Tag archive: Truth

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Ukraine War: First Anniversary

The traditional first anniversary gift is paper, but no peace treaty looms on the horizon between Russia and Ukraine as the war grinds on into its second year.  Perhaps the modern version, the gift of a clock, would be more appropriate, to time the conflict’s duration.  What many predicted would be a triumphal progress for the Russian army a year ago, with expectations that Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv would fall in a matter of days, has turned into a long, hard slog, mainly serving to illustrate the resilience, spirit and determination of the Ukrainian people, and the relative weakness and ineffectuality of the Russian armed forces.

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George Santos: Lying to (Get Into) Congress

One standout in the 2023 GOP Congressional Freshman class is Representative-elect George Santos (R-NY), the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican elected to the House.  In November 2022 Santos managed to flip a redrawn district in metro New York from Blue to Red, adding to the slender House GOP majority.  But he did so under what seem to be increasingly false pretenses, with virtually no part of his life history and resume holding up to public inspection.

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AAA Profile: Liz Cheney

If anyone had told me two decades ago that I would be admiring, let alone praising, someone with the last name of “Cheney”, I’d have said they were nuts.  But that’s just the sort of uncomfortable position many progressives find themselves in these days, when contemplating the recent performance of Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), daughter of the former Vice President, vis-a-vis the actions of Donald Trump and the bastardization of the GOP.

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Lout! A Little Bit Louder(milk) Now!

On June 15th, 2022, the House Select Committee on January 6th released Capitol security footage of an unofficial tour led by Congressman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) the day before the January 6th Capitol Insurrection, clearly showing participants taking photos of congressional security checkpoints, stairwells, tunnels and basement hallways.  Not your typical tourist highlights.

Shortly after the attempted coup, Loudermilk was rumored to have assisted potential 1/6 rioters in “casing the joint”, providing access to areas normally reserved for members and staff.  At first Loudermilk denied giving any tours at all.  Then he said it was just families with young kids.  Then he admitted touring a group of 16 adults.  During a time period when official tours were banned due to COVID concerns.   But it was totally normal.  Riiight….

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The USA Pluto Return: You Ain’t Seen Nuthin’ Yet

In 2022 the United States is undergoing a profound and deeply transformative period in its development, namely the return of Pluto to its natal degree.  Pluto’s orbit is roughly 248 years, so this is a cosmic event that no human has ever experienced, but it can occur for longer-lived entities such as nation-states.  The historical record for what transpires at these times is mixed at best, and subject also to such interruptions and mutations as major political reorganization.  (Is it really valid, for example, to continue using a chart for the Norman Conquest of England for today’s United Kingdom, a different political entity entirely, albeit with a titular head-of-state whose ancestry dates back to those days?)  As well, when such charts are used, we may see recurrent themes under successive Pluto Returns for the same country, but not necessarily among all countries.

