Eugenics & Other Yous

At some point last year we had begun to watch season 1 of the TV series Orphan Black via Amazon Prime; something must have happened to distract us (maybe a time away from home) because we then forgot to continue watching the series. Casting about for something different the other evening I again spotted Orphan Black decided we'd pick it up, not where we discovered we'd left it earlier on, but from the beginning again. In the series a young woman discovers that she is a clone, with numerous "sister" clones scattered around the world, she meets several of these; lots of adventures and dangers ensue. Amazing performance by Tatiana Maslany playing multiple parts and personalities - it's well worth regularly suspending disbelief just to watch her talent.

All that rambling was to justify a re-airing of this 2011 post on eugenics, a topic front and centre of Orphan Black.

Here's the relevant post, with appended 2011 comments for added interest.


Eugenics ~ Designer Babies ~ Astrology

I recall a conversation on an astrology message board, many years ago, touching on the question of whether it'd be wise for a couple to use astrology to try to plan a birth date/time which might produce the type of characteristics they'd prefer to see in their proposed child. My immediate feeling was that it'd be an unwise thing to try. I believe that nature knows best, and that there's an inbuilt heredity factor that will come into play, irrespective of attempts to displace it, or parts of it. Something from that conversation remains etched in memory: from a professional astrologer - well known one too, regularly commented and helped astrology students on the board. He told us that he and his wife had tried to astrologically design their child, and had done so successfully - a beautiful child was the result. But the child died at a young age.

An article in an old book, mentioned before in these posts "The Best of the Illustrated National Astrological Journal 1933 - 1934" prodded me into a little research into the controversial topic of eugenics, which has to be said is loosely linked to the idea of astrologically designing a baby.

The article, An Astrologer Looks at Eugenics was a report of an interview with one Robert De Luce, an astrologer and mathematician. The interview took place in the early 1930s. It's important to realise that at that time eugenics, as a general concept, had not attracted the dark, evil connotations gathered from the use of it by Hitler's Nazi regime a few years later. It's also important to realise that the theory of eugenics arose in early 20th century England, not Germany, and flowed (as things usually do, one way or another) across the Atlantic to the USA. The original purpose was not ethnic cleansing, but a desire to rid the human race of what proponents of eugenics saw as defective beings, and thus improve the species, and possibly avoid over-population as a side effect. Among what these elitists saw as defective beings, of course, were ordinary folk like thee and me who didn't measure up to their own supposed brilliant intellectual height. Oddly, although these eugenics peddlars were the progressives of their day, what they were proposing was fascistic in tone. Strange how things turn around!

I found what Robert De Luce had to say to be somewhat unpleasant. Worrying about "the existing sociological situation" and the then remedies (prisons, asylums, reformatories, public financial offerings etc...) he wrote

..They may for a time gloss over the cataclysm but they cannot permanently cure or avoid its recurrence.....

If the public will accept on faith the findings of astrological scientists, sufficiently to give them a fair test, we can readily assist the development of this new race of supermen.

And

Then again eugenists have a fear that the masses of lower intelligence, such as the moron and imbecile, will overpower and destroy, by their greater numbers, those who are intellectually endowed. There is nothing to it. No form of society has yet ever existed where the imbeciles and morons are the controlling factor.

That last sentence is a perfect straight line for a comedian to take up - I'll resist the temptation!

Back in the early 1930s perhaps a pervading astrological atmosphere was encouraging such perfection-seeking attitudes.



August 1932 to September 1933 saw a transit of Jupiter through Virgo, with Neptune already in that sign - a sign which has the reputation of a need for perfection in everything. The relatively innocent motives of De Luce were overshadowed when Hitler's Nazi regime set about its aim to produce the "master race" and "cleanse" Europe to produce an imagined Utopia. We all know of the ensuing horrors!

As a broad definition eugenics means people being bred like cattle or dogs, cats etc to produce the most desirable genetic traits. Genetic engineering in the 21st century could be used to produce a "designer baby". That might well be the case, but astrology buffs would argue that unless the position of the planets at the time of the designer baby's birth are compatible with the traits desired, results might well be disappointing.

There's a limit to how much "designing" can be done astrologically. It'd be next to impossible to ascertain the exact minute of birth, or even exact hour and day of birth (unless birth was by C-section, performed by accommodating medics).

I found this piece, of astrological relevance, at librarising.com during my searches; extract only link is below. [Since 2011 the link has died - sorry!]

According to studies and trials done by Russian cosmobiologist Eugene Jonas, a woman can only conceive when the transiting Sun and Moon are in the same angular relationship(by sign) as the woman's natal Sun and Moon.

In other words, if the woman has the Sun in Leo and the Moon in Sagittarius, she has what is known as a trine(120 degree) relationship between her luminaries. Whenever the Sun and Moon are in trine(by sign) in the sky, this is the best time for her to conceive or become pregnant.

The trine is a harmonious relationship. Other harmonious Sun/Moon relationships(by sign), such as the sextile(60 degrees), Conjunction(0 degrees), or opposition(180 degrees), can also be fertile periods for her...... Note: a period of up to twelve hours should be allowed for the sperm to reach the ovum and cause conception.....
The sex of the child is determined by the gender of the sign the Moon is in at the time of conception.........

According to the ancient Trutine of Hermes formula, the Moon sign at conception, becomes the Ascendant sign at birth, and the Ascendant sign at conception becomes the Moon sign at birth. The time from conception to birth is usually 273 days or ten lunar months and nine solar months.

In other words, you can pretty much select the Moon and Ascendant signs of your child(as well as the other planets) and therefore have a very good idea of the characterstics of the child you are bringing into the world.

Whether eugenics were to be used to "better" the human race generally, or a variation of it were used to astrologically design offspring, I'm not in favour. Messing with nature can have enormous unexpected consequences for which the species would not be prepared.

COMMENTS (from May 2011)

Wisewebwoman said... Amen to that, I say, T!

Gian Paul said...Which practicing astrologer is not transforming, or trying to move his self (or various selves) towards what he/she may perceive as the more desirable aspects of his given make-up? If not so on earth, who knows at the latest when going thru "purgatory"? Are we not somehow fabricating something according to what we think "more desirable"? Astrology helping, this may even become obsessive.

Twilight said...Gian Paul ~~~ Oh yes, using astrology to improve what already exists is a reasonable thing to try - agreed, if one feels the need. It's the attempt to manipulate nature BEFORE a being exists, to that I see as very, very unwise.

