Putting The 'Moon' In "Moonbat"

Who doesn't love Jerome Armstrong?  Before he was a controversial political consultant; before he was a co-author, with Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, of "Crashing The Gate", in which he heralded the rise of the "Netroots"; and before he was barred from the securities industry by the SEC for his role in some penny-ante stock hustling, he was - I wish I had the nerve and imagination to make this up - an astrologer.

I am not kidding.  And neither was he - here is a flavor of his analysis of the then-impending 2002 election, as brought to us by the Providence Journal:

MyDD, a liberal political blog that's heavy on polls and polling, doesn't link its affiliated Astroworld political astrology index   from the homepage, but this offers its own sorts of odds.

Astrologers there are analyzing the cosmic weather, using a symbolic language, and looking at indicators: Who's moving to another house, who's under a heavy Saturn transit, who's a winner whose precise time has come. Nancy Luber Sommers is looking for periods of elation in the charts of the candidate and leaders of both parties in the next few days and beyond, especially to January. She has on on her own site a chart of predictions in major races based on what she sees in the candidates' charts.

Does this work? No idea. Come back tomorrow.

We might have a surprise.

That's what astrologer Jerome Armstrong says we'll see today, a surprise that's been brewing below the radar: that women voters will pour out to the polls today, while men will be inclined to stay home, for reasons only an astrologer might understand (so I've edited them out here):

Bush and the rulers (in) power could be pierced by something that seems   trivial in (its) simplicity, that triggers larger events to occur. Simply   put, men will not turn out to vote in near the numbers that women will   this election....

Ceres and Venus are representative of younger, and especially feminine   energies in the mundane election analysis;... they are holding a secret,   their voice has seem(ed) stifled, and their vote will be a secret from   Bush & the media...

No one knows how big the vote is, until after it happens, surprising   the media, and shifting control of Congress.

It’s an angry vote. The dissatisfaction with the economy is there;   but the Sun-Moon’s conjunction in the 7th, where the Rx Venus/Mercury   conjunction is also, points towards the threat of war as a strong motivation. 

For the full analysis, try this Google-cache of a post by "Jerome" with text that matches the Pro-Jo excerpt.  It's pretty heavy stuff.

So one of the leaders of the "reality-based community" is an astrologer - who knew?

Actually, Dan Riehl, RedState and Wizbang knew before I did, and they have plenty of coverage.  But what they don't have is Saturday night karaoke - I want all you unreconstructed 60's flower children to put your hands together and join in.  I know you know the song:

When the moon is in the seventh house
And MyDD aligns with Kos
Then Mark Warner will be the nominee
And love will steer the stars

Everybody!

This is the dawning of the Age of the Daily Kos
The Age of the Daily Kos
The Daily Kos!
The Daily Kos!

OK, that was a beautiful moment but I have to serious up - these folks might actually anoint our next President.  Ooops, now I'm laughing again...

BUT SERIOUSLY:  Follow the money.  Or, less seriously, learn why Mark Warner won in 2001.  Here are lots of links from Glenn, and good background from the National Journal.  Golly, those Kos Kidz sure do know how to kill a story, don't they?

ADMIRABLE RESTRAINT:  From a disgruntled lefty:

I am feeling a powerful urge to bring up the obvious Democrat's retort here, but I am going to stay strong and Just Say No to that temptation.

UPDATE:  Let's hear from Astrologer Jerome:

Another Update [2006-6-25 14:13:39 by Jerome Armstrong]: Oh yea, on the astrological stuff. I have done the new age type things over the years—life’s never boring that way. Down that line, I dabbled with planets and predictions in the most abstract manner, as one of several different predictive mathematical disciplines, when coming out of finances and into politics during my early blogging days (nobody is surprised that remembers the early 2001 days here), and since then have completely tapered out of it over time. So yea, the cons got me on this one being a little out of the ordinary… It has nothing to do with what I consult with in online political strategy. But hey, like JP Morgan once said, “millionaires don’t use astrology, billionaires do!” I hope to see those wingnuts that are obsessed with every little thing I do at the next bikram yoga or vipassana meditation session in DC-- but fair warning that I believe we evolved from monkeys!

Comments

[clarice]

BRAVO!!

[Rick Ballard]

Astrologers fleece suckers.

