Lee Atwater and the Hounds of Hell

America is growing up. Getting wise. Coming of age. It is great to see that this time round Republicans have failed in their attempts to scare Americans into thinking Obama is too liberal, too inexperienced, vain, loud, a danger to America’s future, etc. etc. etc.. Failed too in convincing Americans that Barack Hussein Obama is a friend of terrorists with a secretive Islamic past. Could it be that the US is finally sick, tired and weary of a certain style of campaigning, a style that says “stuff morals, win at any cost?” The father of the modern Republian attack machine was Lee Atwater, a South Carolina native with a passion for blues guitar and brutal politics. Lee Atwater was about winning and he was prepared to sell his soul – and the nation’s soul for that matter- to the devil in order to achieve that goal. The Horoscope of Lee Atwater…. 27 Feb. 1951, Atlanta, Georgia – time unknown (click to enlarge image)

With Jupiter in Pisces conjunct the North Node and in the same sign as the Sun – Lee Atwater’s horoscope is full of promise and potential. For sure he was a slippery fellow to get a hook into – but then that is the true nature of the fish.  Despite his reputation for ruthlessness – the joviality and geniality of Jupiter made it hard not to like the guy (unless of course he had just stabbed you in the back). There can be no doubt that Atwater’s Moon was in Scorpio. (No offence to all those wonderful Moon in Scorpio people out there.) As a child Atwater witnessed the death of his younger brother – who pulled a pan of hot oil over himself. This event scarred Atwater for life. He never believed that life was fair, or, that there was a benevolent God. A benevolent God would never have allowed such a thing to happen right? Atwater used his Scorpio Moon to seek out the sore spot in others and then mercilessly exploited them. Lee Atwater is without a doubt, the grand master of the fear machine. His enormous impact on Republican campaigning right up to this day, is probably connected to Jupiter too. By antiscion – Atwater’s Jupiter – is conjunct with the US Saturn in Libra in the 10th house. A planet’s position by antisicion is a sort of shadow placing for that planet’s energy. Lee Atwater was the hidden hand if you like behind the throne of power ever ready to do his master’s bidding.

Mercury in Aquarius in Lee Atwater’s horoscope is conjunct with the US Moon. I just watched a documentary on the guy and he sure as hell knew the American people. He instinctively understoond them and ruthlessly (Scorpio) manipulated their fears and insecurities.

The tight fixed t-square between Venus in Aries, Saturn exalted in Libra (as it is in the US radix horoscope) both square to Uranus in Cancer, which itself trined the Sun, gave Atwater a quirky character. He was an odd guy to look at. Slightly nervous, a bit like a live wire, hyper… and with an incredible ability to tell a lie with humor. He played the press brilliantly. Handing out scoops which were in fact leaked false information – continually putting the other party on the defensive. Lee Atwater really loved to be underestimated. The guy really knew how to pack a punch.

in 1988, the Democrat George Dukakis had a 17 point lead over the Republican George W. Bush Senior. Enter Lee Atwater. Dukakis was accused of being a depresive, his wife was attacked as having once burned an American flag and finally he was hit by the infamous race-baiting ad that featured black murderer Willie Horton who committed armed robbery and rape after being relased on a weeked furlough programme. Horton’s face was all over national television. Bush won. Atwater went on to become head of the Republican National Committee and mentored – you guessed it – the next hound of hell: Carl Rove.

Atwater succeeded in turning the personal into the political. He understood the importance of image, of playing the press, of leaking false information and rumours. Lee Atwater had issue with his Southern roots – and despised the intellectual Northerner Dukakis. He used to say “”Were gonna strip the bark off that little c*cksu*ker”, and he did.

On March 5 1989, Atwater collapsed. At the age of 39 he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died a little over a year later. In the last year of his life, Atwater became a Catholic, sent letters of apologies to many of those people (including Dukakis) whose characters and lives he had damaged. He deeply regretted his past. Or was it all just spin ? Who knows? Personally I like to believe that Jupiter came through for Lee Atwater in the end. I think he was redeemed……

Lee Atwater: “My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood. The ’80s were about acquiring — acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn’t I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn’t I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don’t know who will lead us through the ’90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.”