Vanilla Rose said...I saw (part of) a TV programme about eugenics which claimed that Creationism had begun as a reaction against eugenics: the "God makes no mistakes" line. I'm not sure I quite agree, as it seems that some babies are born with disabilities which a loving God would not have chosen to inflict. Of course, many people do cope amazingly well with very severe disabilities.

The problem with trying to ensure babies are born with a particular birthsign is that nobody quite knows whether they will arrive on time. One of my family members was given a due date in mid-April, which was revised to early April when the ultra-sound found two babies in there. Needless to say - Aries. But she went into labour early. Fortunately, both babies did well (after a few weeks with naso-gastric tubes), but their birth sign is not Aries or even Pisces. She has two lively Aquarians.

Twilight said...Vanilla Rose ~~ That would have been an interesting prog. :-)

I'm in two minds about the wisdom of using genetic engineering to "right" a known deficiency in an unborn baby. That's a little different from designing the whole being. Even so, changing one thing could have a knock-on effect to some other thing, not realised.

Yes the astrological side would be VERY tricky to manipulate - nigh on impossible - with a natural birth anyway.

It's Music Monday..... I'll stay on the same page, with help from Nancy Wilson and There will never be another you:

Saturday & Sundry Rambling Thoughts on Fourth Turnings, Cycles & suchlike

Steve Bannon Believes The Apocalypse Is Coming And War Is Inevitable
a piece by Paul Blumenthal at Huffington Post this week, begins:

In 2009, the historian David Kaiser, then a professor at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, got a call from a guy named Steve Bannon.

Bannon wanted to interview Kaiser for a documentary he was making based on the work of the generational theorists William Strauss and Neil Howe. Kaiser, an expert on Strauss and Howe, didn’t know Bannon from Adam, but he agreed to participate. He went to the Washington headquarters of the conservative activist group Citizens United, where Bannon was then based, for a chat.

Kaiser was impressed by how much Bannon knew about Strauss and Howe, who argued that American history operates in four-stage cycles that move from major crisis to awakening to major crisis. These crises are called “Fourth Turnings” — and Bannon believed the U.S. had entered one on Sept. 18, 2008, when Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke went to Capitol Hill to ask for a bailout of the international banking system.............Bannon pressed Kaiser on one point during the interview. “He was talking about the wars of the Fourth Turnings,” Kaiser recalled. “You have the American Revolution, you have the Civil War, you have World War II; they’re getting bigger and bigger. Clearly, he was anticipating that in this Fourth Turning there would be one at least as big. And he really made an effort, I remember, to get me to say that on the air..........”

 "Take care my man! It might be awkward if you was to let 'em loose"

Hmmm. Uncomfortable thoughts! Anyway, I was immediately reminded of something I posted a couple of years ago, touching on a similar topic. I'm going to copy that post here - I found it an interesting one to prepare, though it does ramble on a bit. Long post! The rabbit hole was dark and deep! I shall add any commentary from 2014.


The Way of Things - Cycles and Generations

Round, like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel.
Never ending or beginning,
On an ever spinning wheel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnaval balloon
Like a carousell that's turning
Running rings around the moon

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on it's face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Hear Sting sing it HERE

A column titled "A New Breed, But Millennials Should Be OK" by a friend and in-law, who edits one local newspaper and writes a weekly column for another, sent me scurrying down one of the internet's numerous deep rabbit-holes, as well as into my own cavern of archives.
SNIP from his column:

We who’ve lived a few decades are told we must study and understand the Millennials; we must adapt to their unique needs.

What are those needs? Experts echo the theme Millennials are selfish and irresponsible (a generalization that’s insulting to them); and the answer to nurturing Millennials is to understand them better (a solution that’s insulting to us).

Every generation of “older folks” has the prerogative to become crotchety and play the sorrowful kids-are-going-to-Hades card. But what’s different this time is that we keep getting told we have to put up with the Millennials and their generational peccadilloes.

When the whole column becomes available at the newspaper's website I'll link to it here. I'm no expert on the fads and foibles of any generation, especially the younger ones. Even on my own, War Baby generation, I could lay no claim to expertise. We're now well past our best, sadly few and far between on the net these days...at least on that part of the net I frequent, there are some residing in corners where I refuse to wander, talking about stuff I prefer not to think about.

Any passing reader interested to see a few of my own words on generational matters: easy pickings - just click on "generations" in the cumulus that is
"Label Cloud" in the sidebar; there are several posts, 2008 on, touching on generations and generationalism.

The habit of pitching one generation against another, a game seen regularly around the internet, remains objectionable to me, another form of bigotry in fact, when taken to extremes. Stereotypes, though not without a tiny kernel of validity, can soon become toxic, like the stereotypical notions that women nag, men are henpecked, Americans are loud-mouthed egotists, Brits have bad teeth, French are cowards, Italians pinch women's bottoms...etc.etc.etc.

Vast arrays of variety exist within each generation, it's like millions of different melodies being played, but with a distinctive background "humm" going on, a "humm" peculiar and individual to each age-group - something which draws the group together, and at the same time sets them apart - yet it is only a subtle background "humm", not the melody, not the composition, not the lyrics.

Astrology understands this.

A serious study of what the generations actually do comprise is a different matter. A study either considering said "background humm", or not considering it at all, but studying how whatever the generations do comprise affects aspects of life for all of us. Even then, though, it depends which part of the world one is considering. The English speaking (or more properly English reading) internet is heavily weighted towards the USA in most things, the topic of generations follows this pattern. It's hard to find much that's specific about Britain, in this respect, though I did see a few articles on Australian generations - possibly inspired by some new book or TV programme there. How generations, say from the 18th century until now, have formed in the USA and how they have formed elsewhere in the world via background and experiences, even in the land of the USA's closest cousin, Britain, has to be so different as to possibly negate all attempts to classify. Having said that, keeping it in mind...

Studies and several books by William Strauss and Neil Howe, see Wikipedia , and Amazon are of interest.

For example, their Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 (1992) was described by former Vice President of the USA, Al Gore as "the most stimulating book on American history he'd ever read". He even sent a copy to each member of Congress. The book is described:

William Strauss and Neil Howe posit the history of America as a succession of generational biographies, beginning in 1584 and encompassing every-one through the children of today.Their bold theory is that each generation belongs to one of four types, and that these types repeat sequentially in a fixed pattern. The vision of Generations allows us to plot a recurring cycle in American history -- a cycle of spiritual awakenings and secular crises -- from the founding colonists through the present day and well into this millennium.

In 1997 Strauss and Howe wrote The Fourth Turning. At Amazon it was described as having been heralded by reviewers as "a brilliant, if somewhat unsettling, reassessment of where America is heading".

