I was taking a quick break from work just now and while I was cleaning, a couple of things sort of hit me. Not sure what to make of them. The first is a vision, the second is more of a weirdly hopeful feeling. I hope someone else (hi @BlueBelle!) might concentrate on them and see what comes up.
First: I saw Nikki Haley standing in a room beside a dark-haired GOP Congressman. It felt like they were accepting an offer to step up together as the Republican primary candidates in 2020. (Trump wasn't in the vision, so I'm hopeful that means he isn't in the running!) I don't know who the man was; I only saw Nikki Haley's face, but I sensed him. So, I just went through photos of all the GOP senators and representatives, and a few feel like possibilities, but I'm just not sure. They were Tom Cotton, Todd Young, Mike Turner, Ben Sasse, Marco Rubio, and Mitt Romney. Maybe Mark Meadows? (Please god no.) ... As I write this, part of me wonders whether the man I sensed isn't a DC outsider who happens to hold enough influence to feel like a statesman. Hmm...
Second: It's hard for me to believe this will happen under Trump (I don't), but I suddenly wonder whether we might just see relatively bipartisan movement toward common sense gun legislation by the end of 2020. (Strike while the NRA is weak, people!) This feeling is almost certainly inspired by the fact that my mother—who's a lifelong gun advocate (to put it astonishingly mildly), a card carrying member of the NRA (for real), ferociously anti-immigrant (etc... use your imagination), and (if it even needs to be said) a Trump supporter (she's the lady base, y'all)—told me yesterday that she's decided that assault weapons and high-capacity magazines should be outlawed.
?[<-- cannot possibly do justice to the shocked expression I'm still wearing today]
Could it be Paul Ryan? I've had visions before that I've seen him back in front line politics. Ryan is VP or in a White House role. I know he's retired and no longer a Congressman, but i think he's very influential in the Republicans. 'Power behind the throne', I'm hearing as I'm typing this.
Hi Vestra! I think you may have explained this better than me - I probably got it wrong as I was going on memory of a conversation with my son and did not review the article before posting the link and it is probably more correct because you cannot attribute the behaviors to "learned" or nurture-- it is entirely genetic. Trauma alters the genome.
I personally have to come to grips with my own addictive behavior. Internet, junk food, tv... I lost my brother to heroin last November. My father was an alcoholic. Both my parents were addicted to nicotine and that killed them.
Agreed that Trump is a reflection of us as a nation. Whether he obtained his office by cheating or not, that whole "winning is everything" American "competitive spirit" is consistent. I voted for Hillary Clinton and while I thought she was qualified and would have been a better president than Trump by every measure, there is still the fact that she also had a pragmatic/incremental approach and I doubt she would have been able to effect much change with the Legislative House dominated by the Republicans. I am torn about foreign policy. While I desire peace, would it really be possible in the current global cycle/pattern we are in now? I am not convinced that isolationist policies (which are a choice-- to do nothing) are always the right thing. After all, look at WW2-- if we had stayed out of it, Britain would have fallen (well, they were flat broke). I am still so ashamed that we turned ships full of Jewish children away.
Wow-- your Mom said that? I can only imagine you looked up for pigs in the air! It is stuff like that which gives hope for humanity. However, don't be surprised that listening to 12 hours of am Republican Talk Radio aka brain-washing, she may come up with a different angle to it all. I found that innate common sense among some friends of mine was often abandoned later once the propaganda/talking points were pushed from all quarters.
Could it be Paul Ryan?
Holy smokes @celticwitch. Reading that hit me like a ton of bricks (by which I mean I barely survived/probably need an MRI).
Paul Ryan riding back in on a dark horse (@jeanne-mayell, say it ain't so!) would be like that, too, wouldn't it? Getting stabbed in the heart in 2016, barely holding it together as a nation, finally seeing some glimmer...some hope, and then WHAM. Paul Effing Ryan.
If in '16, there was the sound of a collective wail, in 2020, there'd just be the sound of everyone on both coasts straight up passing out. Probably for good.
He's like the pretty boy mega church minister that you know is also a champion embezzler. And he secretly hates all children. And corgis. But no one down at the splashy new 4-story sanctuary he put in ever wants to see the light, so he just keeps getting richer and more popular and more diabolical with every passing Sunday. He's the devil in Brooks Brothers and veneers.
But typing this, I feel the energies of beings far more celestial kind of laughing/singing, like "lighten up, buttercup." That tends to happen whenever I'm needlessly catastrophizing. So now that I've played out this little drama about Ryan, I feel pretty content that he (probably, surely) won't be the guy.
"Power behind the throne" is worrying, but there will always be folks pulling strings, I imagine.
Never mind Eddie Munster Ryan! He will resurface in politics like the weasel he is, but not soon.
