{"id":2335,"date":"2022-11-20T11:57:54","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T12:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/?p=2335"},"modified":"2022-11-20T11:57:54","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T12:57:54","slug":"the-us-midterm-elections-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2022\/11\/20\/the-us-midterm-elections-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"The US midterm elections 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may have heard or read the saying, \u201cIf voting could change anything it would be made illegal!\u201d The quote is from Robert S. Bordon from 1976, often misattributed to Mark Twain. Democrats were gnawing at their nails on election night, fearing a red tsunami or red wave. Republicans were expecting a rout of the Dems. What we saw instead was a \u2018red ripple\u2019 (good name for a cheap wine), much to the relief of Dems and the fury of Donald Trump. We\u2019ll have a look at all that here and what to expect going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

But before we get to the midterms, at 9:22 pm EST Trump announced he was running for the White House again<\/span><\/a>. Democrat\u2019s celebrations over retaining the Senate were short-lived, looking down the barrel at another possible four years of Trump. His speech was a typical Trump word salad full of boasts, exaggerations and some outright lies. But then, that is pure Trump. We won\u2019t go into the chart for his candidacy, but you can view the chart at this link<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

His announcement at this early stage of the game looks to be an effort to freeze out other Republican candidates who may be thinking of running in the \u201924 election. He made the announcement when transiting retrograde Mars was within orb of his natal Sun. He was feeling very much himself that day. There are only two years to go until the \u201924 elections! Excited yet? Trump is not expected to win a 2nd<\/sup> term, though, but that is for another post.<\/span><\/p>\n

We will save the exciting news of the \u201924 presidential election for yet another post, aside from Trump, along with the news that Biden is thinking about running again<\/a><\/span>, a prospect that has some Democrats horrified. But to the issue at hand \u2013 the midterms \u2013 the chart for the US with directions and transits on Election Day is shown below (bigger<\/span><\/a>):<\/span><\/p>\n

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As it stands<\/span><\/a> the Democrats retain control of the Senate while the Republicans have regained control of the House by a very slim majority thus far. There are races that will have to be determined in runoffs, having been too close to call. To interpret this chart we need the context for the demographics of the election<\/span><\/a>. For that, we have the following, having seen the Democrats do better than expected, even by themselves:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAccording\u00a0to ABC News exit polling<\/span><\/a>, that [Democrat] competitiveness was fueled by a number of factors, including voter passion about abortion<\/strong> access and antipathy to Trump-style election denialism and extremism<\/strong>. But the exit polls also show notable shifts in turnout and voter preference by demographic: Broad backing from young voters<\/strong> and surprising strength among independents<\/strong> were part of what resulted in a successful night, according to ABC News’ analysis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From the bolded text \u2013 voter passion about abortion, young voters and independents \u2013 where is that shown in the chart? For abortion (relating to children) and young voters, we look to the 5th<\/sup> house of the chart. For independents we look to Uranus. And lo and behold, we find transiting Uranus retrograde in the 5th<\/sup> house of the US chart. In turn, Uranus semisquares the IC and sesquisquares the MC of the US chart, showing an upset. Indeed, it was an upset.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the pundits across social and mainstream media were forecasting a \u2018red wave\u2019 or even a red tsunami. Instead, what we saw was what might rightly be called a \u2018red ripple\u2019, a drink which many of those pundits must have been imbibing beforehand.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Why the pundits must have been imbibing is as follows: Republicans had lost their mojo, failing to focus on major issues and instead running a negative campaign. They have no unified policy agenda. In fact, the party is divided<\/span><\/a>, while the various factions of the Democrats have all been herded together under the banner of \u2018saving Ukraine\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is also an image problem with Republicans<\/span><\/a>, as in no slick, magnetic candidate around whom the party can rally. Trump definitely is out of the running on that score, though he still has his diehard followers. DeSantis would fit the bill, but he and the Trumpist factions are at odds. DeSantis handily won his gubernatorial race<\/span><\/a> in Florida and there is talk of him being favoured to run in the \u201924 election<\/span><\/a>, along with a few others. Hence, we see Trump\u2019s early announcement to run. At that point Trump would be 78 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

