Brett Kavanaugh: Normalizing Assault and Perjury
When history of these times is written the US Senate under Mitch McConnell will have another stain on its reputation: the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. How can a man who has been credibly accused of sexual assault by Dr. Blasey Ford and who has committed perjury be a judge on the highest court in the land? This is making a mockery of justice and the courts. The man behind the push for Kavanaugh is none other than Donald J. Trump, the man who breaks laws on an almost daily basis. Trump and Kavanaugh are re-victimizing all the victims of sexual assault to whom they deny humanity and justice. For Kavanaugh and Trump assaulting women was a laughing matter. Christine Blasey Ford finished her testimony remembering Kavanaugh's laughter after he assaulted her. In their perverse minds assault was entertaining. How can such a man judge the pain of crime victims?
The US government has a certain set of values and principles it stands for based on the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Laws are enacted that line up with these principles. With men like Trump and Kavanaugh these principles will get ignored to accommodate their perverted pleasures. William Barr at the DOJ is a very willing enabler. This is patriarchal power asserting itself. Its basic assertion is that men and women are not created equal, that it is even ridiculous to think so. The personal failings of Trump and Kavanaugh are now the new norms. This is an assault on equality and democracy.
But for supporters of Trump and Kavanaugh this is no big deal. To them this is a small sacrifice for their agendas. Many are religious who subscribe to the biblical view that women should be subservient to men. Others are resentful racists who enjoy the insults and cruelties Trump inflicts on immigrants and people of color.
Who is Brett Kavanaugh and why does he fit into this picture? In my previous blog (Donald Trump and Boris Johnson: Men for our times?) I described the contractions, recessions and reactionary politics that surface periodically in history. We are living in one such period, which Trump painfully exemplifies. These are the periods when anti-democratic leaders gain power, such as Trump and Boris Johnson. These leaders are clannish rather than inclusive, they are protectionist, and they show definite xenophobia. Their concern is on the scale of family, clan and race, not on any global scale.
Brett Kavanaugh displays a certain psychological split that resembles the duality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Is he a different person at different times? How do we know that the hideous side will not surface again? With Trump that is easy. His Mr. Hyde is pretty much out there every day. Well, maybe not when his ego is being stroked. For Brett Kavanaugh his Mr. Hyde seems to lurch out when he is drinking. Since Kavanaugh admitted that he likes his beer, we can expect his Mr. Hyde to pop out quite frequently. We could say that Mr. Hyde is Kavanaugh's guilty pleasure. He likes him well enough to encourage him out through his drinking. When the Democratic senators questioned him, Kavanaugh defended his drinking and tried to normalize it.
Kavanaugh's Mr. Hyde is a sexual assaulter just like Mr. Hyde in the Stevenson story. But there was also Dr. Jekyll, a man with a good public reputation, just like Kavanaugh has. Kavanaugh is professionally successful and known for being very scholarly. He certainly got a first rate education, although his Catholic indoctrination could cloud his judgment. What else can we use to get a better explanation for Kavanaugh's behavior? Can Astrology shed some light? Does his astrological chart indicate any duality? The noon chart of Brett Kavanaugh is shown below. His Ascendant is not known and the Moon is approximate.
Kavanaugh's intellectual strength is in his planets in Aquarius (Sun, Mercury,Venus). Aquarius is a sign of detachment, abstraction, of putting the bigger mental picture together. But in quincunx to the Aquarian planets are his Mars, Uranus and Pluto in Virgo. Uranus conjunction Pluto is an indication of rebellion and non-conformity. This configuration dominated the 1960's with social upheaval and change. Mars in proximity to these planets could become more aggressive and unruly. Mars is the planet of sexual aggression. Kavanaugh's Mars makes stressful contacts to his Sun and Venus which has been described as emotionally impulsive and over-passionate (Roger Elliot). So there is this tension built up between living in the head (Aquarius) and unbound sexual aggression (Mars, Uranus, Pluto). Perhaps the roots of the Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde duality are here.
The stressful energies of a sensual Jupiter in Taurus and the sexual fantasies of Neptune in Scorpio in a T-square contributed to the conflict. Kavanaugh's Saturn and Chiron in the sensitive sign of Pisces likely resulted in depressive moods for which drinking seemed a remedy. Alcohol lifted his mood and removed his inhibitions. He could then express the cruder sexual side of himself. But when he sobered up, he was again the exemplary student everyone approved of. Kavanaugh has not integrated the different energies within himself in a positive way. He does not have a handle on his darker side and is therefore unfit for the office he holds.