The thought of Nikki Haley scares me because some on here saw her (or a woman who looks much like her) as president. This includes me. I saw her on the podium at an Inauguration, making her speech, but the crowd was divided - some cheered her, others were sobbing uncontrollably and I felt a sense of betrayal in the collective.
Wow-- your Mom said that? I can only imagine you looked up for pigs in the air!
Ha! For real, though. Pretty sure I checked to be sure I hadn't died.
But even though she's a regular consumer of rightwing propaganda (plus all the additional she's being pelted with by Russia & Co.), I'm not worried she'll change her mind. You don't know my mama, but trust me when I tell you that she's too stubborn and too proud to do any such thing. That she came to this decision at all can only be a miracle of her second Saturn return. ?
P.S.
This probably isn't necessary, but you said "trauma alters the genome." I'm annoying, so please forgive me, but I just want to be clear: Trauma can't change our genes (i.e., our genetic code sequence). What it can do is impact the activity and expression of our genes through epigenetic factors, which refers to things external to the DNA itself. So, for example, eating a diet poor in nutrients (external to DNA) can suppress the activity of all types of genes related to health and fitness, or even be linked to DNA damage. The same process applies for the epigenetic factors associated with trauma.
@celticwitch and @vestralux : Yikes! I'm sure glad that I'd already finished dinner; otherwise the thought of Eddie Munster running would have ruined my appetite. "The devil in Brooks Brothers and veneers" -- perfect description! And anybody who hates children and Corgis is downright evil. Thank you, Vestralux, for making me laugh out loud! It softened that scary thought.
It wouldn't surprise me, though, if the Rethugs cook up something behind the scenes with Munster/Haley. They see Blotus unraveling. Also, let's remember that Munster just came out with a book -- perfect timing, eh? Ex-Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld is running against T. and said something funny today -- he's asking the Dems to vote for him in the Rep primary, and then in the general election go ahead and vote for the Dem. More than anything, he feels it's critical that the 45th not become the 46th.
I remember reading those predictions at the time and resonating to some degree with the image (woman, dark hair, blue dress), but not feeling confident that it would be Kamala Harris, as some here wrote. (My own vision from that time involved a male, so ...)
I'm wondering all of a sudden about Howard Schultz. Could he be preparing for a comeback? (Hope not.) Unrelated, but some of the Democratic contenders are sure to be dropping out soon.
She's an extremist. I hope it doesn't come to pass.
She's an extremist. I hope it doesn't come to pass.
I hope it doesn't either, but I'm not so sure she's actually an extremist. I think she's just an ambitious political strategist.
She was governor of my state once upon a time, and trust me when I tell you that the extremists in her party didn't want her for the job either. But to get that job in that state at that time, you couldn't do better than play up the "Tea Party darling" image. Then she got to office and was largely just a standard regulation Republican. The Southern variety, which is to say super conservative/red/right. So, not a moderate, but nothing we're not used to.
Sometimes she surprised us, like when she finally determined that the Confederate flag should be removed from the statehouse grounds (you cannot imagine the cacophony of horrified gasps heard 'round the state that day, woe betide your fragility and privilege). Or when she pushed state prosecutors to seek the death penalty in Dylann Roof's case (more for the passion she showed than her ask). Otherwise, she was pretty pro forma NeoCon fare.
Though, there was that one time she bless your heart'd Trump after he attacked her on Twitter because she had the audacity to say he should release his taxes. And really, bless it.
Since her time serving the guy as ambassador to the U.N., she seems to have moved even further from her Tea Party branding days. She's occasionally shown what used to be called ordinary decency, but in the age of Trump has somehow become "moral courage." Haley's an American Sikh (who says she's also a Christian) and the child of Indian immigrants, so her voting record is probably hard to understand for most American progressives. But she's an ambitious strategist from Nowhereville, South Carolina. She's basically the Republican party's Hillary Clinton, except she did one better and got herself an Army National Guard officer content to play First Gentleman. No Bill necessary.
Hmm. Even more concerning now that I've laid it all out for myself.
Maybe she will run. She was trending on twitter last week due to her reply to a Trump nasty tweet where she told him that tweet wasn’t necessary. Maybe she is distancing herself from all things Trump.
https://www.theroot.com/even-former-united-nations-ambassador-nikki-haley-is-an-1836922298
I think you could be right. Although, she'd been doing this in dribs and drabs since taking the post as ambassador. Haven't seen much since she left it, but I also hadn't been paying attention until now.
I like the idea of meditating on a given topic together. So this afternoon (Pacific time) I meditated about Haley and thought about many of the same topics you just now have written about: Haley was the governor of my state (yes, I lived there, too...how did we not cross paths?) when the Charleston church massacre happened. I had to respect her response as governor, her compassion and her ordering all the confederate flags taken down. Then during the 2016 campaign, oh my Lord, she stood up to T’s incivility. Well, I began to think there was integrity in the woman.
