Gemini: "I love you!" Leo: "No, I love you MORE!"
Honestly, I wasn't planning on watching President Obama's Q&A session with the House GOP.
Just yesterday, my mind was made up that there is no worth in taking in anymore bullshiggity from the RepubliCons.
But after hearing such glowing reviews from a wide spectrum of people, I changed my mind.
My mind (and speech patterns) is represented by Mercury in Leo:
Sees the big picture. Takes things personally. Makes things personal. Proud of its own ideas. Speaks dramatically. Argues and advocates passionately. Good at making executive decisions. Honorable. Stubborn. Slow to form and change opinions. Appreciates drama (in all of its meanings).
And my Mercury is conjunct Jupiter in Leo, so we have a case of all the above being true times two (maybe even three). Jupiter in Leo prides itself on acting from a righteous, above-the-board standpoint. Can exaggerate the pride in whatever it touches. Those of us with Jupiter in Leo follow the established rules. We demand respect (after working hard to earn it). We give respect (after we deem the person worthy of our respect).
My Mars is in Gemini, which is sextile my Mercury and Jupiter in Leo. As we know, Gemini speeds up anything it touches. It adds more perspectives. Makes the native more inquisitive, more willing to gain information through socializing. Mercury in Leo's tendency to mull over information and form opinions in a deliberate manner now makes up its mind more quickly. Mercury in Leo cares about its ideas (and other people's ideas about its ideas). Mars in Gemini gets bored by itself and obsessively seeks out others' input. Mercury in Leo: "What do I think about this? How does this affect me?" Planets in Gemini: "How does this affect me, you, him, her, them, us?" And so on.
Standing next to my Mars in Gemini is my Venus in Gemini. Not only do I routinely seek out others' input (Mars in the 6th house) but I genuinely enjoy other people's input (Venus in the 7th house); the caveat being that the other person's input isn't presented in a boring, dry fashion or lacks common sense.
And I have these two planets to thank for changing my mind about watching this Q&A drama. There's nothing Gemini enjoys more than an interesting (read: zingy, fast-paced) spectacle!
I first pressed play in the wee hours this morning. And promptly fell asleep to the melodious sounds of a good speech (ah, Venus in Gemini heaven).
So now I'm up finishing where I left off.
After hearing POTUS address the group with 20 minutes of mission statement for policymaking, he's now answering their "questions" (translation: policy arguments dressed up as questions for the benefit of the viewing audience). From the word "go", anyone with slight political knowledge can recognize this entire production as the theater that it is. The fact that cameras are even present (at Obama's request) is because the American people need to see the fakery that is the Congress - particularly the congressmembers that are hellbent on obstructing helpful policy. It's a sad, necessary production because too many Americans actually believe the GOP's "populist" lies that they're trying to help but Dictator Obama won't listen.
Well, this Q&A session is added proof in the national politics pudding.
So far, I've heard three "questions". The format is as follows: GOP presents false information, then phrases the last sentence as a question along the lines of "Now isn't that reasonable?" As the daughter and step-daughter of two attorneys, I have been on the receiving end of many similar "questions". I recognize this as a classic lawyer move. There's a question mark but what they're really saying is: "Let me tell you (and the judge and jury) what I want to be entered into record, witness, then pretend that I'm asking you a question because this is supposed to be a question."
Trust me, it's no coincidence that most members of Congress are attorneys. Their aptitude at twisting language is a natural gift and honed skill. One look at the LSATs will tell you that these people know what they're doing every time they open their mouths.
As I watch the back-and-forth, I'm reminded of President Obama's chart. More specifically, the Gemini and Leo interacting in Obama's chart. Not only does Gemini see this strategy coming from a mile away, but Leo is more than ready to respond to the challenge (and hits to the ego). What can I say? Like recognizes like.
Like me, President Obama has Mercury in Leo. Also like me, he has more than one planet in Leo. He has THREE planets in Leo, including his Sun and Uranus (his North Node is also in Leo). So this is a very Leo-ish man, with all of Leo's strengths and challenges (one of which being a tendency to be a "benevolent dictator", to quote Leo rising George W. Bush). Fortunately for Obama (and us), Leo's opposite sign - Aquarius - is also well-represented in his chart to give him some balance.
His Mercury in Leo is sextile his Gemini Moon. So, again like me, we have a potentially gridlocked mind loosened and sped up by a planet in Gemini. Moon in Gemini natives' default position is to seek out others' opinions and ideas. Then they process this new information quickly, sometimes by jumping to conclusions about what the other person means before getting all of the facts in. Not exactly what we're looking for in a leader responsible for making strategic executive decisions that have far-reaching consequences, right?