Stock hustlers fleece suckers.

Hey! Wait a minute - you're not implying that the Kossacks are a bunch of.. Nah, you couldn't be. Obviously Jerome has turned over a new leaf and involved himself in politics due to heartfelt convictions - just like Kos himself.

[clarice]

If you guys drive Kos and Armstrong out of politics, I'll never forgive you.

[Bill in AZ]

TM - you gotta put a "put down your drinks" warning at the top of posts like this!! (now, where is my dry keyboard)

[Rick Ballard]

It's the NYT driving a stiletto between Kos's ribs. They want the nutroots off the porch as quickly as possible.

Besides, there is an 80% probability that the replacements will be nuttier than Kos.

[Gary Maxwell]

When the moon is in the 7th house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planet and love will rulle the stars...

But Cleo could have told you all of this too. He has a direct line to the psychic hotline.

[clarice]

Riehl says Brooks has an anti-Kos piece in the NYT ...I prefer the nutroots we know guys.

[Foo Bar]

I wholeheartedly acknowledge that this is extremely embarrassing for Armstrong, and my opinion of him has indeed plummeted further.

I am feeling a powerful urge to bring up the obvious Democrat's retort here, but I am going to stay strong and Just Say No to that temptation.

[Rick Ballard]

Over $1.1B was spent on the '02 cycle. About $500M has been spent so far on this cycle, which means that there is over $500M yet to be spent.

Could the Times be missing out on its cut? Is this a gentle hit to Dean as to how easy it is for the Times to cut a throat?

[richard mcenroe]

You mean Armstrong wasted his time back-editing all the astronomy references off his site?

[Rick Ballard]

Correction - those were totals for both parties - the Dems will spend another $240M - if they can raise another $150M or so.

[clarice]

Rick, let's dust off those old Che shirts..It's time for new leaders to grab the banners (and the gelt)..

[Jane]

Well I'm a Pisces; that must count for something!

[clarice]

You suggesting there's a new way to use the old line"What's your sign?" LOL

[Gerry]

Tom, Bravo!

Encore, encore!

I add to your post two things. One is a direct link to the Projo entry, rather than using the Google cache.

And two is a link to the original MyDD post that Projo linked. It has been cleansed from MyDD, but the Wayback Machine had it.

It is a riot.

[Rick Ballard]

Hmm...

The Aquarian Culture

New Hope For A Progressive Future

[that way I can use the regular TAC logo stationary]

A place in cyberspace for sharing and caring - join today and receive a 50% discount on the regular annual membership price of..

Hmm.. they're suckers and they're stupid but how big a sucker (the 'how stupid' I've got a handle on)? Damn, don't want to shoot too low....

[clarice]

It's hard to pick a fav , Gerry, but I really like this:
"I may be totally off on this whole thread of analysis though, just maybe. The aspects of trine from Jupiter to Pluto, and from Saturn to Uranus, are what the media says the debate is about, with a split decision. But these are trines, and trines usually don't protend toward making the tough choices, and this election is a stark choice. So a lot of people will look at the election in terms of these trines, and decide to sit it out; but some will feel this deeper unsettled energy, and will make the effort to vote for a change."

[clarice]

Rick, Maybe we can throw in a chatchke for those who sign up early..But I like the idea of recycling the TAC logo..Good thinking.

[Semanticleo]

Bravo! Bravissima!

Maguire, you've outdone yourself....once again ::chuckle::

Another game of telephone successfully engineered by the host, all to the applause
of the unionized musicians who manage to hit all the correct notes.

Where were you this morning Maguire?
Mom wouldn't let you out of the basement to
go outside and play?

[Rick Ballard]

The vowel ending an Italian superlative indicates the gender of the noun to which it refers. Almost any idiot would know that.

But then you're very special, aren't you?

[clarice]

Here's another from the Mark Warner race:

http://acepilots.com/mt/2006/06/24/hilarious-uncut-from-the-nutroots-own-astrologer/

[richard mcenroe]

Breaking News: The Warner Campaign will announce within 24 business hours that they are letting Armstrong go and bringing in noted Satanist Anton La Vey as a campaign coordinator...

[clarice]

Now, you're just "trine-ing" us, aren't you, RM.

