Tag archive: Themis

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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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The Hunter Biden Guilty Verdict

On 11 June 2024, Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, was convicted in a Wilmington, Delaware courtroom on three felony counts related to drug use and gun possession.  US Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss brought the case, stemming from an October 2018 purchase where Biden lied about his drug use to obtain a firearm.  Charged with unlawfully possessing a gun as a drug user, lying on a federal form when he bought the gun, and making a false statement about information required to be collected by a federally licensed gun dealer, the jury took less than three hours to decide that Biden was guilty, after a trial lasting six days.

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Donald Trump’s 78th Solar Return: Restriction and Negation

Former US President, current presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and convicted felon Donald J. Trump turns 78 on 14 June 2024.  A chart cast for the moment when the Sun returns to its natal degree and minute can reveal much of what awaits in the coming year, a year which, for The Donald, is fraught, to say the least.  Before the twelvemonth is out, Trump is likely to find himself an occupant, either of the White House, or the Big House.  With sentence pending on his criminal conviction in New York state, and awaiting three more criminal trials, the stakes couldn’t be higher for the 45th president.

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Guilty! Justice Comes for Trump

At last!  Some level of accountability for the biggest criminal scofflaw ever to infest the Oval Office.  Fond of setting records, on 30 May 2024 Donald J. Trump entered the history books yet again, as the only former US President, and presumptive GOP nominee, to be convicted of a felony.  And not just one – the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on each of the 34 criminal counts against him.

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Asteroid Sleuth: The Case of the Flipped Flag

On 16 May 2024, the New York Times broke a story concerning US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the gist of which gives another black eye to the fantasy that the SCOTUS, currently embattled by a string of ethics violations revelations, is actually a fair and impartial, nonpartisan body.  Apparently, during the interim between the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection and Joe Biden’s January 20th inauguration, Justice Alito flew the American flag at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, upside down. 

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Trump Trial #1 Begins

The first of Donald Trump’s four pending criminal trials began on Monday, 15 April 2024, with jury selection.  Perhaps not coincidentally, it was also Tax Day, and without doubt, the ordeal of Trump on trial will be taxing for us all.  Trump kicked off the event with a series of his trademark untruths as he bloviated to reporters before entering the Manhattan courtroom for his trial’s appointed start time of 9:30 AM EDT.  The former president characterized the proceedings as “persecution,” “an attack on a political opponent,” and “an assault on America,” averring that “every legal scholar says this case is nonsense” and an “outrage.”

None of that is true, but Trump did state one accurate fact:  “Nothing like this has ever happened before, there’s never been anything like it.”  Indeed, this is the first criminal prosecution of a former US president and current presidential candidate in history.  Congrats, Donnie!  You’ve just set two new records!

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