The Abramoff scandal promises to be the feel-good event of the year in Washington DC, at least for liberals and administration critics. The Republican lobbyist or his clients have contributed more than $4.4 million to at least 210 members of Congress, and while it’s true that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle accepted funds, Republicans received the lion’s share, Abramoff himself only contributed to the GOP, and so far, it is only members of that party who are alleged to have sold their votes or provided material recompense for his largesse.

The web of Abramoff’s payola is a broad one, and predominant among those who are about to be scooped up in the net are:

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX, who is a lifelong friend of Abramoff, his ally in the controversial “K Street Project,” whereby the GOP is attempting to dry up the stream of campaign contributions to Democrats);
Representative Bob Ney (R-OH, Chairman of the House Administration Committee and the top named official in Abramoff’s indictment);
Ralph Reed (another lifelong friend, former Executive Director of the Christian Coalition and current Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia); and
George W. Bush (for whom Abramoff served on the transition team in 2000, contributing $10,000 to the Bush Cheney Florida Recount Fund, then raising over $100,000 for the “re-election” campaign in 2004, making him a Bush Pioneer).

Jack Abramoff (born 28 February 1959) has had a long career of identification with Republican and conservative causes. National Chairman of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) from 1981-85 (during which time period Ralph Reed was a frequent sleep-over guest on his couch), Abramoff was also a director of the conservative think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research, and a founding member of the International Freedom Foundation, an anti-communist think tank funded by apartheid South Africa.

Of secular Reformed Judaism stock, Abramoff converted to Orthodox Judaism at the age of 12, a religion to which he still professes adherence. He organized for Reagan’s first presidential campaign on Massachusetts campuses in 1980, before succeeding Grover Norquist as the chairman of the CRNC. In that organization’s 1983 annual report, he is quoted as stating that, “It is not our job to seek peaceful coexistence with the Left. Our job is to remove them from power permanently.”

Following his stint with the College Republicans, Abramoff spent almost a decade in Hollywood, producing several low-budget features with anti-communist themes (including 1988's Red Scorpion, in part funded by and filmed in the apartheid regime of South Africa). During this period he remained active politically as a member of Citizens for America, a pro-Reagan group helping Oliver North build support for Nicaragua’s Contra rebellion.

In the mid-1990s, Abramoff found his niche as a lobbyist, working initially with Preston Gates & Ellis, at which time he began his now notorious relationship with the gambling interests of Indian tribes. Other clients included the sweat shops of the US-administered Marianas Islands, eLottery Inc. (for whom he opposed the ban on Internet gambling), Tyco Inc., the government of Malaysia, and Channel One News (the leading purveyor of classroom TV).

His double dealing with his Indian casino clients is notorious, and brought him back into close contact with Ralph Reed, whose Christian Coalition members were attempting to restrict the spread of gambling. Reed and Abramoff took huge sums of money from both sides, up to $85 million from the Native Americans alone, and played off one against the other. Reed and Grover Norquist are implicated with Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon in a scam whereby they orchestrated opposition lobbying against their Indian casino clients so as to coerce them into paying for continued lobbying services on their behalf. On January 3, 2006 (Sun 12 Capricorn square a Black Hole and a Quasar), Abramoff pled guilty to three felony counts of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion in connection with these scandals, and is co-operating with prosecutors.

Abramoff was also involved in treacherous dealings, possibly even murder, in the 2000 takeover of Gus Boulis’ SunCruz Casinos, a gambling ship operation in which Bob Ney was implicated. Abrmoff acquired control of the company after Boulis’ execution-style murder, using a fake wire transfer recording a nonexistent $23 million down payment, to convince lenders to approve a $60 million loan. On August 11, 2005 (Sun 18 Leo, square a Black Hole), Abramoff and partner Adam Kidan were indicted by a Fort Lauderdale, FL grand jury in the SunCruz matter; Boulis’ murder investigation is ongoing.

That Black Holes should be prominent in Abramoff’s chart is no surprise to anyone who is familiar with his history, and their effects. Abramoff’s Sun at 9 Pisces is exactly opposed a Black Hole, and his Mercury at 6 Pisces is conjunct a Quasar and exactly opposed another Black Hole. This is the signature of one who has great personal magnetism and can convince others to act as he wishes. He is literally able to turn words into power, and is difficult to control or reign in. Complex and contradictory, his own view of himself is likely to skew widely from the ways in which others see him, and often these others will each form unique and conflicting opinions of him. This is caused by the chameleon-like qualities of Black Hole energies; these natives refract the light, reflecting a different color in each direction, mirroring back the perspective of each observer in altered, often unrecognizable, ways.