Snip from comment at Amazon By 'Odysseus'

The basic insight in this book is a simple one: Instead of trying to build a theory of American history (as did Arthur Schlesinger) that is based on unexplained "cycles" and "swings" from liberal to conservative and back again, why not simply look at how American generations behave as they age? When you do that, as Strauss and Howe have found, you find that American generations behave with a certain consistency throughout their lives. If their formative experiences push them in a certain direction while young, they'll continue to act in that way as they get older. That is, if you understand that history is really the process of different generations moving through time, then the swings of American history no longer look so mysterious; they appear as predictable manifestations of the fact that different generations with different life experiences have risen to the foreground.

Of course, you don't want to take all of this too sweepingly, or else it starts to seem like astrology or historical biorhythms. Generations are diverse groups, and no two people within a generation are exactly alike. But there are clear trends of generational behavior, which Strauss/Howe substantiate quite well.

Of course we wouldn't want to bring astrology into it would we? Would We? TSK!

There are some long and interesting reader reviews at Amazon links. I shall press on without going into more detail about Strauss and Howe's theory; it is set out in detail and clearly enough at Wikipedia, here. Also there's a good run-down on the topic at Hub-pages HERE.

For now, keep in mind Strauss and Howe's theorised four generational cycles:
Prophet/Hero/Nomad/Artist.
Four generational archetypes that repeat sequentially, in rhythm with the cycle of Crises and Awakenings.
From the Wiki link:

....four generational archetypes that repeat sequentially, in rhythm with the cycle of Crises and Awakenings (High/Awakening/Unravelling/Crisis). In Generations, Strauss and Howe refer to these four archetypes as Idealist, Reactive, Civic, and Adaptive. In The Fourth Turning (1997) they update this terminology to Prophet, Nomad, Hero, and Artist. The generations in each archetype not only share a similar age-location in history, they also share some basic attitudes towards family, risk, culture and values, and civic engagement. In essence, generations shaped by similar early-life experiences develop similar collective personas and follow similar life-trajectories. To date, Strauss and Howe have identified 25 generations in Anglo-American history, each with a corresponding archetype

 Hat-tip Sacred Geometry Inc

Astrologers have long known some variation of Strauss and Howe's theories.

Searching for a book on this topic by an astrologer, I found Generational Patterns Using Astrology by Edwin Rose (2011), described at Amazon:

Generational Patterns Using Astrology will enable you to find your place in history. It will explain how your parent's generation is different than yours and even the differences between your parent's generational patterns. Once you see your generation's pattern in the flow of history, you will see what challenges we now face, and what part your generation's role is in all of it. Looking forward, you will see what years in the future will be key, and what opportunities (and difficulties) await us. If you have children, you will understand their generation and how it differs from yours.

I wasn't familiar with the author's name, but eventually found this at Dodona Books website:

Edwin Rose

The author taught and lectured on astrology for 35 years. During that time he studied how astrology influences people and history. He self published a 445 page book Planetary Music: Understanding Astrological Rhythms (1998) and has a website with astrological information and predictions that gets 300 hits a day -- it has been in continuous operation since 1996. For six years the author and his wife owned the metaphysical bookstore Guiding Star in Mill Valley (near San Francisco, CA) which has given him an appreciation of the astrological audience. He has worked as a software engineer and software manager for major corporations including Apple, Leapfrog, Cisco, and Autodesk -- most of his software career has been in animation, games, graphics, and TV. Edwin Rose died in 2010 shortly before his title Generational Patterns Using Astrology was published.

Three chapters of Mr Rose's book are available at Google Books - see HERE The last of the three is most relevant to this topic. I've taken the liberty of copying part of the chapter as a sample:

...The excerpt ends there.

Strauss and Howe's four cycles of generational archetypes: Prophet/Hero/Nomad/Artist have astrological cycles which could be seen as comparable. Edwin Rose mentioned the elemental cycle, and was comparing it as the excerpt ended. There's also a cycle on a more personal scale - related to the individual, the Saturn cycle of Saturn Returns which equate roughly to childhood/teenage/young adulthood/maturity. Cycles within cycles! The far outer planets, though, are the ones related to generational astrology. Mr Rose's book will explore their cycles.

Another book which touches on the generational theme astrologically, and one I already own, is Horoscope for the New Millennium by E. Alan Meece. I've mentioned it more than once in archived posts, and there's an excerpt from it relating to the generations at Wandering Star, HERE.

The burning question after stumbling through all of this has to be - "Well then, where are we now?"
It seems that using Strauss and Howe's theory we're in a period of Crisis, the most intense of the four periods. The last Crisis was World War 2, after which society underwent a drastic change. That was followed by a High period, with prosperity growing along with corporations and middle class contentment. An Awakening phase began in the 1960s, with the hippies, civil rights, etc. Then things began to unravel, slowly, during the 1980s, with the next turning point possibly being 9/11...and off we went into Crisis (again). Major change ought to be around the next corner (but, as the song goes "who knows where or when?")

Comments from 2014


anyjazz said...We saw circles within circles at the Salina River Festival. An old workmate of mine had a quip he would quote now and then: It's all the same circles, just different people going around in them. Now, I don't know what any of this has to do with that but it's what I though of as I was reading.

Twilight said...anyjazz ~ Yes we did - I ought to insert your photograph from Salina in the post [added]..
Your workmate was being polite...I think what he/she really meant was "same shit, different assholes". Sorry!) ;-)


mike said...In a bit of a twist, take anyjazz' comment from his workmate and add your poop comment, Twilight...look at the (very nice) photo of the sculpture and peer into the background at the port-a-potties...LOL.

The cyclic nature of astrology is all too often overlooked, except for the "returns" of Jupiter and Saturn...maybe the solar return, too. Our finite, flash-in-a-pan years on Earth limit the greater view. Most individuals want astrology to work for them within the limits of decades and, preferably, the immediate present, which typically doesn't allow much consideration toward repeating cycles. But, as your interesting post indicates, many cycles of the slower-moving planets correlate with generational qualities, particularly when considering Jupiter and Saturn aspects to each other and to Uranus-Neptune-Pluto.

Financial-economic astrology is all about short and long term cycles. The Mayan calendar is a superb example of maxi-mini cyclic timekeeping. The Earth may not have ended 12-21-2012, but something shifted!

