Tag archive: Senator

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US Midterm Election Preview, Part Two:  This Time, It’s Senatorial

Although, barring an Act of God or a flagrant abuse of power, a Democrat takeover of the US House of Representatives in the Midterm Elections on November 3rd seems assured, given the mood of the country, control of the Senate is much less certain.  That the Upper Chamber is in play at all is due solely to the incompetence, venality, and narcissistic focus of Donald J. Trump, who continues to spread anarchy, instability and failure to any and all who come into contact with him, regardless of Party affiliation.

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Cosmic Grab Bag:  Summer 2025 Edition

Stories frequently cross the digital transom that catch my eye, but don’t necessarily merit a full article on their own.  But the celestial correspondences are worthy of notice, so from time to time I compile these unrelated stories into an asteroid omnibus bill, if you will. In this edition, we’ll tackle a challenge to same-sex marriage, a disturbing melding of government with the private sector, a Senate grilling for a Cabinet Secretary, and a record-making Royal visit.

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Trump 2.0: Crazy Like a Fox

Donald J. Trump’s second administration, taking power at noon on 20 January 2025 (by constitutional fiat, whenever the oath itself is taken), is likely to be a replay of the first term, only more so.  In 2017 when he first assumed office, Trump was a newbie novice to the Washington scene; he appointed persons with experience and relative competence to help him run the government, individuals who had a respect for its institutions and norms, who served as guardrails on Trump’s wilder, wackier impulses.

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Aster-Obit: Jimmy Carter

On Sunday, 29 December 2024, former US president Jimmy Carter passed away peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia; at age 100, he was the longest-lived chief executive in US history.  Carter had been in hospice care for nearly two years, since February of 2023, and had lost his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, that November.  He also enjoyed the longest post-presidency, which was viewed, rightly or wrongly, as considerably more successful than his administration, with the Carter Center promoting democracy, advancing human rights and assisting disease eradication globally.  Jimmy and Rosalynn also partnered with Habitat for Humanity in an annual home-building blitz, which the Carters joined personally.

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Barbarians at the Gaetz

Donald Trump’s post-electoral Retribution Tour hit a snag on November 21st, when Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz suddenly withdrew from consideration in the wake of some GOP-generated heat in defiance of his candidacy.  Withdrawal is something Gaetz knows a bit about, with the primary scandal in which he’s embroiled involving his attendance at drug-fueled sex parties with underage partners.

Trump nominated Gaetz, himself a subject of a years-long federal criminal investigation and a House Ethics Committee report, on November 13th, along with a spate of controversial nominees, such as Fox & Friends weekend anchor Pete Hegseth for Defense; Bashar Al-Assad and Vladimir Putin apologist Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence; and vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist extraordinaire Robert F. Kennedy Jr to head Health and Human Services.  If these choices seem “out-of-the-box,” consider that asteroid Troemper 2813 at 11 Leo (our celestial referent for The Donald) is currently travelling arm-in-arm with asteroid Pandora 55 at 10 Leo, noted mythically as the hapless naif who, against good advice, opened a box containing all the evils of the world, thus releasing them.  Archetypally, there are no cosmic accidents.

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Kamala Harris: Born to Succeed?

When Kamala Harris announced her run for president in 2019, she looked like a long shot.  And she was, with a troubled campaign that ended before the first primary votes were cast.  But looking at her birth chart then, it seemed to me that she was going to get to the Oval Office at some point, however distant.  When Joe Biden chose her as his running mate a year later, she took a major step towards that goal, and when they won that November, a giant leap was made.

But there were still a number of hurdles to cross in the race to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, such as waiting her turn after a successful re-elect gave Biden a second term (should that even occur), and then fending off Democratic competition for the open seat in 2028, and winning that election.  US Vice Presidents don’t have a compelling track record of succeeding to the office, barring the death of the boss mid-term, and she still faced a strong headwind.

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