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A Liz in Blunderland By Alex Miller House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) must feel as if she’s gone down the rabbit hole these days. The conservative stalwart, daughter of former VP Dick “Darth Vader” Cheney, with a 78% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and a record of voting with President Donald Trump 98% of the time, is being booted from her leadership position, likely to be replaced by a woman with a 44% ACU rating, who only voted 77% with Trump. The reason for Cheney’s fall from GOP grace? Her apostacy in refusing to accept and promulgate the Big Lie, that Donald Trump won the 2020 election in a landslide and had it stolen out from under him. Liz also voted to impeach Trump after the January 6th assault on the US Capitol, and has called him to account for his role in that abortive coup, for which she is now paying the penalty. Liz Cheney’s major political blunder is in being a truth-sayer, at a time when Truth is out of fashion in the Republican party. Having the third-ranking Member speaking uncomfortable truths is admittedly an awkward position for GOP House leadership to find itself in, and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, eyeing the return of the gavel in 2022 should Republicans regain control, has lost patience with the recalcitrant Cheney, who refuses to budge from her principled stance. Cheney easily survived a similar “no confidence” vote in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, a period where Trumpist loyalties had been shaken, but times have changed, and most Republican lawmakers have reverted to their default deification of The Donald. Not so Liz Cheney, who calls it as she sees it, and she sees it clearly, stating in plain English that Donald Trump is responsible for the insurrection, that he lost the election fair and square, and that she will not support him should he become the nominee in 2024. For this heresy she has been banned from the GOP leadership, and will likely lose her seat in the Midterm Election. Born 28 July 1966 (no time available) Elizabeth “Liz” Cheney sports an exact Sun/Mercury conjunction at 5 Leo, so she’s an “ideas person”, intelligent, intellectual, a born rhetorician. Saturn’s out-of-Sign trine from 29 Pisces leans her toward conservatism, but its exact opposition to Pandora at 29 Virgo suggests an inability to leave well enough alone, to insist on probing into a matter, perhaps with dire consequences for herself and others. Saturn conjoins asteroid America at 26 Pisces, making Cheney one of the country’s leading conservative voices. Also with the Sun and Mercury is asteroid House, marking the US House of Representatives as Cheney’s political venue of choice, and a defining part of her self-image, as a House member. House with Mercury indicates Cheney’s ultimate goal, which seems a dream in the present circumstances: House Speaker. Her position as third in House GOP leadership was a stepping stone to that goal, which also likely explains why Cheney refused a Senate run recently which she would certainly have won – she preferred to cement her position in the Lower Chamber to being an undistinguished newbie in the Upper. But House Speaker, lofty as that is, might not be the extent of Cheney’s ambitions. Asteroid Whitehouse at 8 Aries is trine the Sun, and embedded at station (turning retrograde six days after her birth), so the pull to the Oval Office is strong in her psyche. There’s another pair of asteroids with the Sun worth discussing: Godiva and McCarthy, both at 9 Leo. Godiva is a point I’ve previously used only in reference to public nudity, but based on the legend, fellow asteroid obsessive Mark Andrew Homes reflates this point to “ruthlessness in action, the willingness to do whatever is necessary to accomplish an objective; the willingness to take any consequences for one's beliefs*.” This certainly seems to apply to Cheney’s current predicament, unwilling to back down and raising the ante whenever criticized. The night before her ouster, Cheney went to the House floor and gave a blistering attack on the Trumpist forces arrayed against her, refusing to give so much as in inch even when in extremis politically. Her Republican colleagues exited the chamber and declined to give her so much as a hearing. McCarthy here indicates the close contact between herself and current Minority Leader, would-be Speaker, Kevin McCarthy. PNAs conjoined the Sun indicate individuals who will be formative in our development, for good or ill. Godiva’s “ruthless” qualities might be applied here to McCarthy, willing to jettison his lieutenant when politically expedient. These also square a combination of asteroids Nemesis and Elisabetha (closest to Elizabeth) at 9 and 10 Scorpio. Having her own PNA (Personal-Named Asteroid) in connection to the Sun is the most common placement, so Cheney fits that pattern here. The square to McCarthy suggests friction or conflict between them, and McCarthy’s exact square to Nemesis identifies the Minority Leader as a source of ruin or destruction for Cheney. But with Elisabetha conjoined Nemesis, Cheney has a personal connection to divine justice herself, and could conceivably turn those cosmic tables at some future point. McCarthy’s treatment of her could come back to haunt him. The likelihood of this is reiterated in a cluster of asteroids Kevin, Karma and Troemper at 20, 23 and 28 Gemini, which portrays the basic dynamics of the current contretemps. Fate (Karma) is binding McCarthy (Kevin) and Trump (Troemper) in Cheney’s bio, and the fact that this T-Squares the Saturn/Pandora polarity defines her predicament. If she opens that fatal box of speaking truth about Trump’s (Troemper) culpability in the insurrection and duplicity about the election, she reaps the unintended negative consequences (Pandora) to her career (Saturn), facilitated by McCarthy (Kevin), but the situation is unavoidable and somehow fated (Karma). Cheney’s