Nick Anthony Fiorenza has an interesting site delving into synodic cycles:
http://www.lunarplanner.com/index.html

Twilight said...mike ~ LOL! I hadn't noticed that in the photo....well done Sherlock! :-)

Yes, you're exactly right about astrology. It is very annoying, too, how people who consider themselves intellectually bright and "in the know" about everything, but the minute astrology is mentioned they dismiss it out of hand, sometimes even ridicule it - and the person mentioning it. Yet - here is proof of some measure of correlation between findings of non-astrologers and of astrologers.

Astrology is often "a fool to itself" in many ways, because it survives (admittedly the only way it can) via the old "He's a Taurus and his Mercury is being hit by....whatever" kind of thing. That's all well and good, but it's not what astrology really ought to be about, well...not if for consumption of those intellectually disdainful mortals anyway. I could rant for a week on this - but shall desist. Thanks, yes -I think I've visited Mr Fiorenza's website before - it's a very good one!


mike (again) said..."Astrology Making Progress in Britain’s House of Commons"
http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/astrology-making-progress-in-britains-house-of-commons/

New cycles will start in six years, with interesting conjunctions of Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto-S Node happening in Capricorn, 2019-2020. Michael Lutin says:
"... At the same time, don't kid yourself, there's a war brewing.....greater what you see or read about in the news. It's a world wide revolution that will reveal itself more openly sometime around the moment Pluto reaches the third decant of Capricorn. IN America 2018-19 and beyond. The crucial national Elections will be In 2020, not 2016 . The situation is pretty much contained and under control of the control freaks who fear chaos, at this point, and what we are seeing is the smouldering of distracting local brush fires."
http://michaellutin.com/dailyfix.htm

Twilight said...mike ~ Well may the goddess of astrology (Urania) bless David
Tredinnick! A quick look at his birthday in my ephemeris - Jan 19 1950
Sun Capricorn/Moon possibly Aquarius, Venus and Jupiter in Aquarius - yep - Urania!

Michael Lutin thinks 2018/19 and onward for the start of the next "turning" then? I've always thought it to be likely around 2024/5, but that might be the culmination of something begun around 2018 I guess.

I still think 2016 election will be an important one though, and could make all the difference to how it all plays out - nothing is written in stone, not even astrologers' pronouncements or astrology itself. It's "blowin' in the wind"

Arty Farty Friday ~ Marie Vassilieff

 Photograph by Man Ray

A look at another female artist whose name and artwork had eluded me until now:
Marie Vassilieff. She was born on 12 February 1884, in Russia, but spent much of her life in France. Her artworks include cubist style paintings, portraits of her friends; decorative furniture designs; also theatrical design and dolls/puppets.

From a 1998 piece in the New York Times by Mary Blume & International Herald Tribune:

Born in 1884 in Smolensk, Vassilieff came to Paris in 1907. She studied briefly at the academy that Matisse ran from 1908 to 1911 and where few of the students spoke French, then in 1910 became a co-founder and director of the Academie Russe. Two years later, after internal quarrels, she left the Russian academy and founded the Academie Vassilieff in her Avenue du Maine studio. In 1915 she created a canteen for foreign artists cut off from funds from home because of World War I that served a meal for 50 centimes.

The soup kitchen was her chief achievement and the show includes a drawing in her angular, primitive style of the dinner she gave in honor of Georges Braque in 1916, with Vassilieff holding a knife and a basin in which Matisse is about to deposit a turkey, while around the table sit Blaise Cendrars, Picasso, Fernand Leger, Jacob, Beatrice Hastings, Juan Gris and Braque wearing a laurel wreath. Modigliani stands at the entrance, arms raised in delight or in a shrug.

See here for illustration above.

For details on Vassilieff one must go to J.-P. Crespelle's not always reliable "Montparnasse Vivant," where Vassilieff is described as one of the quarter's most colorful personalities.

Tiny, with bright blue eyes, she said she was as beautiful as a Madonna when she arrived in Montparnasse and within days claimed to have been picked up on a park bench by a little old man who turned out to be Henri Rousseau. She refused his marriage proposal because of his bad breath but, longing to have a child, bore a son by an unidentified father in 1917.

The same year, for unclear reasons, perhaps because she had sheltered Lenin, she was placed under house arrest, an event shown in a drawing in the exhibition, with a companion sketch of Leger, in uniform, taking her son into his protection.

Her work vacillates between folk and modern art. She made dolls for the couturier Paul Poiret and Art Deco posters for the many balls that were held to raise funds for needy painters and at which she would oblige with a cossack dance. She also decorated two of the pillars in the restaurant of La Coupole. She died in an artists' retirement home in 1953 and Foujita said on her death, "The name of Marie Vassilieff will remain in the history of Montparnasse."

 Lady with Fan

 Little  Girl with Cat

 Poster for Jean Borlin's  Ballets Suédois

 Still Life with Masks in a Window

 Untitled

For more examples see Google Image, here.


ASTROLOGY

Born on 12 February 1884 in Smolensk, Russia. Chart set for 12 noon - time of birth unknown.

First thought on seeing Marie Vassilieff's natal chart: it's well integrated, well synchronised - lots of scope for planetary patterns due to many planets in the late 20s degrees or very early degrees. This astrological synchrony is likely, I'd say, to produce a nature mainly at ease with itself, and with others.

A Grand Trine in Earth signs jumps out, linking Mercury to Uranus and Pluto and Chiron + out of sign Saturn. This Earthy emphasis in her chart indicates a practical, down to earth type, demonstrated, in what little we know about her, by her inclination to assist others by providing cheap food via her canteen for struggling artists, after World War I.

There's also a Mystic Rectangle linking signs in Earth and Water (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Uranus) via trines, sextiles and oppositions. Any difficulties raised by the two oppositions would be balanced by the helpful trines and sextiles - again an indication of balance in her nature.

Sun in Aquarius - her modernism shines through her art, her social conscience shone through in the already mentioned provision of cheap food for peers in need. My favourite planetary position in this chart is the Yod :the sextile between Jupiter and Uranus in Cancer and Virgo links to natal Aquarius Sun via two 150 degree aspects (known as quincunxes). Proper astrologers don't usually interpret the Yod as I prefer to do. I see the planet at the apex (Sun = self) here as beneficiary of a blending of the sextiled planets' and signs' characteristics which would, without the sextile link, be an uncomfortable match for the apex planet. Translated: Jupiter, Uranus, Cancer, Virgo (extreme modernism blended with sensitivity and efficiency) benefit and enhance Sun's Aquarian avant garde and humanitarian nature.

Will President Trump Weather the Storms?