Donations generally determine the outcome of elections in the US. The more money a candidate can raise, the more media exposure that candidate has as well as influence. That was the conventional wisdom according to Noam Chomsky<\/span><\/a>. But times change. It is also true that Democrat-leaning media outlets dominate the US media landscape, including social media. Now media, especially social media presence, has a big influence on elections. Trump was rather more masterful at that than Clinton in 2016, plus the fact he was already a media celebrity from his show The Apprentice<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But speaking of donations, a scandal erupted a few days after the midterms regarding a sleazy funding scam that was run through a crypto company called FTX. In fact, FTX began its implosion on Election Day. That is a whole story in itself, too large to cover here. But was the implosion of FTX an omen or a pointed finger? Evidence is still emerging, but the timing is curious. This is a curious situation in more ways than one, but the biggest takeaway is that the Democrats and some Republicans are implicated in a huge money laundering scheme. From there it just gets curiouser and curiouser, if one wants to go down rabbit holes of investigation<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Biden announced his run for the presidency on 25 Apr 2019. Just under two weeks later FTX was founded<\/a><\/span> by Gary Wang and Sam Bankman-Fried. Remember the latter\u2019s name. Bankman-Fried\u2019s mother (Barbara Fried) runs an questionable political funding organization called Mind the Gap, which funds Democrat candidates. Bankman-Fried is the son of Barbara and Joseph Bankman, both Stanford law professors. Bankman-Fried was second only to George Soros<\/a><\/span> as the major funder to the Democrats, which is telling regarding the scandal. But it turns out the Democrats are gearing up to regulate crypto. If you are smelling fish already, the timing of the founding and collapse raises eyebrows, along with the Dems looking at regulating crypto, but then the story gets even better, or smellier.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Grayzone<\/a><\/span> and Moon of Alabama<\/a><\/span> have both done expos\u00e9s on this story, as well as Zero Hedge<\/a><\/span>, so we will not expound on it here except for the basics. The establishment (mainstream) media is notably relatively silent on the whole matter. Aside from illegally transferring funds to other companies (in the Bahamas, of course) where friends of his were \u2018teenage investing wizards\u2019 funding risky bets, there was also a funding loop involving Ukraine \u2013 you know, what used to be known as the most corrupt nation in Europe (still is, but that’s for another time). Now they are just the nicest heroic Nazis one could ask for. Go figure. The funding of the risky bets was what set up FTX for collapse<\/a><\/span>, thus exposing the other dirty deeds.<\/span><\/p>\n

The funding loop worked like this: FTX had set up, and the White House was directly involved<\/a><\/span>, an FTX exchange with the Ukrainian government on 14 March<\/a><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Under its auspices, FTX pledged to \u201cconvert crypto contributions to Ukraine\u2019s war effort into fiat for deposit\u201d at the National Bank of Kiev, allowing the embattled government to \u201cturn bitcoin into bullets, bandages and other war materiel.\u201d CoinDesk stated the initiative \u201cdeepens an unprecedented tie-up between public and private sector forces in crypto\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

In a press release accompanying the announcement of the FTX partnership with Ukraine, Bankman-Fried explained that, \u201cat the onset of the conflict in Ukraine, FTX felt the need to provide assistance in any way it could.\u201d He promised that the arrangement provided \u201cthe ability to deliver aid and resources to the people who need it most.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So, the public could make a donation to the war effort for Ukraine via crypto exchange (FTX), and did so to the tune of about $60 million. This was individual taxpayer\u2019s money. In turn Kiev partnered with FTX where Bankman-Fried in turn gave generous donations to Democrat candidates. He was the primary donor to the Protect Our Future PAC, the political action committee which endorsed Democratic candidates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kiev disappeared the \u2018Aid for Ukraine\u2019 site just a few days before the FTX scandal went public, as in just before the midterms. Then the gravy train to Dems and Kiev alike stopped. There is no smoking gun (yet) tying Ukraine to Democrat causes and people, but the timing, events and connections are suspicious enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then we recall that Kiev was afraid of a Republican victory in both houses in the midterms<\/span><\/a> because Republicans had stated funding for Ukraine would dry up if Republicans gained control of Congress. So, we have the Democrats winning in the Senate, a slim victory as yet for Republicans in the House (and a few of them were involved with FTX), the collapse of FTX and the scrubbing of FTX connections in Ukraine. Your guess is as good as mine.<\/span><\/p>\n