propensity for truth-telling in a political context is foreshadowed by a combination of asteroids Truth and Veritas (Latin for “truth”) at 15 and 19 Cancer, enclosing Jupiter, ruling politics, at 18 Cancer. Also here is Mars at 11 Cancer, making Cheney an aggressive, forceful champion of truth, but also engendering argument and conflict. These square TNO Eris at 11 Aries, suggesting that Cheney’s principled stances in politics cast her as a lightning rod for strife and division. Cementing Cheney’s personal connection to the truth is an opposition from asteroid Lizrao at 20 Capricorn, a compound-name asteroid which can be severed into its parts and used as a marker for either first or last name. Asteroid Lie at 13 Aquarius conjoins Damocles at 17 and opposes Sun/Mercury. To be her authentic self (Sun), Cheney must speak out (Mercury) against (opposition) deception and falsehood (Lie), but her inability to embrace the Big Lie of Trump’s stolen electoral victory now constitutes the doom hanging overhead (Damocles). There is another stationary point in Cheney’s birth chart: asteroid Elisa at 12 Sagittarius, which turned direct a week prior. Elisa represents Elise Stefanik (R-NY) the congresswoman most likely to replace Cheyne in her leadership role. As with solar connections, stationary points indicate persons, places or themes which are pivotal in the native’s character or biography, and here Elisa at station represents the literal “turning point” in Cheney’s career, as her successor. When Liz Cheney was ousted from her position on May 12, 2021, the skies once again reflect the temporal reality. In an incredibly brave move, Kevin McCarthy called a voice vote, so none of the members would have their votes recorded for posterity. After her removal, Cheney continued her lone fight for the soul of the Republican Party, stating, “We must go forward based on truth. We cannot both embrace the big lie and embrace the Constitution.” Asked about a potential Trump run in 2024, Cheney stuck to her guns: “I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.” Donald Trump replied, “Liz Cheney is a bitter, horrible human being. She has no personality or anything good having to do with politics or our country.” Must have been looking in a mirror. Two points were at station for the vote: asteroids Stefani (for likely replacement Elise Stefanik) and Kevin (for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy), identifying the twin poles in the struggle against Cheney. Stefani turned retrograde May 13th, the day after the vote, and at 25 Capricorn conjoins Pluto at 26 Cap, indicating the power play to ensue. Stefani is also squared by asteroid Elisabetha at 26 Libra, showing the conflict between them, and is at the fulcrum of a T-Square with asteroid America exactly conjoined TNO Eris at 24 Aries, representing the strife and division in the country generally, and the Republican Party specifically, over this issue. Also here is asteroid Achilles at 20 Aries, portraying both Liz’s fighting stance and the weakness and vulnerability of her position. Kevin at 27 Virgo turned direct May 15th, three days later, and is also involved in a T-Square, opposing Neptune (fraud, deception, and fanaticism or zealotry) at 22 Pisces, and asteroid Truth at 25 Gemini, underscoring McCarthy’s weakness (Neptune) in refusing to support truth (Truth) over falsehood (Neptune). Cheney is currently undergoing a Mars Return, with the planet of argument and conflict exactly returned to its natal degree of 11 Cancer for the vote against her. This time it’s accompanied by asteroid Troemper at 8 Cancer, showing Trump as the root cause of the kerfuffle, with asteroid McCarthy at 6 Aries in square, depicting his inimical stance. Transit Saturn at 13 Aquarius, ruling both career and loss or diminution, exactly conjoins Cheney’s natal asteroid Lie, defining her inability to embrace the Big Lie as the source of her demotion and damage to her career. Transit asteroid Nemesis, a source of ruin or undoing, often self-created, falls at 8 Sagittarius, T-Squaring a stellium of transit asteroids Elisa, Washingtonia, and Lie at 4, 6 and 14 Virgo, and transit Lizrao at 6 Pisces, reinforcing the sense that lies (Lie) are at the root of Liz’s (Lizrao) fall (Nemesis) from DC (Washingtonia) grace, facilitated by Elise Stefanik (Elisa). The embedded opposition from Lizrao to Elisa and Washingtonia says all you need to know about Liz Cheney’s embattled position among her colleagues in the Capitol, but just to be cosmically clear, a Grand Cross created by a Venus/Mercury conjunction at 4 and 13 Gemini reiterates the circumstances, asserting a vote (Mercury) regarding a female (Venus). What looks like a setback for Liz Cheney now, may in fact be the road to redemption for herself and her beleaguered party, if it ever comes to its senses. Regardless, one thing is clear: if the male members of the DC Republican delegation had half the balls Liz Cheney does regarding the former president, we wouldn’t be in this predicament now.

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A Liz in Blunderland

House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) must feel as if she’s gone down the rabbit hole these days.  The conservative stalwart, daughter of former VP Dick “Darth Vader” Cheney, with a 78% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and a record of voting with President Donald Trump 98% of the time, is being booted from her leadership position, likely to be replaced by a woman with a 44% ACU rating, who only voted 77% with Trump.  The reason for Cheney’s fall from GOP grace?  Her apostacy in refusing to accept and promulgate the Big Lie, that Donald Trump won the 2020 election in a landslide and had it stolen out from under him.  Liz also voted to impeach Trump after the January 6th assault on the US Capitol, and has called him to account for his role in that abortive coup, for which she is now paying the penalty.

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