A number of stories came across my desk during the third week of February involving the Saturn/Uranus square; none was active enough cosmically (not to say unimportant) to rate a full treatment, but here’s a rundown of the week’s highlights, in abbreviated CliffsNotes style.
On Wednesday, January 6th, 2021, the Feast of the Epiphany, Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to prevent Congress’ counting and certification of Joe Biden’s election victory, preparatory to his inauguration two weeks later. Doors were forced, windows broken, as insurrectionists fresh from a Trump rally mere blocks away which featured an in-person address from the President took control from Capitol Police and security, who offered minimal resistance to the crowd, estimated in the tens of thousands. The Senate and House were evacuated, put on lockdown, as legislators cowered in safe spaces or barricaded themselves in their offices to avoid the mob.
Well, it’s finally over. Mostly. As of this writing (Wednesday morning, November 7, though a protracted Verizon service outage may delay posting), the results appear to be a mixed bag. The Democrats have retaken the House of Representatives, but the Republicans have expanded their Senate majority. Barring a few key races (Arizona, Florida and Montana Senate races still too close to call, a Mississippi Senate race requiring a run-off, and a likely legal challenge in Georgia’s gubernatorial election), the broad outlines are clear.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz may be in the fight of his life for re-election this November. The one-term Republican Senator who famously shut down the government in 2013 with a filibuster comprised partly of a reading of Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham”, has made few friends and allies on Capitol Hill, having a reputation as uncompromising, caustic, and generally charm-free. Former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) once described him as “Lucifer in the flesh.”
Polls show he is now neck-and-neck with Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke, a former punk rock band member who is currently US Representative for Texas’ 16th District. Cruz is so desperate, he has asked former 2016 GOP presidential nomination rival Donald Trump to stump for him. Trump, who during that campaign tagged him with the moniker “Lyin’ Ted”, insulted his wife as ugly, and accused his father of participating in the JFK assassination, is Cruz’ last best hope of retaining his seat. With friends like these…
