, who seems to have unzipped and come across with the details prematurely.

The aptly named David Pecker, CEO of American Media, the latest Trump intimate to flip on his friend

David Pecker’s pivotal part in determining Trump’s career fate is prefigured by the placement of asteroids Davida (a feminine form of David) and Pecker in the President’s birth chart. At 24 Cancer, Davida conjoins Trump’s natal Saturn at 23, with Pecker opposed from 27 Capricorn, a double dose of cosmic commentary on David Pecker’s role. Let’s also note that Trump’s Pecker conjoins the US Pluto exactly, a point which has become of greater interest to The Donald since entering the Oval Office.

When Pecker went soft on Trump on August 23^rd, his celestial counterpart was at 23 Cancer, exact on Trump’s Saturn, also famous for meting out punishments. From there, Pecker was squared Troemper in the sky, at 20 Libra, denoting conflict between them, and in a T-Square with Pluto, ruling scandal, taboo and sex, at 19 Capricorn. And transit asteroid Pandora, noted for the unleashing of unintended consequences, falls at 27 Capricorn, exactly on Trump’s natal Pecker and the US Pluto. Transit Davida at 5 Aries squared transit Saturn, the presidency itself, at 2 Capricorn, and also squared Trump’s natal Mercury, news and journalism, even of the tabloid type, at 8 Cancer.

Born 24 September 1951, David Pecker has two points at station in his birth chart, each with the potential to impact his biography disproportionately, and each creating a focus for energy and events in his life. One of these is asteroid Troemper at 24 Taurus, which turned retrograde six days later, denoting a special prominence for someone of that, or a similar, name. 24 Taurus is also the degree of Donald Trump’s natal Midheaven, reiterating the importance of his career to their connection. The other point, incredibly, is asteroid Mueller, for the Special Counsel, which turned direct at 3 Aquarius six days before Pecker’s birth. Although Mueller has handed off the Cohen portion of his investigation to the Southern District of New York, the two camps cooperate and share data, and this could bring Pecker into Mueller’s direct orbit sooner rather than later. Imagine that – the investigator and his quarry, both stationary in the chart of a man whose testimony may prove pivotal to the outcome.

Donald Trump with bestie David Pecker, while they were still allies

Natal Achilles, which represents weaknesses and vulnerabilities, falls at 9 Gemini, and was exactly conjoined by transit Nemesis, a source of undoing, for the revelation of his cooperation with the Feds; this degree is semisquare Trump’s natal Saturn/Davida. This brings to mind that safe-full of goodies of potential interest in the Mueller investigation. Pecker’s natal Nemesis at 19 Virgo squares Trump’s natal Sun at 22 Gemini, making the President potentially a focus of Pecker’s innate ability to bring others down. Lastly, Pecker’s natal asteroid Whitehouse at 18 Capricorn will be the turning point for Pluto’s upcoming station in September, bringing together the scandal-monger with the scandal-peddler’s personal connection to the Oval Office.

Looks like Pecker could make things very hard for Trump in the coming days.

Moving on from sleazy sex to sleazy corruption, we have the case of Representative Duncan Hunter of California. No, not that one – his son. On August 21^st, Hunter was indicted on multiple counts of campaign finance violations, including the use of phenomenal sums for personal items, vacations and bogus salaries for family members. It was the same day the Paul Manafort jury returned its “guilty” verdict, and Michael Cohen pled guilty as well, so the Hunter debacle was largely relegated to the “noises off” category in the news.

Indicted US Representative Duncan Hunter: no, the vaping doesn’t make you look cool

But the violations are so egregious, they deserve more attention. Hunter, the second congressman to endorse Donald Trump for President (the first, New York’s Chris Collins, was indicted for corruption two weeks earlier; the third was Senator Jeff Sessions, now Trump’s embattled AG), allegedly used more than a quarter million of campaign dollars over a seven year period, to fund his extravagant lifestyle.

Among the more outrageous claims: the purchase of personal and household items from retailers such as Costco ($11,300), Walmart ($5700), Michael’s Crafts ($2200), and Target ($2300). Jonesing for some new beachwear, Hunter allegedly called his wife from a pro shop to complain that he couldn’t afford what he wanted; her suggestion? Charge it to the campaign and state that it was golf balls purchased for Wounded Warrior Project, a group supporting disabled veterans. Seriously?

The Hunters also charged multiple family trips: a 2015 Thanksgiving weekend getaway to Italy ($14,000), a spring 2015 trip to Hawaii ($6500), and a jaunt to Vegas in July 2015 ($3700), among numerous others. (2015 was apparently a go-go-go year for the Hunters, with three major excursions; one wonders when he had time for Congress.) Hunter wasn’t completely shameless – he did try to justify the Italian adventure by requesting a tour of a nearby naval facility; when the base was unable to accommodate him on the date he preferred, Hunter replied to his Chief of Staff: “tell the Navy to go fuck themselves.” And they did try to throw investigators off the scent from time to time, like buying video games for the family, then claiming to the bank and the FEC that the charges were fraudulent. (Well, actually, that claim was very near the mark, except they themselves were the fraudsters.)