I contributed this post to Broad Oak Magazine blog (link in sidebar) a while ago using, at the blog's editor's suggestion, remarks of J.H. Kunstler in a piece HERE. May as well put the post to use again, here!
Snip from Kunstler's article:

If the first forty-eight hours are any measure of the alleged Trumptopia-to-come, the leading man in this national melodrama appears to be meshuga. A more charitable view might be that his behavior does not comport with the job description: president. If he keeps it up, I stick to my call that we will see him removed by extraordinary action within a few months. It might be a lawful continuity-of-government procedure according to the 25th Amendment — various high officials declaring him “incapacitated” — or it might be a straight-up old school coup d’état (“You’re fired”).

I believe the trigger for that may be an overwhelming financial crisis in the early second quarter of the year. In, the first case, under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, it works like this:

Donald Trump was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York on 14 June 1946 at 10.54 AM. Below is his natal chart.

A brief run-down of personality characteristics indicated: positions of Sun, Moon and rising sign (sign coming over horizon at exact time of birth) are the "big three" items thought by astrologers to reflect most clearly in the native's personality. Trump's Sun (core self) in Gemini - the most communicative and one of the most flexible signs of the zodiac, perhaps reflects his love of Tweeting and generally making his opinions widely known. Conjunct (within a few degrees of) his Sun is Uranus, planet known for the unexpected, eccentricity, and change. This is significant!

Trump's Moon (inner self) was in Sagittarius, sign known for exaggeration, expansiveness, publication, among other things. That's a good fit!

Rising sign was Leo, and at 29 degrees where we also find Royal Fixed Star Regulus. This is the part of his chart that first impressed me as a sign that, though my brain was telling me he couldn't, and wouldn't ever be President of the USA - he darn well could be and would have leadership essentials to be such, according to his chart. I pushed the thought away, deciding that it could be simply a reflection of successes he had already realised. I should mention here that Mars sits just 3 degrees from his rising degree, and Mars reflects dynamism and aggressive tendencies.

So, we have Gemini, Sagittarius and Leo - I'm keeping this down to absolute basics, these three are underpinnings to his personality: communication, over-expansiveness, leadership. There's something more to mention to fill out the picture: Mercury, Saturn and Venus are all in Cancer. Cancer has a very different flavour from the signs already mentioned. Cancer (symbol is the crab) is, first and foremost ultra-sensitive; also home and family loving, tends to withdraw when threatened. We've seen Trump's sensitivity to criticism many times. He draws on that natal Mars on his ascendant sign, combined with Gemini Sun's communication skills, exaggerated by Sagittarius Moon, to produce his frequent counter-punches. Deep inside, though, he will be feeling genuinely hurt. He will be a quite, quite different guy at home surrounded by family, than the one he presents to his voters and opponents.

There's lots more in the chart, via aspects and cycles, but for me, the above elements are key.

Now, since 1946, the year Trump was born, the planets have been moving along in their respective orbits at varying speeds; faster moving planets have frequently joined Trump's natal planets - this isn't particularly significant; but the slower-moving outer planets, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto when, in course of their transits meet they up with a Trump natal planet, sit close to it for much longer periods, that is what needs to be noted.

In this case Saturn, Uranus and Pluto are the planetary transits most involved.
Saturn, planet of restriction and limitation was exactly conjunct Trump's natal Moon from late December 2016 to early January this year, signifying some inner feelings of tension no doubt, during the time up to inauguration day. Saturn is slowly moving away now, degree by degree. However, come this summer Saturn will appear to backtrack (retrograde) and "hit" his Moon again, and from late June to October it'll be within a few degrees of his Moon again. So there's more tension to come. Exactly what form it will take can't be known. Will it be enough to bring on the event Mr Kunstler predicted? There's no way of knowing.

Uranus planet of change and the unexpected currently sits at around 20 to 21 Aries, will travel from there to the end of that sign between now and May 2018, with a retrograde motion or two. Though transiting Uranus is currently in friendly aspect (angle) to Trump's Sun, and Moon it's also in challenging angle to Venus and Saturn in Cancer - possibly a reflection of the arguments about his conflicting business and presidential interests.

Pluto is transiting the mid- to late teens of Capricorn right now, and until around this time next year. Pluto represents needed transformations preceded by some chaos and difficult times. While Pluto will not be conjoining any of Trump's natal planets in the near future, it will be in awkward aspect (at a significantly challenging angle) to some of them, namely Jupiter in Libra, Uranus in Gemini and later his Sun in Gemini - at times later on this year and next year.

One doesn't need to be an astrologer to foresee what astrology is telling us - i.e. that there are many tough times and challenges ahead for the new President. Whether these times will be tough enough for J.H. Kunstler's prediction to be fulfilled is another matter. Personally, I doubt it.

Another way to investigate this would be to look at the Vice-President's chart, for he would become President should any kind of "coup" occur. A very quick look - it has to be a 12 noon chart because Pence's exact time of birth isn't known.

Mike Pence was born on 7 June 1959 in Columbus, Indiana. Time of birth unknown. Chart set for 12 noon.

Moon position and rising sign will not be as shown here. Moon could have been either in late Gemini or early Cancer - impossible to guess which - I can see reasons for both. Interesting that Trump chose a fellow-Gemini as his VP. He's a very different Gemini-type though. Pence doesn't have Uranus conjunct his Sun, though Uranus is in a friendly angle to it. Pence is a very smooth communicator, as was shown during the VP's debate when his skills in that area were undeniable when contrasted with Clinton's VP, Tim Kaine's bluster.

Pluto will be (and has already been) at a similarly challenging angle to Pence's Sun at 16 Gemini and to his Mercury (planet of communication) at 21 Gemini as to Trump's Sun and Uranus. This could indicate they'll both be dealing with multiple challenges from "We the People" - what affects one will affect t'other, whether in dealing with every day difficulties, or, I guess, via one taking over the position of the other, even. But, in general, from the information here, I don't see any clear indication of change of actual career status or position for Pence coming up.

The Real Enemy

Elites of both Republican and Democratic parties; the majority of men and women currently in Congress; Supreme Court Justices and all running the Executive branch are millionaires, multi-millionaires, and some are even billionaires. These people know nothing of, and care less for the needs of ordinary citizens. Why would they? They can continue being re-elected time after time, relying on huge campaign donations from eager Big Money donors. These negate the need for reliance on ordinary people's meagre offerings. Ordinary people are nuisance value, do not matter to them, probably never have - beyond their value in filling the military, that is.

Left versus Right, Right versus Left - wrong games, distractions only. Top versus Bottom is the only game worth playing now. Ordinary folk from both right and left should bury their hatchets, band together and strongly oppose everything obstructive to their needs. Their right/left differences, important as they may be in normal circumstances, must be set aside for a while, until some headway has been made. If this isn't realised nothing will improve - ever.

