Was President Bush Drunk At The Olympics?

Time to roll up our sleeves and dig into a little tabloid gossip.

It's no secret that President George W. Bush (Born July 6, 1946, 7:26 AM, New Haven, Connecticut) used to have a drinking problem (and an alleged cocaine issue as well) up until 1986. And of late, there have been reports in the tabloids around an alleged return to the bottle.

Tabloid journalism may not have a great reputation, but tabloids also don't like being sued, even unsuccessfully. And after all, they were the most reliable source of public information around such ugly matters as the Monica Lewinsky affair, Rudy Giuliani's fling, and (more recently) John Edward's extramarital shenanigans before those stories hit the mainstream.

Astrologically, can we tell how likely it is that the President was sloshed at the time? Maybe not definitively: after all, the planets are where they are, but there is still a small matter of free will. But were the conditions for being drunk... very publicly, at that... in place?

Alcoholism and/or drug abuse is frequently associated with the 12th House of a birth chart, and the condition of Neptune. Further: although not a sure-fire indicator, such issues are also often associated with a "wounded ego"... difficult aspects to the natal Sun.

George W. Bush has his Sun in the 12th House, being (weakly) squared by Neptune in the 3rd House (which represents, among other things, the everyday mundane workings of the mind). Right there a consulting astrologer should be keeping an eye out for drug and alcohol issues. But we already know Bush has had his issues in past. What about recent conditions?

Looking at the transits during the big Michael Phelps win, we see the following;

-The transiting Sun and South Node were conjunct natal Venus in the First House. This can be interpreted as a temporary tendency to outgoing public behaviour (1st House) involving "pleasurable consumption" (Venus), with an involvement of deep psychological processes from the past (South Node). And transiting Neptune was opposite this Sun/Venus/North Node pileup. Once again, this would be a factor pointing towards neurochemical excess.

-The transiting Moon was opposite the natal Uranus/North Node conjunction. If there was ever a time a person is going to rebel against what the public hopes and expects of them... that's the day it's going to happen.

-Transiting Jupiter is exactly opposite natal Jupiter. Jupiter (from whence we originally get the word "jovial"). Think of it as a person's natural tendency to excess being amplified by a general mood of excess.

Although there's no way to tell for sure via astrology that The President was publicly drunk at that time, it would seem that all the factors for it were in place. Now, here's a picture of Bush, at that time, stumbling to get out of his seat:


Note the reddened, flushed features in both pictures of Bush accompanying this post.

Of course, if I were the President of The United States... there'd be no hiding my bad behaviour. Thank God I was quietly drunk by myself at home that day!