All three financial planets have Black Hole contacts, Venus at 2 Aquarius exactly opposed a Black Hole, Jupiter at 1 Scorpio retrograde within the event horizon of the Black Hole at 28 Libra, and Pluto at 0 Virgo in square to a Black Hole at 3 Sagittarius and opposed one at 27 Aquarius. Money planets tied to Black Holes suggest the potential for huge amounts of cash changing hands, and the probability that all is not above-board in financial conduct. Certainly the deceptive tactics used with his Native American clients fit well into the Black Hole characteristic of things not being as they seem, of undercurrents both mysterious and duplicitous. All three financial planets are also linked to one another, increasing the likelihood of enhanced performance, like yoking three oxen to the same plow. Additionally, Venus and Jupiter are tied in a T-Square with Uranus, injecting a level of upset or scandal, a sense of being above the law or the strictures placed upon ordinary mortals, and jettisoning certain societal proprieties regarding the ethical handling of money and the influence it buys.

Additionally, Mars at 17 Capricorn, Saturn at 24 Sagittarius, Uranus at 8 Leo, and Neptune at 4 Scorpio retrograde are all conjunct Black Holes. Saturn is particularly interesting, as it conjoins a Pulsar as well as the supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center, implying both a high level of notoriety (GC) and intense Media interest (Pulsar) for his work life or career (Saturn). Transit Pluto has been traversing this area of the zodiac for a year, and will continue to do so through the autumn of 2007, muck-raking with a cosmic vengeance.

The Midas Touch is also in evidence, with asteroid Midas at 7 Gemini conjunct a controversy-evoking Maser and forming a T-Square with natal Sun/Mercury and Pluto. Surely the vast sums which Abramoff collected and disbursed must now seem to be as cursed as that ancient Phrygian King’s gift for turning everything he touched to gold.

As interesting as all that may be, it is nothing when compared to the charts of those most implicated in his wrongdoing, which together form a vast and complex web of connections. As might be expected, many of these interactions involve the financial planets of others.

Tom DeLay (born 8 April 1947), former House Majority Leader, is the Republican Representative from Sugar Land, Texas, known as “The Hammer” for his strict enforcement of Party unity and his ability to move a legislative agenda. Like Abramoff, DeLay’s chart is a veritable smorgasbord of Black Hole energies—the Sun at 18 Aries squares the Black Hole at 19 Capricorn, Mercury at 20 Pisces squares the Black Hole at 18 Sagittarius, Venus at 10 Pisces opposes a Black Hole at 9 Virgo, Mars at 27 Pisces is conjunct the Black Hole at 28 Pisces, Jupiter at 26 Scorpio squares the Black Hole at 27 Aquarius, Saturn at 1 Leo conjoins a Black Hole at 2 Leo, Uranus at 18 Gemini opposes the 18 Sagittarius Black Hole, and Pluto at 11 Leo conjoins one at 9 Leo. You can’t get much darker than that, and DeLay’s reputation as a power-hungry manipulator of immense political ambition is well earned.

Expelled from Baylor University for drinking, DeLay later received a BS (major in biology) from the University of Houston, after which he established a foundering pest control company (giving rise to his alternate nickname of “The Exterminator”). He battled both the bottle and his fiscal bottom line for 15 years before becoming a fundamentalist Christian in 1985. His pattern of business failures, alcoholism and religious redemptive experience closely mirrors Dubya’s; both he and Abramoff espouse conversion to the most extreme, restrictive fringes of their respective faiths, but do not seem to allow these strong religious convictions to interfere with their unethical and illegal behaviors.

DeLay was elected to Congress in 1978, making a name for himself in opposing the National Endowment for the Arts and the Environmental Protection Agency (which he has termed “the Gestapo of Government”), two particular bugaboos of the conservative Right. In 1988, then-House Minority Whip Dick Cheney appointed DeLay as deputy whip, and after the Republican take-over of Congress in 1994, he was elected Majority Whip, against the wishes of Newt Gingrich, the new Speaker, who saw him as a potential rival. In 2002 he succeeded retiring Dick Armey as Majority Leader.