We also know the Bidens are up to their necks in Ukraine. The 2014 coup was Biden\u2019s project, along with John McCain and \u2018Cookies\u2019 Nuland<\/span><\/a> (also here<\/span><\/a>). Biden\u2019s son, Hunter, was placed on the Burisma board<\/a><\/span>, which happened to have interests in gas fields in the Donbas<\/a><\/span>. Now, where have we heard about the Donbas before? The folks in Kiev must be breathing easier now given the results of the midterms, seeing as Biden wants funding to continue. Now that elections are over they no longer need crowds like FTX. They need divine intervention instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the bank man is fried now. Bankman-Fried was interviewed by the Bahamas police<\/a><\/span> and regulators the day after FTX filed for bankruptcy. He lives in the Bahamas, by the way, from which he may eventually be extradited to face charges. In other words, he fled the US when FTX and its little scheme began to fall apart. Then again, he may not be extradited. Since he was involved in campaign funding for the Democrats the latter may deem it better that he stays there, or perhaps disappears. The Bahamas are well known as a tax haven<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The FTX scandal will be one more cudgel the Republicans will be able to use against Biden in what remains of his administration. There was talk of impeaching him if there had been a \u2018red tsunami\u2019 (more Red Ripple, please). And regarding Trump and American politics in general, Pepe Escobar recently posted the following on his Telegram channel<\/a><\/span> regarding Trump\u2019s candidacy announcement:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTHE TRUMP COMEBACK<\/span><\/p>\n

From one of my top NY\/business\/financial system sources:<\/span><\/p>\n

“The US system has always been corrupt. Prime examples were Joe Kennedy paying off Mayor Daley of Chicago to buy the Presidency for his son<\/span><\/a>, and Boss Flynn<\/span><\/a> being paid off by Morty Schiff<\/a><\/span> for Roosevelt to win the election for Governor as he was being groomed for the Presidency.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, Trump has to make his peace with the Deep State who got rid of him because he talked too much out of turn. In the end he did what he was told. All the people he had around him were Deep State picks that hated Trump. They [instead] put a senile old man [Biden] who campaigned in his basement in. It does not matter if he is senile as he would have done the same if he was all there: he does what he is told.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Hyperlinks in the quote are added. \u2018Morty Schiff\u2019 was Mortimer Loeb Schiff, son of Jacob Schiff, one of the wealthiest men in America. \u2018Boss Flynn\u2019 was Edward Flynn, boss of the Bronx Democrats. Both of the elections noted in the quote were won by very slim margins, like we have seen in recent elections. And in the case of Kennedy, there were accusations of the election having been stolen<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, \u2018stolen elections\u2019 are nothing new in American politics<\/span><\/a>. As well, given the endemic corruption in the American political system, one may not be far from wrong in thinking all federal elections are at least rigged. We also recall the 2000 Bush\/Gore election in that regard. Elections are bought and sold in the US. It\u2019s the best democracy money can buy<\/a><\/span>, and it is bipartisan. There is a documentary film by Greg Palast on the 2000 election<\/a><\/span>. He also has a film on the 2016 election<\/a><\/span>, which rings similarly true to the 2000 election.<\/span><\/p>\n

If by some chance Trump were to win a 2nd<\/sup> term, for instance, there would be no \u2018draining the swamp\u2019. \u2018The Machine\u2019 is too big and too well-oiled to be brought down by any single or small group of politicians<\/a><\/span>. The single-party system we have in the United States guarantees that very little changes, if anything, from one election to the next.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have been sold on the idea that we vote for the \u2018lesser of two evils\u2019 with either party at every election, depending on how or what one sees as \u2018evil\u2019. The point is, even the lesser of two evils is still evil. It is not to say individuals are evil, but the system certainly tends toward it.<\/span><\/p>\n

If we thought media coverage and slanging of Trump was bad during his first term it would be nothing compared to a 2nd<\/sup> Trump presidency \u2013 unless Trump were to suddenly tone it down and toe the establishment line. Having seen Trump in action, is that likely? This brings us to what we can expect going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Returning to the chart of the midterms, we see transiting Pluto sitting on the Antivertex of the US chart, conjunct its natal position in the 2nd<\/sup> house \u2013 economy and finance. Inflation was the biggest issue among the voting public. The Republicans failed to capitalize on it (pun intended), hence their lacklustre showing. Just as with all elections in the US, finance played a determining part in the outcome. Pluto rules scandals and underhanded tactics when negatively expressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was also the factor of misreading the electorate and wishful thinking among Republicans, with Senators like Ted Cruz expecting his \u2018red tsunami\u2019<\/a><\/span>, so there was little in the way of hard campaigning and motivation among some Republicans. It was just a given the Dems would lose.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there was the failure of most of Trump\u2019s chosen candidates to make it across the line, about which he was livid and screaming at everyone<\/a><\/span>. Losers. When you look at some of these candidates, like Herschel Walker of Georgia, whom Trump stumped for in his candidacy announcement, we see why they didn\u2019t do well. There was also the \u2018Trump factor\u2019 of people shying away from Trump\u2019s 2020 election denial that didn\u2019t help their campaigns. Here\u2019s a quote from Walker on environmental issues<\/a><\/span>, anyway:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSince we don’t control the air, our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air, so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move,” adding, “So it moves over to our good air space. Then, now, we got we to clean that back up.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Give the man a degree. He needs one<\/a><\/span>. But the fact that the Georgia race between Walker and Warnock is too close to call and will require a runoff only adds to the idea that American politics is broken, with the nation badly divided. More Red Ripple, please.<\/span><\/p>\n

