Raul Labrador and the Astrological Chain Reaction
A couple of days ago Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador shocked people attending a town hall meeting in his district when he said that people don’t die from a lack of health insurance. The remark was booed when he made it on Friday, and it has since inspired a wave of outrage and derision that has burned through the internet.
Looking at a horoscope done for noon on Raul Labrador’s birthday (click here to see the chart) what is remarkable is the fact that he has four planets, Mercury, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, all at or close to four degrees in their respective signs. This means that all of these planets aspect one another, and that when one is aspected by a transiting planet, all of them are activated.
The center of this aspect system is Mercury. Labrador’s Mercury in Sagittarius is sextile Mars and trine Saturn. He has an active mind and isn’t afraid of controversy. His problem-solving techniques are more practical than is typical with a Sagittarian Mercury, but he still looks for simplicity and for that single idea that will create sweeping change.
The one hard aspect in the mix is a square to his Mercury from Jupiter. People with this aspect like to hear themselves talk, and they are prone to talk themselves into difficult situations. In both his talking and his thinking, Labrador gravitates toward the “big” ideas and broad generalities. He is basically an idealist and his biggest challenge will be balancing this idealism with the practicality of Mercury trine Saturn.
The most remarkable piece of this aspect system is the quincunx between Jupiter and Saturn and Mars and Jupiter, with Mars in a sextile aspect to Saturn. This arrangement is called a Yod. Some astrologers consider it to be a “mystical” aspect. I’ve never seen much evidence of this, but it does reveal a complex emotional and intellectual situation. Describing all of the ramifications of Labrador’s Yod would take more time that I have to commit to this article, but I can say that there are issues involving the way in which his actions and his passions relate to his politics that just don’t fit together the way they should.
On Friday, when Labrador made his now famous remarks, transiting Venus was sliding into a trine to his Mercury. At that moment what Labrador said probably sounded pretty good to him. By the next day, when his remarks started showing up in various news outlets, Venus was closing in on a conjunction with his Saturn. It’s no surprise that the replay of Labrador's remarks make him sound hard-hearted. That’s what Venus conjunct Saturn denotes, a shutting off of compassion.
At the same time, Venus set off all the other aspects in this system. People with Jupiter square Mercury often do come off sounding like fools. Meanwhile, the activation of Labrador’s Yod revealed all the complexities and contradictions of not just his psyche, but the psyche of the Freedom Caucus, of which Labrador is a proud member.
Of course, Venus aspects only last for a day or so. We might expect that Labrador’s remarks will soon sink into internet obscurity. However, according to Wikipedia, Labrador’s name has been floated as a possible candidate for Idaho governor in 2018. At that time Saturn will be square his natal Saturn, and Saturn cycle aspects like this tend to bring back mistakes that we have made in the past, so what Labrador said on Friday under this passing Venus aspect could have a big impact on his future.
