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George W. Bush As President
by Steffan Vanel 08/04
Here is the next installment in my on-going interpretation of the Astrological Karma of George W. Bush. See my April Column, May Column, June Column, and July Column for the first four installments of this series.
The next section of this chapter will examine how George W. functions as President. The various Astrological factors and formative experiences we have identified can now be abserved as they influence the choices and decisions George W. makes. I confess, I did not vote for George W. Bush, and like all humans I am subject to my own biases as I approach political subjects. My skills as an Astrologer, however, have been honed in application to clients whose political affiliation virtually never enters the picture. I have tried to remain as fair and as objective as I can in this analysis of our current president. In this final section of Astrological analysis of George W. Bush I am going to reference the book, ‘The Price of Loyalty,’ by Ron Suskind. It details the experiences and observations of Bush’s former Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill. He served in prior Republican administrations under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon. O’Neill worked closely with George W. Bush before being dismissed from the cabinet in 2003. His record of public service and Republican credentials make it difficult to dismiss his account as either sour grapes or as liberal ravings.
I would like to begin with O’Neill’s description of the ‘behind the scenes’ White House buildup to the present war in Iraq. Ten days after his Inauguration in 2001, Bush held his first meeting with the National Security Council. The first topic was the Arab/Israeli conflict. After a short discussion Bush said “I don’t see much we can do over there at this point. I think it’s time to pull out of that situation.” The Secretary of State, Colin Powell, tried to point out that such a hasty exit would likely unleash Ariel Sharon and the Israeli army on the Palestinians. O’Neill noted, ‘Bush shrugged. “Maybe that’s the best way to get things back in balance.”
O’Neill described Powell’s reaction as startled.
Bush then turned to Condoleeza Rice and asked what was next on the agenda. She responded, “How Iraq is destabilizing the region, Mr. President.” O’Neill says that several observers felt that this interaction with Rice had been scripted. In the ensuing discussion it became clear that there was a pre-orchestrated decision to weaken or terminate Saddam’s regime. O’Neill points out that the Council members discussed only the hows of the issue and never any of the whys. This meeting, one must remember, was seven months before September 11, 2001. this unilateral decision to undermine an existing nation clearly violated as O’Neill notes, Bush’s campaign promises to be ‘humble’ in our global involvements and to never engage in ‘nation-building.’
A 27 year analyst with the CIA, Ray McGovern, who is part of a group called Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, states that the President made the decision to go to war first and it was then necessary to find the intelligence to validate the need for that decision. McGovern said that CIA analysts resisted incredible pressure from the Defense Department to state that there was evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. He went on to say that the administration had deliberately promoted the false story of Iraq allegedly seeking to obtain unanium from Nigeria for nuclear arms production even though that story was a lie based on a forgery.
Confirmationally, in an article entitled, ‘The New Pentagon Papers,’ published on the internet news and information site, Salon.com, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force came forth with her observations of what was taking place in the build up to the war in Iraq. She states that after having served in the military for 20 years it terminated with ‘10 months of duty in a strange new country...’
She confirms what Ray McGovern stated above. She refers to individuals in the Pentagon appointed by the President who manipulated and pressured the interaction between the Pentagon and intelligence agencies. In her own words:
I witnessed neoconservative agenda bearers within OSP (Office of Special Plans) usurp measured and carefully considered assessments, and through suppression and distortion of intelligence analysis promulgate what were in fact falsehoods to both Congress and the executive office of the president.
That George W. Bush would effectively mislead or even lie to others could easily relate to the effect of Neptune in his chart this planet creates the propensity for illusion and deception, including self-deception. compounding this trait is the placement of Jupiter in the Third House in Bush’s birthchart. When Jupiter is difficultly aspected, as his is by a square to the Sun, Hilarion states that such an alignment will lead, generally, to a ‘dishonest streak.’ Moreover, because this is the largest planet, Jupiter, these traits of illusion, deception, and dishonesty can be acted out on a grand scale with far reaching effects. In correspondence with this grand scale are the plethora of books which deal with Bush’s tendency to give untrue and deceptive statements.
The Neptunian confusion and delusion of George W. Bush are evident in the following quotes from Suskind’s book which I think are quite revealing of how George W. Bush functions as President:
The problem, O’Neill felt, was that this President’s lack of inquisitiveness or pertinent experience....meant he didn’t know or really care about the position of the U.S. government. It wasn’t just a matter of doing the opposite of whatever Clinton had done, which was a prevalent theme throughout the administration. This President was starting from scratch on most issues and relying on ideologues like Larry Lindsey, Karl Rove, and, he now feared, his old friend Dick [Cheney]. Not an honest broker in sight.
The President was caught in an echo chamber of his own making, cut off from everyone other than a circle around him that’s tiny and getting smaller and in concert on everything — a circle that conceals him from public view and keeps him away from the one thing he needs most: honest, disinterested perspectives about what’s real and what the hell he might do about it.
Seeing so much of the policy analysis that was being conducted—in so many realms—left O’Neill befuddled about the real intentions that underlay action.
Was it possible, O’Neill wondered, that the country thought it had elected a centrist when in fact it had empowered an ideologue?The Neptunian illusiveness of the true character of George W. Bush is evident in O’Neill’s observations of Bush. O’Neill said he could usually grasp the workings of a prospective employee’s mind after a single lenghty interview. Yet after working with Bush for six months, O’Neill felt he still didn’t really understand how Bush’s mind worked.
Reading ‘The Price of Loyalty’ book provided a window into what Astrological/Psychological dynamics are at play at the helm of our nation. Essentially, George W. Bush is an insecure man, with a complex relationship with his father, who has used his Leonine and Arian energies of stagecraft, wit and charm (and a good deal of money) to become President of the United States. His own insecurity, coupled with his lack of intellectual engagement and preparation for the task at hand, have made him compensate by surrounding himself with powerful and experienced advisors. These ‘handlers’ perpetuate the stagecraft upon which Bush relies, both for a semblance of true self-confidence and knowledge, and to also buffer him from the pragmatic realities around him.
George W. Bush’s entire life has been based upon appeasing strong powers around him to compensate for his own insecurities and inadequacies. These strong powers around him began with his complex relationship with his father. This legacy continues to reverberate in most of George W.’s later endeavors. These strong powers continue to manifest as the political, religious, and financial forces which enabled George W. to attain his own political successes.
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