Kavanaugh conservative side is indicated by the contracting energies of Saturn-Pluto, the clannish feelings of Moon in Cancer, and the rebellion in favor of the traditional order through the interplay of Saturn, Pluto, and Uranus.
The US government has a certain set of values and principles it stands for based on the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Laws are enacted that line up with these principles. With men like Trump and Kavanaugh these principles will get ignored to accommodate their perverted pleasures. William Barr at the DOJ is a very willing enabler. This is patriarchal power asserting itself. Its basic assertion is that men and women are not created equal, that it is even ridiculous to think so. The personal failings of Trump and Kavanaugh are now the new norms. This is an assault on equality and democracy.
But for supporters of Trump and Kavanaugh this is no big deal. To them this is a small sacrifice for their agendas. Many are religious who subscribe to the biblical view that women should be subservient to men. Others are resentful racists who enjoy the insults and cruelties Trump inflicts on immigrants and people of color.
Who is Brett Kavanaugh and why does he fit into this picture? In my previous blog (Donald Trump and Boris Johnson: Men for our times?) I described the contractions, recessions and reactionary politics that surface periodically in history. We are living in one such period, which Trump painfully exemplifies. These are the periods when anti-democratic leaders gain power, such as Trump and Boris Johnson. These leaders are clannish rather than inclusive, they are protectionist, and they show definite xenophobia. Their concern is on the scale of family, clan and race, not on any global scale.
Brett Kavanaugh displays a certain psychological split that resembles the duality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Is he a different person at different times? How do we know that the hideous side will not surface again? With Trump that is easy. His Mr. Hyde is pretty much out there every day. Well, maybe not when his ego is being stroked. For Brett Kavanaugh his Mr. Hyde seems to lurch out when he is drinking. Since Kavanaugh admitted that he likes his beer, we can expect his Mr. Hyde to pop out quite frequently. We could say that Mr. Hyde is Kavanaugh's guilty pleasure. He likes him well enough to encourage him out through his drinking. When the Democratic senators questioned him, Kavanaugh defended his drinking and tried to normalize it.
Kavanaugh's Mr. Hyde is a sexual assaulter just like Mr. Hyde in the Stevenson story. But there was also Dr. Jekyll, a man with a good public reputation, just like Kavanaugh has. Kavanaugh is professionally successful and known for being very scholarly. He certainly got a first rate education, although his Catholic indoctrination could cloud his judgment. What else can we use to get a better explanation for Kavanaugh's behavior? Can Astrology shed some light? Does his astrological chart indicate any duality? The noon chart of Brett Kavanaugh is shown below. His Ascendant is not known and the Moon is approximate.
Kavanaugh's intellectual strength is in his planets in Aquarius (Sun, Mercury,Venus). Aquarius is a sign of detachment, abstraction, of putting the bigger mental picture together. But in quincunx to the Aquarian planets are his Mars, Uranus and Pluto in Virgo. Uranus conjunction Pluto is an indication of rebellion and non-conformity. This configuration dominated the 1960's with social upheaval and change. Mars in proximity to these planets could become more aggressive and unruly. Mars is the planet of sexual aggression. Kavanaugh's Mars makes stressful contacts to his Sun and Venus which has been described as emotionally impulsive and over-passionate (Roger Elliot). So there is this tension built up between living in the head (Aquarius) and unbound sexual aggression (Mars, Uranus, Pluto). Perhaps the roots of the Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde duality are here.
The stressful energies of a sensual Jupiter in Taurus and the sexual fantasies of Neptune in Scorpio in a T-square contributed to the conflict. Kavanaugh's Saturn and Chiron in the sensitive sign of Pisces likely resulted in depressive moods for which drinking seemed a remedy. Alcohol lifted his mood and removed his inhibitions. He could then express the cruder sexual side of himself. But when he sobered up, he was again the exemplary student everyone approved of. Kavanaugh has not integrated the different energies within himself in a positive way. He does not have a handle on his darker side and is therefore unfit for the office he holds.
Kavanaugh conservative side is indicated by the contracting energies of Saturn-Pluto, the clannish feelings of Moon in Cancer, and the rebellion in favor of the traditional order through the interplay of Saturn, Pluto, and Uranus.
