Kristi Noem’s Sagittarian Edge
Politics is a game of possibilities. Even though the smart money is definitely on Donald Trump running for President again in 2024, several prominent Republicans are currently trying to position themselves to be a possible choice if the former president should decide not to run. Matt Gatz and Marjorie Taylor Green have been conducting an “American First” road show, Rick DeSantis tried to turn his visit to the Surfside Building collapse into a “presidential moment” and Mike Pence is trying to convince the Trumpites that wanted to hang him back in January that he really not so bad. However, in terms of style, none of these possible contenders matches South Dakota governor Kristi Noem for pure, Sagittarian abandon.
Noem is remembered as the South Dakota governor whose response to the COVID-19 epidemic was, “So, why is everyone so excited?” She refused to issue any of the preventive mandates recommended by the government and when the federal government handed Noem money for COVID relief she used it to advertise South Dakota as a tourist destination. “Come for the majestic scenery. Stay because you’re in a hospital on a ventilator.”
Noem’s horoscope (click on Kristi Noem to see a chart done for noon on her date of birth) contains several indicators of independence. We can start with the Sun in Sagittarius. Sagittarian hate being told what to do. The Sun in Noem’s horoscope is in a wide conjunction with Jupiter, the planet that rules Sagittarius, an aspect that pushes that independent streak to the max. On top of this, she has the Moon in Taurus. Taurus is a conservative sign, but Taurus people are quite willing to go to extremes to defend what they see and theirs.
Mars is also a major feature in Noem’s horoscope. It is weak by sign (in wishy-washy Pisces) but it is square Jupiter and the Sun and possibly sextile her natal Moon. (My guess is that, should we ever learn Noem’s time of birth, the planet would also be prominently placed.) It’s no wonder that Noem is now attracting attention by ruthlessly attacking fellow Republicans who, in any way, conformed to the government’s COVID guidelines. With Mars square the Sun and Jupiter, Noem is a fighter and, with a Sagittarius Sun, she’s not overly concerned with what gets broken in the course of her battles.
Noem’s aggressive style has earned her some national recognition but she still has to deal with the fact that she hales from a state that most American couldn’t identify on a map. Social distancing is not a problem in South Dakota. There’s way more open space than there are people. South Dakota’s largest city, Sioux Falls, is only the 139th largest city in the nation and the population of the entire state is only a tenth of the population of New York City. From what I see in this partial horoscope (regardless of what you might think about her ideology), Kristi Noem certainly has the chops to handle a bigger job than being governor of a small state, but that doesn’t mean that she ready for the biggest job of all.
Still, as 2024 approaches, its going to be interesting to see how Noem’s combination of Sagittarian chutzpah and Taurus certainty plays out in this game of possibilities. We can be sure that, unless Donald Trump makes it clear that he’s the 2024 candidate, several other contenders will emerge from the shadows. Whoever they are, they’d better watch out for this hard-hitting Sagittarian.