[Dan Riehl]

Take a look at the Raw Story Brooks piece - he added a link to a quick, dare I say, Gipper-like response from kos. Only he forgot to add that their success depends on his "sign."

[clarice]

We've had Kos' Grapes of Wrath speech, how many business days (hours?) until we get his I shall return speech?

[danking70]

Through The New Republic and the NY Times (spit!), Hillary has just knee-capped Mark Warner.

I think you guys and gals should just leave Jerome and Kos alone.

[clarice]

I think so, too, danking, but TM and RB and RM made me do keep picking on Kos. It's their fault.

[danking70]

Nice to know I've got such pleasant company.

But I am also looking forward to all the Joe-mentum sending Kos to 0-22.

[verner]

Actually, I want Hillary to kneecap Warner. Nice looking successful Southern governer who doesn't have the baggage of having to vote on any war resolutions--therefore can pick any position the wind blows in. He is their imaginary, mainstream, grassroots candidate. Sheesh. He might actually win.

The more inter-family bloodletting the better.

And cause Hillary has just blown it for Warner, and made Kos and his backers look stoopid and corrupt, they will continue to be very very unhappy with her.

[lurker]

OT: The Iraqi insurgents rejected the amnesty plan.

[lurker]

And OT: Michelle Malkin, LGF, and CQ noticed that NYT leaked another classified story - about the troops reductions.

[Tom Maguire]

...but I am going to stay strong and Just Say No to that temptation.

But I am going to Just Say Yes to stealing that.

Could the Times be missing out on its cut? Is this a gentle hit to Dean as to how easy it is for the Times to cut a throat?

Geez, if the Times can take down major intel programs, you would think they could take down a couple of bloggers.

[windansea]

wow....TM targets Townhouse with a MIRV warhead

[clarice]

lurker, mac thinks that was a fake leak..I think so, too..and the NYT story seems quite devoid of any new facts.
Perhaps instead of yanking their credentials or banning fed employees in security slots from speaking to NYTs' reporters, the Administration has hit on a new plan--embarrass them by feeding them nonstop crap.

[topsecretk9]

Sign check

Sagittarius
I know Clarice is too

[Gerry]

Boy, Neptune must be aligned with Mercury or something, because I too am a Sagittarius, as is my wife.

March must be a very good month!

[Chants]

I am almost without words.

But Armstrong is like a carnival splash-clown.

[Tom Maguire]

TM targets Townhouse with a MIRV warhead

Scorpio.

[windansea]

triple Scorpio rising here...but my dark side is hidden by a sunny Taurus disposition

good work dude!!

[clarice]

Chants You'd think with his special talent for reading the stars he'd have seen this coming..........

[windansea]

I think this has legs...Warner is toast by association

the kossacks will implode and splinter into the irrelevance they deserve

PIAPS will be defeated by a ham sandwich named Rudy....

[windansea]

that will be fun...the adulterer vs the adulterated

the vote will be determined by the silent majority of the happily married

[Chants]

I don't know if this Armstrong thing has legs, or even if it deserves legs.

But it is hella funny, and TM just beat the crap out of him.

[Gerry]

Depends on what you mean by "has legs." Will it become a big story? No.

But Armstrong is done as a player, and rightfully so. At worst he is a total scam artist. At best, he is the embodyment of the charicatures the left made of Nancy Reagan. And he isn't just a bride, he's a paid consultant for Presidential candidates.

Kos likely won't be impacted, unless he goes to the mat for his friend. Of course, if there was a sweetheart deal going on where there was some pay-for-touting, then Kos just had a planned source of future income evaporate. That is, unless the grassroots left is really that big of a collective sucker. I believe they are so-wrong on politics, but I also believe that most do not like being scammed, so I have faith.

[clarice]

Well, the koslambs seem to be unshaken in their faith in their non-leader.Great!

Niters.

[windansea]

but I also believe that most do not like being scammed, so I have faith

considering this diary at kos I would calculate that 75% of the kossacks are still BDS infected and thus incapable of realizing they are being scammed...I'd feel sorry for them if my my triple scorpio rising was in retrograde...