DeLay, with Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Grover Norquist, was instrumental in the establishment of the K Street Project, named for the DC district favored by lobbying firms for their offices. Abramoff was also an important player in this scheme, which successfully sought to dry up the stream of funding for Democratic members of Congress by encouraging lobbying firms to install Republican officials in top positions, indicating that if Democrat-friendly officers were retained, the majority Party would not be receptive to their message or interests.

DeLay’s heavy-handed legislative tactics include vote extension (keeping a floor vote open longer than legal until a passing tally could be recorded); scheduling votes for the middle of the night or late on Fridays, when their passage is not as noted by the somnolent media or an easily distracted public; and “capture and release,” a system whereby the leadership “captures” a vote from a member which might be controversial or downright unpopular among his constituents, often coercing them with threats of withdrawing Party support for fundraising and re-election, but then “releases” some of them if the final pre-vote tally shows their vote will not be needed to pass the legislation. There has been barely a murmur of Party dissent among the members during the Hammer’s tenure.

DeLay was admonished by the House Ethics Committee three times in 2004 for such unethical behaviors as offering candidate endorsements in exchange for votes, and the misuse of public funds. But the scandal that eventually brought DeLay down from his pinnacle perch in the House involved internal Texas politics. In 2002, DeLay facilitated a GOP take-over of the Texas legislature by aggressively supporting the Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (TRMPAC). TRMPAC funneled large corporate donations, illegal in Texas state races, to GOP state candidates via DeLay’s office in Washington. This enabled a GOP majority in the Texas State House, which, with the Republican Senate of that state, conducted an illegal redistricting project in 2003 to give the Texas national delegation a decided GOP advantage, thus increasing the Party’s dominance in the US House of Representatives.

For his part in the scheme, DeLay was indicted by a grand jury under Travis County DA Ronnie Earle for conspiracy and money laundering, on September 28, 2005 (Sun at 5 Libra, conjunct a Quasar and squared two Black Holes). By the Republican rules of the House, any indicted Leader must relinquish his authority (though not resign his seat), and DeLay stepped down as House Majority Leader, “temporarily,” but bowed to Party pressure not to attempt a return, even if exonerated. He announced on January 7, 2006 (Sun at 16 Capricorn, conjunct one Black Hole and square another and a Quasar) that he would not seek re-election to his former position. (Earlier in 2005, in an attempt to shield DeLay from the upcoming indictments, Republican House members amended their own ethics rules to indicate that a leadership position would only have to be resigned in the event of a conviction, not merely an indictment. They were forced to retract this change several months later under public pressure.)

Abramoff’s connections to DeLay include a Yod, or Finger of Destiny, focused on Abramoff’s Sun/Mercury conjunction at 6 and 9 Pisces, which is conjunct DeLay’s Venus at 10 Pisces, and inconjunct to both DeLay’s Pluto at 11 Leo (also conjoining Abramoff’s Uranus) and his Neptune at 9 Libra. The sense of a special, fated, financial connection (Venus) involving deception (Neptune) and power or control (Pluto), which is conveyed by this linkage, may yet indicate that more of the Abramoff scandal is laid at DeLay’s door. Additionally, DeLay’s Mercury/Mars conjunction at 20/27 Pisces is in square to Abramoff’s Saturn/Galactic Center conjunction at 24/26 Sagittarius.

Bob Ney is a second GOP legislator caught in the Abramoff web. Staffers confirmed that Representative Ney (R-OH) is in fact the congressman identified as “Representative #1" in the Abramoff indictment, which alleges bribery. Although denying any wrongdoing, Ney resigned his Chairmanship of the House Administration Committee on January 15, 2006 (Sun at 25 Capricorn, conjunct a Pulsar, opposed one Black Hole and squared two others). Prior to his resignation, Ney was known as the “Mayor of Capitol Hill” for his oversight of operations in the Capitol Complex.

Born 5 July 1954, Ney was narrowly elected to the House in 1994 when the Republican Revolution swept the GOP into dominance for the first time in 40 years (Sun exactly opposed a Black Hole on Election Day). He was instrumental in the passage of HAVA (variously acronymed as the “Help America Vote Act” or the “Help the Administration Violate America” Act), which enabled the GOP to expand their vote fraud from Florida in 2000 to a nationwide scale in 2004, with the introduction of paperless, inauditable voting technologies.