However, in Obama's case, he also has Mercury in Leo opposing Jupiter and Saturn in Capricorn. Planets in Capricorn act slowly, methodically, strategically, always with an eye on how the present (and past) will affect the future. So while Obama is listening to the GOP congressmember's question, you better believe he has already figured out the angle of the question, flipped it around a few times, weighed his responses and is busy formulating his answer...all before the long-winded congressman even gets to the question mark.
Tip: Make sure to check your debate opponent's chart for prominent planets in Gemini and a weighty Saturn before the debate. It'll save you a lot of wasted time looking foolish.
Obama's 3rd house ruler (Venus) is in his 5th house of pleasure (ruled by Mercury). I interpret this to reinforce the description of a person who seeks out more information to mull over as a pleasurable experience (which is akin to having Venus in Gemini in the 7th house). And he's charming in his fact-finding expeditions with this "neighbors". To add to this picture, his 4th house Moon in Gemini is trine his 12th house Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Capricorn. He was taught from an early age (most likely by his mother - the 4th house parent) that inquisitiveness is the natural way to resolve problems.
As does his planets in Capricorn, my Saturn in Virgo slows down my planets in Gemini. While we both have planets in Gemini speeding up our mental processing, we also have planets in earthy signs (particularly Saturn) that remind our Gemini planets not to jump to conclusions without verification (a Gemini hobby). Obama's Saturn in Capricorn makes him hypersensitive about his responsibilities. He wants to make damn sure that he isn't getting blamed for things not under his umbrella, which means he probably came to this session on a mission to preserve his reputation. His Mars in Virgo (trine his planets in Capricorn) is marching into battle armed with truthful data on his side. [Notice how many times he refers to "just stating the facts" or "the [data, experts, etc.] back this up" in his rebuttal speeches.]
My Saturn in Virgo is also concerned with information being factual, correct, true and dedicates itself to doing the research to find out. I see and appreciate President Obama's mission. While my Gemini and Leo planets are watching this for pure entertainment value, my Saturn in Virgo is filtering the GOP's questions and Obama's answers through my bullshit meter (supported by my Scorpio Moon gauging the emotional undercurrents of the situation).
For example, the very first question asked of President Obama comes from slick Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana, Muncie, Anderson, Richmond). His question amounts to "Your administration claimed that passing the Economic Recovery Stimulus would hold the then-8% unemployment rate steady, but the unemployment rate is now at 10%, which is all your fault. So you understand why we don't want to agree to anything else you propose, right? And by the way, I have a letter from this poor child suffering from a household with unemployed parents. He thinks you suck, too. What do you say to that?"
Of course, I'm paraphrasing (and dramatizing) but that's the gist of the question.
While listening to this (extremely long-winded) question, I had time to think of a response to the
President Obama stepped to the plate to hit the curve ball - first with a light-on-his-feet smooth Gemini Moon response, then with his fact-checker Mars in Virgo force and accuracy: "We lost x amount of jobs in December (the month before I was sworn in), in January (the month I was sworn in) and in February (the month after I was sworn in but before any of my policies went into effect) that all contributed to our current 10% rate. This is my responsibility how?" Oh I did a happy dance. In my mind.
And then I went to pop some popcorn to enjoy the rest of the show..er...serious Q&A.
Now I'm 30 minutes in and it's just as good as I was told. My Leo planets, Gemini planets and my Mars in Saturn are all completely satisfied. A true rarity, let me tell ya.
So I write this post before the event is over to document my astrological musings before I forget (charge it to my planets in Gemini).
It's nice to have an intelligent, engaging, relatively bullshiggity-free president standing behind the podium. For a change.
Then again, there's a distinct possibility that I could be projecting my Gemini, Leo and lone earthy planet onto President Obama. I don't think so...
But I'm open to your interpretations. ;-)
Do you or anyone else you know have planets in Gemini or Leo? How do they react to each other? Have you seen this Q&A session? What did you notice about the interactions between President Obama and the GOP members of the House?
In case you missed it, here's the full footage of the back-and-forth:
Part 1 (Includes POTUS' pre-Q&A speech)
Part 2 (starts @ the end of POTUS' speech and beginning of the Q&A)
Visit C-Span to view even more videos from the GOP retreat and hear President Obama's State of the Union address.
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