Perhaps the most egregious expense was the hiring of his own wife as Campaign Manager to boost the family income, at a salary of $2500 per month, while delegating the actual responsibilities of that post to other staffers. Even at this, the Hunters perpetually lived above their means, being overdrawn at the bank more than 1100 times and racking up I excess of $37,000 in overdraft fees.

GOP Grifters of the Week Duncan Hunter and wife Margaret, who between them defrauded campaign contributors of a quarter billion dollars.

Venality and corruption on this scale deserves a place in some sort of Hall of Fame, or Infamy. And Duncan Hunter is well positioned natally to defraud others and claim those honors. Born 7 December 1976 (no time available), Hunter’s 15 Sagittarius Sun is conjoined by asteroid Swindle at 19 Sag, making him a natural con man. Abusing others’ trust and availing himself of others’ money comes as naturally as breathing to him. Further exacerbating the situation, and personalizing that energy even more deeply, is the exact conjunction of asteroid Duncan with Swindle, for a cosmic one-two punch of corruption inclination. Also with the Sun is Neptune at 13 Sag, planetary ruler of deception and fraud, as well as Mars at 11 Sag, identifying Hunter as aggressive in his grifting ways. Within orb is asteroid Huntress, the feminine form of Hunter’s surname, at 8 Sag, and asteroid California, the state he represents in Congress, at 22 Sag.

Asteroid Bilk is another prime indicator of financial misdeeds and fraud. At 29 Sagittarius, it conjoins Mercury at 1 Capricorn, indicating a scheming, scamming mindset, but mercifully asteroid Themis is also there, named for the Greek goddess of justice. The truth will out, justice will be done, however many lies Hunter told about his use of campaign funds. And speaking of Lie, that asteroid appears at 14 Capricorn, in tandem with asteroid San Diego (his district) and Icarus, noted for rash, reckless actions heedless of the consequences, at 19 Cap. Hunter certainly lied to his constituents (San Diego) in foolish and irresponsible ways (Icarus), but the piper will be paid: when the indictment came down, transit Pluto was exactly conjoined natal Icarus, bringing an end to Hunter’s rampant spending spree with other people’s money.

When the indictment was issued, Hunter at first denied everything; then he took a page out of Trump’s playbook, alleging that “deep state” Democratic operatives in the Justice Department were responsible for his discomfiture. He was even so unoriginal as to use the term “witch hunt” for the process, which everyone knows has been trademarked by Trump. Finally, when all else failed, he blamed his wife. In an interview on Fox News, Hunter stated: “When I went to Iraq in 2003, the first time, I gave her power of attorney and she handled my finances throughout my whole military career and she continued that when I got to Congress. Whatever she did, that will be looked at too, I’m sure. But I didn’t do it. I didn’t spend any money illegally.” Hurrah, chivalry is not dead!

A disgruntled constituent frames the issue nicely as Hunter appears for his arraignment

Astrologically, he may have a case, for his wife Margaret is represented by asteroid Margret, which at 11 Aquarius conjoins asteroid Nemesis, that point of self-undoing, at 17. The question remains, will she act as nemesis to him, or him to her, or is this an equal partnership?

Hunter’s affinity for Trump can be seen in the tight natal square from asteroid Troemper at 16 Pisces to his Sun; Hunter somewhat identifies with the man and his methods. Troemper is also involved in a Grand Trine with asteroids Hunt at 19 Scorpio and Hunten at 16 Cancer, two additional PNAs which represent his surname, binding and aligning them further. Hunten opposes Icarus, making a Kite of the Grand Trine, and injecting more reckless energy into Hunter personally.

When the indictment was handed down on August 23^rd, asteroid Duncan at 13 Scorpio was conjoined Jupiter at 15 Scorpio, bringing Duncan Hunter his moment of fame, and highlighting his role as a politician. Duncan also squares Mercury at 11 Leo, making for breaking news, and is inconjunct Swindle at 16 Aries, trine Bilk at 9 Cancer, connecting him personally to the theme of his corruption. With Bilk is Themis at 7 Cancer, bringing his financial misdeeds to light, while opposing its natal place and natal Lie. Asteroid Huntress at 17 Cancer opposes transit Pluto at 19 Capricorn, signaling a devastating change in Hunter’s circumstances; Hunten at 4 Scorpio opposes Uranus at 2 Taurus, for the shocking nature of the infractions; Hunt at 1 Capricorn conjoins Saturn at 2 Cap, auguring for severe penalties to follow. Transit Nemesis at 8 Gemini, bringing divine retribution, exactly opposes natal Huntress at 8 Sagittarius. Transit Margret at 27 Capricorn is exactly atop natal Venus, ruling both wives and financial matters, and is accompanied by transit asteroid Achilles at 23 Capricorn, representing a weakness or vulnerability, which Venus has provided here on both fronts she rules, in the person of Margaret Hunter (Margret).

Need we say more? Another Trumper bites the dust, and another one gone, and another one gone…

It’s too late to replace Duncan Hunter on the ballot for November’s Midterm election; will voters in his district continue to support him despite the indictment, or will Democrats pick up yet another “safe” Republican seat?