My take-away catchphrase from one of the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire: a line spoken by Haymitch: "Always remember who the real enemy is."
It's essential for all of us in the 21st century to take heed.


On not the same, but a similar wavelength is a piece by Frank Scott at Counterpunch:
Only Thing Dumber Than Trump? The Reaction to Trump. (My highlight.)

SNIPS

In the American political economy that spends more than 600 billion on war, more than 60 billion on pets, reduces millions to poverty and hundreds of thousands to being homeless, to mention only a handful of the staggering contradictions that were and are our reality whichever clown prince sits at the surreality seat in DC, we need to become conscious, active and truly resistant to it and not simply individual or group personalities. Millions have been murdered in the Middle East by that system and now its unconscious supporters are maneuvered into standing up for the rights of immigrants we have forced out of their countries by our murderous practices. It would be like a Polish Jew trying to escape the Nazi onslaught by trying to emigrate to Germany, with decent if terribly uninformed German citizens crying out, “We must help them!”........................

These and countless other contradictions cannot simply be reduced to heroes and villains and must be seen as the workings of a system that can only benefit a few at cost to very very many. Billions of humans on a global level, but millions just here in the USA. That is a much bigger problem for us to deal with than the identity, personality, skin tone, religion, or sexuality of one or another individual or member of a group. And all of us, once we deal with the political economics that rule our lives, will benefit, not just some of us. In other words, stop worrying only about Trump and start worrying – big time – about capitalism.

Travel Ban - Astrological Reflection

A travel ban imposed by President Trump, on travellers from 7 countries who wish to enter the USA, has been front and centre of news headlines during the past few days. Is there any correlating astrology?

Immigration/travel law could encompass almost all the planets and signs in one way or another - as, indeed, does life. Saturn, Jupiter and Sagittarius are probably the most involved in present problems. Saturn the restrictor; Sagitarrius and it's ruling planet Jupiter relate to long-distance travel, with also some secondary connection to law.

See "Astrological Law and Order" - at the Starcats site, where there's a comprehensive rundown of how mundane astrology connects to various strands of law.

"Saturn creates the necessary order, structure, form and functions to mitigate the chaotic factors inherent in the negotiations of group enterprises. Saturn is associated with institutions representing the legal system, civil service, and all restraining/restricting forces in society. Saturn is rules, procedures, and guidelines. Saturn is associated with the administration of justice and has its affilations with police (law enforcement) and also the regimentation of military life and discipline. The attitude of a nation toward law, order, taboos, old practices, the old guard in politics, etc., are also associated with Saturn."

At present, early February, Saturn and Jupiter are transiting in sextile aspect to one another, in the mid 20s degrees of Libra and Sagittarius, which means they are currently "helpful" to each other rather than antagonistic. Chart at right is set for 5 Feb. at 12 noon in Washington DC, relevant planets circled in dark pink. Positions will not change rapidly so these remarks are good for several days, or more. Uranus, planet of the unexpected, of change and eccentricity is at 21 Aries, and so in harmonious trine aspect to Saturn and in opposition to Jupiter. No surprise that travel and restriction are in the spotlight, both in restrictive mode and in attempts to alleviate restriction.

Restrictive Saturn's transit through Sagittarius, while linking to Jupiter and to Uranus does paint a correlating astrological picture of what we're watching happen: unexpected and excessive restrictions on some international travel. The opposition from Uranus to Jupiter initiates the problem, while softer aspects of sextiles and trines could be seen as relating to attempts to assist affected travellers by lifting the initial ban, using available legal means.

Music Monday ~ Political Reflections

A comment at naked capitalism website (link in sidebar) last week provided this Music Monday's first tune. Commenter "Dave" wrote, on 2 February, with regard to current political outrage and hysterics by those labelled "liberal" in the USA:

At last, they have a real piece of meat they can sink their ever longer teeth into that once snapped in the air with Bush and just sat there in their mouth under Obama.
The subconscious sense of betrayal they felt with Obama knew no outlet but indigestion and lots of pharma. Now they have a real target that all the really big money, the Military Industrial Complex, the MSM, the radicals, the feminists and the magazine stand intellectuals can agree to hate along with them.

“One, Singular Sensation…” Bob Fosse couldn’t have written it better.

Their outrage is Trump’s fuel however and the louder and more ridiculously they protest and the more video they help create, the stronger his chances of re-election.

Staying with the stage musical genre (longtime favourite of mine), again reflecting current political atmospheres in the USA. From Evita, Peron sings:

Dice are rolling, the knives are out.
Would-be presidents are all around,
I don't say they mean harm
But they'd each give an arm
To see us six feet underground.





And from Les Miserables, the reminder that, after any coup, revolution or uprising there are going to be:

Saturday & Sundry Astrological Expectations

Finely drawn characters in books and movies sometimes tempt me to surmise on their astrology. It's a fun way to exercise and strengthen the astrological muscle. Off the top of my head I recall writing posts in that vein about characters from Gone With the Wind; Little Women; A Tale of Two Cities; maybe others too.

Gone with the Wind Zodiacal Connection
Little Women
A Tale of Two Cities: Sydney Carton.

We watched the 2012 film version of Dickens' novel Great Expectations (via Netflix) this week, and it had me pondering on predominant signs and planets for one or two of the novel's main characters. There have been numerous films, mini-series, stage versions of the novel, I've seen a couple of different ones. The 2012 film packs a lot into 2hrs 8 mins, this is a nice version, but David Lean's film from 1946 still lurks in memory, which must mean that the old one had made a very deep impression.

Anyway...on to the characters' characters, astrologically speaking:

Pip ~ Though he's the tale's leading character he comes across as a tad colourless at times, when compared with the rest of the bunch. One telling characteristic of his was his early eagerness to "become a gentleman", to get away from his humble beginnings in a blacksmith's family. Sun in Leo perhaps? Yet Pip wasn't really yer typically bright Leo go-getter, not at first anyway. Leo Moon might be a better fit, with Sun in Pisces - he was always a bit of a romantic dreamer. His stroke of luck, in being able to follow his dreams, funded by an initially anonymous benefactor smells of Jupiter - in first house perhaps, or at mid-heaven.

“The unqualified truth is, that when I loved Estella with the love of a man, I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once for all; I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all; I love her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection.”