Ney’s 13 Cancer Sun, conjoined by Mercury at the same degree, is a match for the USA’s and George W. Bush’s, and is in exact square to the Black Hole at 13 Libra. Ney’s Venus at 21 Leo squares a Black Hole, Mars at 29 Sagittarius is conjunct the Galactic Center and square a Black Hole, Saturn at 2 Scorpio is conjunct one Black Hole and square another, while Uranus at 22 Cancer, Neptune at 23 Libra, and Pluto at 23 Leo are each opposed a Black Hole and square another.

In addition to the primary scandal in which he is mentioned, Ney is also implicated in Abramoff’s SunCruz Casino venture. Ney, under pressure to raise more funds for the Republican National Congressional Committee (NRCC), turned to bagman Abramoff. In return for a $10,000 contribution to the NRCC in Ney’s name, the congressman made statements critical of Boulis’ management of the SunCruz operation, and favorable to Abramoff’s partner Kidan, reading them into the Congressional Record. This magnified Abramoff & company’s credibility, allowing their fiscal deception and smoothing their take-over of Boulis’ firm.

Ney’s connections with Abramoff form a Galactic Grand Trine, with trine aspects from both his Sun/Mercury/Jupiter at 9 and 13 Cancer, and his Saturn at 2 Scorpio, to Abramoff’s Sun/Mercury conjunction at 6 and 9 Pisces. Further, his Mars at 29 Sagittarius conjoins Abramoff’s natal Saturn at 24 Sagittarius, while his Neptune at 23 Libra is sextile, Venus and Pluto at 21 and 23 Leo are trine, and Uranus at 22 Cancer is inconjunct. Again, as with DeLay, we see the combination of money, power and deception, all tied together by the energy-hungry and parallel-reality-inducing Black Hole.

Ralph Reed (born 24 June 1961) is a lifelong friend of Abramoff, whose couch he often slept on in college. Their professional association began in 1981 when Reed moved to Washington DC to intern under Abramoff, who had just been elected head of the CRNC. During this period Reed roomed with Abramoff, and introduced him to his future wife. With Grover Norquist, the three became known as the “Abramoff-Norquist-Reed triumvirate,” rewriting the bylaws of the CRNC to consolidate their control, and driving dissenters from the organization. Reed was the enforcer, following through on the orders given him by Abramoff and Norquist, and wasn’t particularly dainty about how he accomplished their will. In 1983 Abramoff rewarded him with succession as the CRNC’s Executive Director to replace Norquist, who was moving on.

1983 was a banner year for Reed, who was accused of plagiarism in a column written for his college paper (entitled “Gandhi: Ninny of the Twentieth Century”), and was fired from the paper as a result. Ironically, in his final column, while admitting the lack of proper citation, he accused the graduate student who had brought the allegation of “the most shocking, profane form of personal attack I can imagine.” Reed’s imagination would improve considerably in the coming years.

Also in 1983 Reed was implicated in an election-rigging scandal (presaging one of his future accomplishments), ensuring his replacement as president of the University of Georgia College Republicans by his friend and ally, Sam Harbren, who later confided, “We ran a dirty election.” The CRNC reprimanded Reed following an investigation into the matter, and ordered a new election.

1983 was also the year in which Reed purportedly found God, following a religious experience which occurred at the unlikely venue of Bullfeathers bar and restaurant, where Reed alleged that “the Holy Spirit simply demanded me to come to Jesus.” He left the bar for the phone booth on the corner, picked a local evangelical church out of the yellow pages, visited the next morning and became a born-again Christian. In 1983, Reed’s Sun was progressing through the Black Hole at 2/3 Leo, evoking major changes of fortune and attitude, and sudden shifts in the status quo reality.

In 1989 televangelist Pat Robertson, fresh from his presidential run against Bush Senior the year before, chose Reed as the first executive director of the nascent Christian Coalition, a role Reed filled until 1997, becoming the baby-faced symbol of the Christian Right. At one point Reed’s influence was judged so great that he made the cover of Time magazine with the caption, “The Right Hand of God.” The Coalition stretched its tentacles into local politics nationwide, but never again challenged the GOP mainstream candidate for leadership of the Party nationally, preferring to manipulate the choice of candidates via primary elections, where evangelicals wield a disproportionate amount of influence. Reed described his role as an agitator and activist for God: “I want to be invisible. I do guerrilla warfare. I paint my face and travel at night. You don’t know it’s over until you’re in a body bag.”

In 1996 the Federal Election Commission charged the Christian Coalition with violation of federal campaign finance laws in the congressional elections of 1990, 1992, and 1994, and the presidential election of 1992. This action ultimately led to the IRS denying the Christian Coalition tax-exempt status.