To end with the discussion of the chart, we see transiting Neptune opposite its natal position and square to natal Mars, completing the t-square of the Neptune\/Neptune base with apex Mars. The nation\u2019s ideals and values are at a crisis point, with disillusionment (Neptune opposition) toward American politics and leadership at an all-time high, and also reflecting the disillusionment Americans have with the military spending going to Ukraine. The natal Mars\/Neptune square shows the glorification of militarism and the strong religious overtones that are a feature of American society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Directed Venus was conjunct natal Ceres and square natal Uranus, showing a turning point strongly featuring the influence of women (Venus) and household (Ceres) security, as well as the upset (Uranus) the outcome of the elections showed.<\/span><\/p>\n

People are worried about inflation. But it has been a bipartisan effort for decades. Electing either party only enables the situation even further. As a result, Americans do not think the country is moving in the right direction. Most Americans couldn\u2019t care less about Ukraine, for example. Biden and Co. are not delivering the goods as they promised in 2020, yet Trump still hangs around and talks about how bad things are under Biden. Never mind Trump did nothing to help American workers while he was in office. And COVID is still an issue in the US. Directed Neptune square the US Moon only reinforces all the preceding and the insecurities of American families.<\/span><\/p>\n

The outcome of this election will probably result in a paralysed government, with both factions of the unipolar American politic digging in for the remainder of Biden\u2019s term<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGOP Rep. Nancy Mace told CNN she is \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d that Republicans will win a majority in the House of Representatives, adding that until both parties reach across the aisle it will be \u201cdifficult for anyone to govern<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Emphases added. Build Back Better is dead, scuttled as much by Democrats as Republicans. Climate change will not be addressed, not in the US. The Ukrainian conflict will drag on until the outcome is decided on the battlefield. Government in the US will stumble on for the next two years. Looking around at American society and its political leaders, what else can we realistically expect? Yes, things can change. Events do happen that cause nations to change course. In a recent post here we looked at the possibility that Biden may not finish this term<\/a><\/span>. And what then?<\/span><\/p>\n

If we look at the US chart we note directed Saturn will be conjunct the US Mars in 2024, giving the combination Saturn=Mars\/Neptune, which does not augur happy camping in American politics or society, nor any sort of a military victory, so forget going up against Russia, China or even Iran. Instead, the Saturn direction denotes a period of great soul-searching, which is very much needed by the nation, instead of all the polarization and infighting. But the year after that we see a turning point in American discourse and politics with the direction of the Midheaven to the US Uranus and square to Ceres. Change \u2013 a more positive change \u2013 will come to America. But the next few years will be \u2018interesting\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

To hear the hyperbole that \u2018our democracy is under threat<\/span><\/a>\u2019 if so-and-so wins or if we do not act against another state<\/a><\/span> shows the extent to which the vested interests in the US have, for many decades, controlled public opinion and discourse. Our media has been quite complicit in this charade, especially since the Vietnam War<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is real desperation in Washington now, especially with the rise of the multipolar order emerging in Asia. We do not hear it in the news. Instead, we hear Ukraine is winning, the country is not in recession, Russia and China are facing financial difficulties instead, so on and so forth. People going shopping, paying rent or mortgages and filling gas tanks know better, deep down.<\/span><\/p>\n

America needs a revolution of sorts. It can be quiet, or harsh, but Washington is not going to pull the plug on itself. It will take public activism \u2013 real and lasting grassroots movements, devoid of partisanship \u2013 to drain the swamp in the Beltway. So long as we play the partisan game, seeing one party as \u2018evil\u2019 and the other as \u2018the good guys\u2019 we only buy into the old divide-and-rule game. It is a game the vested interests know and play very skilfully. They control the media and they write the rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

Personally, I never much cared for Red Ripple. I know people who did. But these midterms show a slight turning of tide. That tide may yet turn into a wave, but it will be neither red nor blue. It will be distinctly ‘red, white and blue’ \u2013 distinctly American. It is time we all looked across the aisle, the fences, across anything that separates us, anything that pits us against one another, and then realize we are all on the same ship. We need to find common ground and unity in our diverse views. Only then will our democracy be saved.<\/span><\/p>\n