―"Pip" in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations

Estella ~ In childhood and beyond she was evilly manipulated by Miss Havisham, taught to grow up cold, uncaring, completely without empathy or appreciation of love, so that she would wreak pain on men: Miss Havisham's twisted method of revenge. Difficult one this. Estella would doubtless have become a quite different person altogether had she grown up away from Miss Haversham's influence, and within an average family environment. She didn't crumble though, so must have been, astrologically, made of fairly sturdy stuff. Taurus I'll guess, for either Sun or Moon, or even for both. She was beautiful, Taurus is ruled by Venus, though is still one of the sturdiest of signs.

 Miss Havisham & Pip by Marcus Stone

Miss Havisham ~ Bitter and twisted by her experience of being jilted, turned eccentric and determined to have revenge on men by grooming a young Estella to grow up cold-hearted, unable to feel any emotion. She had stopped all the clocks in her mansion, still wore her wedding gown and lived among her wedding decor many years after the event. Saturn (restriction) Scorpio (dark, obsessive), Uranus (eccentricity). How about Sun in Cancer (Cancer = known to withdraw when in danger of hurt) with Saturn close-by, Scorpio rising, Uranus in first house?

Joe Gargery ~ Pip's relative and father figure. Down-to-earth, simple, patient, generous and good-natured, hard-working blacksmith. Loved, as he would often say, "to have a lark". Capricorn Sun, Mercury in Sagittarius, perhaps.

Magwitch ~ The convict who became Pip's benefactor, after having made a fortune in Australia. Mixture of Scorpio and Sagittarius is the best I can come up with for him. His eternal gratitude to Pip, for a comparatively small amount of help when in dire need, was so profound that Magwitch must have possessed unusual depths of feeling, despite a hardened criminal background.

Arty Farty Friday ~ William S. Burroughs & His Paintings

William S. Burroughs, best known for his writing, also painted. He was one of The Beat Generation; Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg were others of that ilk. I do not find Burroughs at all inspiring in either writing or painting mode. It's hard to devote time and effort to an uninspiring subject, but as the anniversary of Burroughs' birth will come up in a couple of days, and today is Arty Farty Friday, I shall re-do part of a previous post of mine.


W.S. Burroughs, born 5 February 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri at 7.40am (Astro.com)

Wow! 5 planets plus ascendant in Aquarius (including Aquarius' ruler, Uranus); 3 planets in Gemini, two in Cancer. So much Air (Aquarius and Gemini) mightn't be good for a body - or a mind! Here's an instance of "too much of a good thing". I've seen it before, but never quite as extreme an example as this. Too much Air blows away anything of substance, literally and metaphorically.

This guy had potential to spare, yet he squandered it. It seems to me almost as though he was born drugged and drunk - from the overdose of Air in his chart. Oh, the literary "elite" coo over his books with exaggerated praise. Does the average reader, though, see anything praiseworthy, or just a case of the emperor and his new clothes?

From Astro.com (linked above)

"Searching for identity, Burroughs moved to New York when he was in his early 30’s, where he joined the city’s gangster underworld. Buying stolen goods and drugs, he intentionally became a heroin addict in the early ’40s after initially experimenting with morphine. In 1943, he met Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, two writers who later became principal figures in the "Beat" movement. The three became close friends, and Kerouac once described Burroughs as "tall, 6' 1", strange, inscrutable because ordinary looking, like a shy bank clerk with a patrician thin-lipped cold blue-lipped face." They were impressed by his obvious intelligence and worldly cynicism, and were interested in his underworld experimentation.

A strong emphasis on personal freedom is evident in his life and his writing, and he moved to East Texas, joined by Herbert Huncke and Joan Vollmer Adams, where he became a farmer, growing oranges, cotton and marijuana. The threesome lived in squalor on the farm, addled by the drugs they took. Burroughs’ life during that period was later used as fodder for Kerouac’s book "On the Road." "

William S. Burroughs is best known for his very avant garde, nay, peculiar novels, such as "Naked Lunch". That, by the way, was the last major book to be the subject of prosecution for obscenity in the United States.

Bearing in mind his writing style, it comes as no surprise to find that his art is similarly abstract and fairly unintelligible to the average looker on. See Google Image for more examples of his paintings.

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE - THE GOLD HEART





OUT OF THE CLOSET

RUB OUT THE WORD

COLLAGE


He spent his later years in Kansas and there developed a strange painting technique, creating abstract compositions by placing spray paint cans in front of, and some distance from, blank canvasses, and then shooting at the paint cans with a shot gun. Some of these creations were shown in a New York City gallery in the early 1990s.
From an interview HERE

Burroughs: When I am painting, I see with my hands. When you write, you can’t help but see what is right in front of you. This is not true with painting — your hands do all sorts of things. For example, I read a book called Bad Medicine by C.Q. Yarbro, and in it someone had overdosed on anticoagulants, so that blood was coming out of his nose, through his skin, everywhere. And the drug was disguised in orange juice, because it had an acidic taste. Well, in one of my paintings, you can see the guy drinking the orange juice, which is odd because I wasn’t necessarily thinking about that at the time. In other words, what I am doing is automatic painting.

Ellis: When did you recognize it?

Burroughs: As soon as I painted it, I looked at it and said, this is that scene. I have had several experiences like that, recognizing events in my paintings after they have been completed.

Ellis: Do you think symbols come out of your unconscious mind onto the paper through your hands?

Burroughs: I would never use the term “unconscious,” because if it were completely unconscious, no one would be aware of it. Usually it is partially conscious.

As many posts are comment-free here these days, I've copied commentary from my 2009 post below, to add interest:

Anyjazz said...I read "Interzone" some years ago just so I could say that I had read some Burroughs. In the end that's all I can now say: I read some Burroughs. It was in the neighborhood of worthless.

Twilight said...Anyjazz ~~~ So you didn't see "the emperor's new clothes" then. Good!!

Shawn Carson said...Interesting article, Twilight, I am ignorant about this guy, buy ZOWIE! what a chart! From what I gather here, he was some sort of conduit for unconscious images. What a 12th house! I noticed that one of his works was called, Out of the Closet. Very fitting. My son has that MO/SA conjunction and he has a lot of depth to him. He is somewhat melancholic and very scientific. Some folks would say that if you aren't melancholic, then you aren't a true artist.

Wisewebwoman said...I always look forward to Fridays on your blog, T.I tried to read "Naked Lunch" years ago and couldn't and his art reminds me of something indigestible. Sorry. He is best forgotten in my book but thanks for trying!!!

Anthony North said... I don't know why but I could never get into the Beat Generation writers. I've tried - I've read Naked Lunch, and several by Kerouac, but they just didn't do anything for me.