In 1997 Reed resigned his position with the Christian Coalition in advance of a pending federal investigation into allegations of fiscal impropriety leveled by the Coalition’s chief financial officer, Judy Liebert. No charges were filed, but Reed moved back to Georgia after his resignation, where he eschewed political activism and began work as a consultant and lobbyist, founding Century Strategies.

Among Reed’s clients were Enron, Microsoft, Channel One News, and several Indian gaming tribes. Reed’s new business was struggling, and in a 1998 email he solicited the help of his old friend, Jack Abramoff: “Hey, now that I’m done with the electoral politics, I need to start humping in corporate accounts! I’m counting on you to help me with some contacts.”

Abramoff responded by hiring Reed as a consultant subcontractor for his firm, Preston Gates & Ellis. In 1999 Karl Rove facilitated a $30,000-per-month contract with Enron. Reed reciprocated by orchestrating the attacks of the Bush presidential campaign on rival John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary, which crushed the Senator’s presidential bid. In a tactic known as “push polling,” Bush operatives in the context of conducting ostensibly independent polls implied, among other calumnies, that McCain, a Vietnam POW for 5 years, collaborated with his captors to obtain better treatment, and had sired an illegitimate black child (McCain and his wife adopted a dark-skinned daughter from Bangladesh).

In 2001 Reed flirted with a return to politics on a more personal level, campaigning for the volunteer position of State Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. A later federal investigation revealed that Reed’s State Chairman campaign was secretly underwritten by the Choctaw Indians, one of Abramoff’s gaming clients. From this position, Reed was instrumental in the negative campaigns and e-vote fraud which provided the Election Night GOP upsets of Saxby Chambliss, who unseated incumbent Democratic Senator Max Cleland (his campaign successfully trashed the patriotism of this triple amputee Vietnam vet), and squeaked out a gubernatorial victory for Republican Sonny Perdue over exit poll favorite and incumbent governor Democrat Roy Barnes.

On February 17, 2001 (Sun at 28 Aquarius, conjunct a Black Hole, squared a Quasar and Maser), Reed announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia in 2006. His high profile and the support of George W. Bush and Governor Perdue ensured early success and a huge windfall in campaign contributions, virtually eliminating Reed’s GOP competition for the office.

But the exposure of his involvement with Abramoff’s Indian Casino scandal has eroded his support, particularly among evangelicals whose opposition to gambling is entrenched. Reed’s firm received over $4.2 million from Abramoff’s Indian clients for lobbying and organizational work performed on their behalf in Alabama and Texas, a fact which didn’t sit well with Reed’s fundamentalist supporters. In late January 2006 a delegation of Georgia Republican leaders approached Reed, who was plummeting in the polls, to end his candidacy, concerned that he could drag down the entire GOP ticket in the state. Reed refused, but his primary opponent, state Senator Casey Cagle, has edged past him in endorsements and fundraising in recent months. Georgia’s primary is July 18 (Sun 25 Cancer conjunct one Black Hole and square two more, opposed a Pulsar.)

Reed’s chart is another textbook case of galactic influences. The Sun at 2 Cancer both conjoins and opposes a Black Hole, and squares both a Pulsar and a Quasar, insuring for the lifetime the emergence of unusual opportunities to switch or amend realities, as well as unexpected setbacks (all Black Hole), a highly developed sense of media savvy (the Pulsar) and the ability to promote an agenda successfully and achieve one’s goals (the Quasar).

Mercury at 7 Cancer is likewise galactically entangled, conjunct both a Black Hole and a Quasar, as well as square to two Quasars and opposed a second Black Hole. Mercury/Black Hole natives often show the ability to strategize several moves in advance, and have a perspective usually at variance with the common viewpoint. They are able to envision not just the way things are, but the ways they might become. This combination of Sun/Black Hole/Mercury/Quasar also speaks to Reed’s boyish looks and continued youthful appearance. To look at him now, one gets the distinct impression that somewhere in an attic, there is a painting of Ralph which is ageing grotesquely.

Venus at 17 Taurus conjoins a Black Hole, squares a Maser and a Pulsar, and opposes a second Pulsar. Venus/Black Hole can indicate financial matters that are not as they appear at first glance, and may be manipulated for advantage, as well as changing values and a unique interpretation of ethics. Venus/Pulsar conveys a heightened media scrutiny on financial matters and an ability to convey a set of values articulately and forcefully, while Venus/Maser indicates probable controversy over finances.