[windansea]

my brain huuuurts By: streiff

And, if you want to see the significance of Varuna at work in the mundane world. Look at it's connections with George Bush, 9/11, and the Republican chart, in event, transit, and progression. Look at Varuna with Kennedy's assassination-- this is a paradigm tipping-point energy at work. Varuna is a body that is on the same 'energetic' playing field as Pluto. Awakening this supra-unconciousness of the trans-Neptunians as their own group, instead of just co-opting Pluto from the bunch and calling it a day, is gonna take some work; but hey, that's where the enlightenment resides.

Jerome Armstrong, author, strategist, shill, and advisor to presidential hopeful Mark Warner.

[Sara (The Squiggler)]

On the new "leak" from the NYT -- this does not seem logical to me at all. General Casey and Donald Rumsfield held a press briefing on 22 June 2006, just two days ago. In that briefing, they gave broad numbers in terms of battalions, brigades and divisions. They talked about the Iraqis being up to 75% by the end of the year, etc. Is the Times saying that right after that they held some super secret meeting in which they came up with some troop draw down plan. It doesn't wash. Read the transcript of the briefing and see if you don't think the Times is talking about the very same things and trying to make it sound like a leak.

Pam the Reporter asks:

Q General, this week the national security adviser for Iraq laid out what they consider to be a withdrawal plan for U.S. forces. They're operating under the assumption that it will be the end of fiscal year -- or the end of 2007. Has that been coordinated with your office or with you? And is it feasible?

GEN. CASEY: I looked at that article. What Dr. Rubaie is talking about is about this provincial Iraqi control process that we have been working on with him for the past year. And we together built a set of criteria to evaluate the threat in the province, to evaluate the readiness of the police forces, to evaluate the readiness of the army forces, and to evaluate the ability of the provincial security apparatus to coordinate their efforts. And since April, the governors actually sit down with our division commanders and they evaluate themselves on that criteria and they make projections on where they're going to be. And so that's what he was talking about. There have been no discussions between any Iraqi authorities and myself that tied that to U.S. troop reductions.

Reporter Jim asks:

Q General Casey, understanding that you haven't made your recommendations on troop levels, can you say are you still confident -- do you still feel confident that the level of troops that are there now could come down by the end of the year, or has this complex security situation sort of obscured your vision as to what's possible this year?

GEN. CASEY: I'm confident that we'll be able to continue to take reductions over the course of this year, and yet -- it's -- well, it's the security situation and the progress of the Iraqi security forces. And I think I've mentioned the significant progress that has been made in that regard.

Q But last year you said fairly a substantial number --

SEC. RUMSFELD: Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second, wait a second.

Q Is that still true, fairly substantial?

GEN. CASEY: I think so. It looks over time --

SEC. RUMSFELD: (Let him ?) finish answering.

GEN. CASEY: What we've always said, what we've always said is there would be a gradual reduction over time as the Iraqi security forces assumed a larger and larger role.

SEC. RUMSFELD: And I would add something else that it will very likely not be a steady path down. It could very likely be a drawdown with an increase, if you think about it. Look over the last year. General Casey has on at least three occasions -- for the January elections, the October referendum, the December elections, and more recently for the stand-up of the government -- brought in some additional forces, and -- or delayed letting some people go out or accelerated some other people coming in. And the effect has been that the number has -- right now, I think we have 126,900 or something -- it's come down from a high of 160(,000), but it could very well go back up at some point. So it very likely will go down and up and down and up depending on the circumstances and depending on the need.

Q Fairly substantial reductions by this time this year, you said that last year. Is that still the case?

GEN. CASEY: Well, we -- as the secretary just said, we've gone from when the baseline was 138(,000); we're down to about 126(,000) right now. That's -- 12,000 that's -- whether that's a very substantial amount -- enough, I'll leave to your judgment. But as I said, I think there will be continued gradual reductions here as the Iraqis take on a larger and larger role.

Q Over the next year or two --

GEN. CASEY: It'll run over the course of the next year.

SEC. RUMSFELD: Do you want to have your fifth question or do you want to let someone else ask a question? What'll it be?

Q He'd probably take a fifth question.

SEC. RUMSFELD: Should we vote? (Laughter.) Yeah, I'll bet he would.

[me]

the song is so clever. a real charm. so i guess that kos is an astrologist too?

i'd say more but i feel my iq dropping just being at this blog.

[Daddy]

I prefer Armstong's that walk on the moon over Armtrong's that bark at the moon. But that's just me.