Wednesday, June 14, 2006 (Flag Day) | truthout.org Standoff? BY ALL indications, truthout.org is sticking to its story that Karl Rove was indicted, at least at the time it published its article to that effect one month ago. This, despite Rove's lawyer stating this week that Rove has been cleared in the investigation of who outed spy Valerie Plame Wilson. truthout.org is due to make an announcement in its official blog at 5 tonight Pacific Time on the issue. Let's see what the chart says. Link is below: http://planetwaves.net/chart.php?c=truthout Let's first check the condition of the planets that rule the Scorpio ascendant (representing truthout.org and Jason Leopold, the author of the indictment story) and the Taurus descendent or 7th house (representing Rove). Scorpio is the toughest sign of the lot, and it's good in the charts of investigative reporters. Scorpio always gets to the bottom of things. Scorpio's first ruler Mars is involved in an aspect that is exact at the time of the announcement -- the Moon exactly opposes Mars. This is the chart of a confrontation of some kind. While it looks like truthout.org is in integrity and anyone challenging it gets a "less than" rating, the website needs to measure its words carefully, because there is a lot more to come. This is visible by at least two aspects: Mars, which represents the website, is about to make a double conjunction to Vesta and then to Saturn in about five days. This could be truthout.org closing in on Saturn, which is the 'natural ruler' of the government and is not quite as well placed in Leo as is Mars. Still, both planets are strong. The thing to remember is that this is very much a developing story -- Mars has yet to reach Saturn and that will be a turning point. Second, Scorpio is also ruled by Pluto, a planet that it's always stupid to mess with. Pluto is in the 2nd house of values and Sagittarius says integrity if nothing else. What is interesting is that the Sun rules the 10th house -- also a significator for the government -- and is about to oppose Pluto. Generally, it's safe to assume Pluto is going to get its way no matter what, and it looks like the 'official' government is moving into a position where it's vulnerable, particularly if it goes on the aggressive. I have no doubt that truthout.org felt strongly that what it believed at the time was true. The 7th house is occupied by Taurus and ruled by Venus, which is sitting there on the horizon, in the 7th, plainly visible. It looks good in Taurus, like everything is fine and dandy -- except for one thing, it squares Neptune, and this is an integrity problem. The entire position being taken by the 'other side' is based on lies, subtle though they may be. Either the denial is false, or the whole issue was false and truthout.org was set up with a false story -- or some combination of the two. The 12th (big secrets, big lies) is occupied by Libra, so Venus gets two similar significations: one representing Rove & Co., and the other representing the Big Lie. Mercury is creeping up into a sextile to that Venus. Mercury rules the 8th house, which I would say represents 'the truth' itself -- and that house is conveniently occupied by the Sun, which as mentioned is about to oppose Pluto. This a game that truthout.org has to play slowly and carefully. There is enormous goodwill in the community for this website, and not so much good will for Karl Rove and his bosses. So truthout.org can bide its time. Numerous factors in this situation -- mostly involving charts not included in this discussion -- point to two future events: an eclipse of the Sun on Sept. 22, and more immediately, the summer solstice on June 22. Of the two dates, Sept. 22 is far more important. Many of the most effective journalistic investigations go on for months or years. It takes enormous patience to play this game, and information serves two functions: one is that it's reported to the public; the other is that it's used as leverage behind the scenes to get people to come out with more. What is not said is always as important as what is said. Often, the subject of a journalistic investigation maintains the appearance of propriety long after holes have been blown in its story. Then, suddenly, there is a change; an admission; incontrovertible evidence surfaces and the truth becomes apparent to the majority of people. It is unfortunate that the truth is not all that counts -- what also counts is the environment into which the statement is made; the timing of the statement; and what people are ready to accept. Neither party in this equation is weak, but it looks like truthout.org is the stronger of the two, even if only by a few shades. The one thing they have on their side is time, and the time to watch is Sept. 22. It would seem that that for truthout.org, the key to success is not going blow for blow, but instead continuing to gather information for long enough to see what the pieces add up to, and in the meanwhile, reveal as little as possible. If it moves too quickly, it will be forced into a compromised position. It would be wise for truthout.org to protect (i.e., keep confidential) its sources, even if those sources burned the reporter. This way, they will preserve their psychological leverage over those people as the game develops, and keep the goodwill of the rest of the government community. If they ever reveal those sources, it will be very difficult for them to cultivate new ones. This should be interesting. Let's see what happens.