Twilight said...
Shawn ~~~ It was the chart that decided me to write about burroughs - 'cos I really don't admire him, but it's such an unusual line-up he had. In future I'll be watching for anything similar, to compare personalities. Melancholia and art do tend to go together, I agree. MO/SA, in your son's case could be lightened by other facets, and generational flavour too. Do you have an artist on your hands? :-)

WWW ~~~ I wouldn't have bothered, but for that fascinating chart.
Yes, the man is best forgotten, I agree.

A North ~~~ Same here. The whole Beat thing is a blind spot for me. I guess it's one of those instances where "you had to be there" :-)

R J Adams said...I'm not surprised you found him uninspiring. Anyone who has to shoot and kill their wife to gain sufficient inspiration to write is hardly worthy of comment. At least, not in my book.
Twilight said...RJ Adams ~~~ He was a nasty piece of work, no doubt about it. It's hard to understand how anyone can admire him and his work. All that talk of "being free", so beloved of the "Beats" - complete balderdash. I like freedom myself, but not at the expense of others.

GUEST POST by JD: The Choctaw-Irish Connection

Many thanks to JD, in the UK, for this post:


I've been watching this series on Channel4 with Ardal O'Hanlon doing a tour round Ireland.



Programme Information

In the third of the programmes he was talking to an artist called Waylon Gary White Deer who is of the Choctaw Nation and now lives and works in Donegal. Their conversation centred on something I had not known about. It was that the Choctaw Nation made a donation to Irish famine relief in 1847! I think gobsmacked is the (Irish) word for my reaction to this information. I didn't know that.

The story of the Great Famine in Ireland is perhaps not as well known in England as it should be. Approximately one million people starved to death. A further one million or more followed St Brendan's example and set off across the Atlantic to the USA and Canada.

Inevitably the Irish diaspora came into contact with the Choctaw who had themselves been forced from their ancestral lands, and they would learn each other's history including the Famine in Ireland.

On March 23, 1847, the Indians of the Choctaw nation took up an amazing collection. They raised $170 for Irish Famine relief, an incredible sum at the time worth in the tens of thousands of dollars today.

They had an incredible history of deprivation themselves, forced off their lands in 1831 and made to embark on a 500 mile trek to Oklahoma called “The Trail of Tears.” Ironically the man who forced them off their lands was Andrew Jackson, the son of Irish immigrants.

Here is a short video retelling the story and showing a commemorative statue erected in Cork and how that came about-



Last word must go to Waylon Gary White Deer, talking about the USA but it could apply equally in any country.

"Sadly, the day will come when all the carefully crafted and promoted white vs black and liberal vs conservative and rich vs poor and old immigrant vs new immigrant and MSNBC vs Fox News distractions will fade, and then everyone in the place they now call America will wake up surrounded by their military and finally understand how it feels to be Indian…"

Other references-

Great Famine (Ireland)
Brendan
Ireland Calling - Choctaw Donation Irish Famine
Ireland Recognises Gift from Choctaw Nation
Trail of Tears

No Pearls, Just an Eye-roll

I possess no pearls to clutch, and what virtue I have probably isn't signal-worthy. I find myself in a kind of no-man's land, politically, at present.

This piece by Justin Raimondo at Anti-war.com is one of very few with which I can comfortably feel "in tune":
Spare us the Theatrics.

Longish Snip (with my highlight): Do please go read the full piece:

The hysterical response to Trump has blinded the left to what is really going on: they are so busy working themselves up into a fit of self-satisfied outrage that they have lost the ability not only to reason but to see what is right in front of their eyes. Much of this is due to partisanship, but the rest we can attribute to a cognitive disability: when emotions are substituted for thought over an extended period, the result is a permanent impairment. If what we are seeing at the end of the first week of the Trump administration is indicative of the next four years, the fate of American liberalism promises to be sad indeed.

The Trump administration has the media and its political opponents (or do I repeat myself?) in a lather as the White House continues to fire executive orders in quick succession, demolishing the old order and enraging both liberals and their newfound neoconservative allies. Amid all the virtue-signaling hysterics, the most significant aspects of what is occurring are being overlooked – and it’s my job to point them out.

While the blue-state crowd is protesting President Trump’s order banning travel to the US by citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia, what gets lost in all the shouting is that the legal and political basis of his order was laid down by President Barack Obama. These people don’t care to recall that, in 2013, Obama banned all refugees from Iraq for six months, and his action was hardly noticed: Trump is only proposing a ninety-day pause. What prompted Obama’s action, as ABC News reported at the time, was “the discovery in 2009 of two al Qaeda-Iraq terrorists living as refugees in Bowling Green, Kentucky — who later admitted in court that they’d attacked U.S. soldiers in Iraq.”

Two years later, Congress passed a law, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act, that restricted travel visas for citizens of “states of concern,” i.e. Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and “any other country or area of concern.” Obama promptly signed it. In early 2016, the Department of Homeland Security unilaterally extended these restrictions to Yemen, Libya, and Somalia. What this meant was that the visa waiver program did not apply to citizens of these countries: travelers had to apply for a visa at US embassies, a highly problematic matter (Syria, for one, has no such facility) and were very unlikely to be successful in their efforts. I don’t recall any protests at the time.

In short, the legal and political basis of Trump’s executive order – which is being denounced as an unprecedented attack on our allies (Iraq), civil liberties, and decency itself – was laid during the previous regime. Trump has simply dispensed with the fiction that these travelers are welcomed by our government, and issued an ostensibly temporary outright ban.

Aside from the hypocrisy underscored in that history, however, a larger point needs to be made: this all follows from our bipartisan foreign policy of perpetual war. Regardless of one’s views on immigration, the idea that we can invade the world and then proceed to invite the world is worse than naïve – it’s dangerous...........

After fifteen years of rampaging throughout the world, that the US is now retreating to Fortress America comes as a shock only to the clueless. That this is being done with the crudity we have come to expect from Trump – green card holders were handcuffed at the airports, and immigration officials told the hapless detainees to complain to the President – is likewise not surprising. Someone who has been a resident of the United States for years, albeit not a citizen, being treated in this manner is an outrage – but what else has the history of the post-9/11 been but one outrage after another? (The inclusion of green card holders is now being walked back by the White House.)

And as for those who are now gathering at airports with placards denouncing Trump – where were they when the countries on the no-go list were being bombed by their hero, Obama? The answer is that they were nowhere to be found. Oh, but now they’re up there on their high horses, lances lowered and ready to do battle with the “fascist” Trump. Spare us the theatrics, my liberal friends, and contemplate your own sins, for they are many..........