Other celestials continue the galactic focus of the chart. Mars at 27 Leo exactly opposes a Black Hole, and squares both a Maser and a Quasar, while Jupiter at 5 Aquarius squares a Black Hole and a pair of Quasars. The latter is entirely consistent with a sudden and dramatic “conversion experience,” such as Reed describes. Saturn at 28 Capricorn is conjunct a Pulsar, squared two Black Holes and opposed a third; there is a strong lure to power, an implied mastery of the skills necessary to manipulate the media, issues with authority figures and a tendency to leave employment precipitately or under unusual circumstances.

Uranus at 23 Leo squares a Black Hole and opposes a Quasar, Neptune at 8 Scorpio is conjunct a Black Hole, and Pluto at 5 Virgo conjoins another while squaring three more and opposing a Quasar. Again, themes of power, high finance, and deception predominate.

Reed ties to Abramoff via a conjunction of his Chiron at 6 Pisces to Abramoff’s Sun/Mercury conjunction at 6 and 9 Pisces, as well as trines to this point from Reed’s natal Mercury at 7 Cancer and Neptune at 8 Scorpio and an opposition to natal Pluto at 5 Virgo, these points forming a Galactic Kite. His Uranus/Pluto conjunction at 23 and 27 Leo is also trine Abramoff’s natal Saturn/Galactic Center.

George W. Bush is both the most and least likely to suffer from his connection with Abramoff. Although it’s extremely unlikely that Abramoff bought any real access to the White House, and certainly did not affect policy, the administration’s stonewalling and lies about the extent of the relationship reinforce the sense that this White House simply cannot be honest or forthcoming about anything. It would be very difficult, most likely impossible, to tie any wrongdoing to Bush due to the Abramoff connection, but the perception of him as a straight shooter (still held by some blinkered 40% of the population) could be seriously eroded.

First, to maintain, as Dubya does, that he never even met Abramoff and does not know who he is, is absurd. Bush may not be the most intellectually curious of men, but he knows who the players are, and Abramoff is certainly a player.

Abramoff was actually a member of the Bush transition team, assigned to the Interior Department, and he and his wife contributed $10,000 to the Bush/Cheney Florida Recount Fund in 2000. Abramoff was employed by Greenberg Traurig at the time, which forgave over $300,000 in fees to the campaign, incurred during the recount process. Abramoff’s team logged more than 200 contacts with the Bush White House in the first ten months of 2001 alone.

In 2004, Abramoff became a “Bush Pioneer” by raising in excess of $100,000 for the Bush/Cheney “Re-election” campaign, and was invited to the Crawford Ranch (he refused the invitation because it would have meant traveling on the Orthodox Jewish Sabbath—again, the bizarre spectacle of a man who is so entrenched in the forms of his religion without embodying any of its spirit). Pictures of the two together have begun to surface, which the White House says are basically ‘cattle car’ type meetings where many people file past the president for a handshake and a photo. But Abramoff alleges that Bush knew him well enough to inquire about his children, whose names he remembered, and details of his family life.

Dubya’s chart has been deconstructed previously in these pages, and a more Black-Holier-than-thou individual you wouldn’t want to meet (every planet, both Nodes, and all four angles conjoin or aspect Black Holes). His connections to Abramoff are as follows: a trine from his 13 Cancer Sun to Abramoff’s natal Sun/Mercury at 6 and 9 Pisces, as well as an inconjunct from Bush’s Mercury/Pluto at 9/10 Leo, an exact opposition from Bush’s 9 Virgo Mars to Abramoff’s Sun, and another inconjunct from Bush’s natal Neptune at 5 Libra. Additionally, Dubya’s Saturn at 26 Cancer is inconjunct Abramoff’s own at 24 Sagittarius.

Taken as a whole, the web of Abramoff’s galactic connections to these partners in crime is vast and telling, radiating out in a synastric Fan pattern from the core ground of Abramoff’s being, his Sun/Mercury conjunction. No fewer than 18 planets are in aspect to this origin point, filling the zone that lies between the waxing and waning trine aspects (thus, from 120 to 240 degrees past Abramoff’s Sun), creating an image of Abramoff as the spider, sitting atop his tremulous web, pulling the gossamer strands as he manipulates the money and power that makes the world run. It is a web which has now enmeshed its creator, and from which there is no seeming escape.