Then he won. Low and behold Haley served as the ambassador to the U.N. She quickly overcame all her scruples to serve him. It became apparent that her ambition knows no bounds or boundaries. By stepping down from the UN position, she has positioned herself to join the Trump ticket as VP or serve as a Republican option should T not complete his term.
interesting that you just mentioned her husband because he came up during my meditation. Only, I sensed troubled waters there, some frustrations, some conflict.
So, I didn’t get a running mate for her, but I did get some worry about her actual mate. The bottom line I got is that Haley is going to be around long term and she has high goals and the determination to get to the top.
Oh wow, I can see that. There was a scandal back years ago—maybe you remember—something about her possibly having an affair. It might have just been an internal political attack, but who knows? Whether or not there is a domestic conflict (and I sense there is), her opponents will be sure to manufacture one.
It looks like she's been writing a book, due out later this year, titled With All Due Respect. She's playing it heavy.
I often wonder whether the highly ambitious can also maintain a high standard of integrity. I just don't know. I'm so glad you meditated on her, and that you shared it here. She's worrying because despite her record, I think Nikki has positioned herself to be appealing to blue dog Democrats and moderates across the line—particularly post-Trump. She's a woman who manages to be genteel, yet situationally assertive. She's everything Hillary was, and everything she wasn't. It's a dangerous recipe.
I just pulled up a Google image search of her and the first several photos are all headshots of Nikki in a blue dress. Sigh.
@vestralux and @bluebelle, as I read your posts this morning, the Mitch Ryder song “Devil with the Blue Dress” came blaring into my head. I laughed and thought to myself, that song is so catchy. Then I suddenly stopped laughing -- Haley would be catchy – as you mentioned, with the blue-dog Dems, independents, women. I’ve always been concerned about her and knew she would surface at some point. Haley didn’t want to be connected to a sinking ship (or further soil her blue dress), which is why she resigned her UN post. I still feel they’re cooking up something behind the scenes – I see secret meetings, phone calls.
Right now I can’t envision the Dems winning the WH in 2020. I used the same picture when I tried to imagine Hillary as President – I looked at the Oval Office Presidential desk. Hillary never materialized for me – only an image of dark, dreary smoke inside, overcast weather outside the window behind the Presidential desk. In 2020 I see the Oval Office very clean, with light streaming in from the window. It looks hopeful and welcoming. So in my vision, T. is gone, which is great. But beyond that, I feel nervous.
So this morning I meditated on different individuals sitting behind that Oval Office desk: Mayor Pete – yes; Joe Biden – yes (that one surprised me); Bernie – no; Harris – no; Booker – no; Warren – no; Haley – yes; Ryan -- no; Pence – no. None of it feels like a done deal, but that’s what I see right now. I do see the Dems taking the Senate and House. Regarding Mayor Pete – I don’t sense him in the Oval Office in 2020, but I do see him there eventually.
For those of you who are meditating on the outcome of 2020, I have some photos of an empty Presidential inaugural stage and reviewing stand. I'd love to share those with you, if you're interested. My husband and I lived in the DC Metro area when Obama became President, and we visited the staging area the day before his inauguration. Unfortunately the photos are too large for me to upload here, but I’ll see what I can do.
My vision of Haley is the day Moron was laughed at at the UN. She tried to spin it saying the other ambassitors weren't laughing at him but with him. They appreciated his honesty. BS. He was bragging that his administration was better than any other which we all know isn' true. I don't trust her she is too shiny. I know that might notmake sense but by that I mean too slick. I look at her and I see a facade. I wouldn't be surprised if Moron wants her to replace Pence on the ticket. If he makes it to 2020, which I don't think is a sure thing. His health is the reason I say this and people are really beginning to turn on him and his whole administration. Honestly the whole nation is greiving and he is treating this trajady like a photo op. Oh the survivers were so glad to see me they think I'm wonderful and the Dems are devils and aren't I great. What an idiot. I miss the days when we had a really human being as the President. Either Dem or Rep. As much as i didn't care for George W he did have real human feelings.
This is going to sound a bit strange, but here goes. Back in May, I did a meditation about when T. would lose his power and got the following scenario (summarized):
In late fall/early winter 2019 T becomes a liability due to medical/dementia-type issues (so bad that they are unable to be ignored) and things coming out about his shady dealings. His VP is implicated in these shenanigans. The 25th amendment is called upon and a caretaker government with Nancy P and a never T. repub. as VP are installed until the next election. The R’s see this as a last resort way to hold on to any power after this debacle.
I got that Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete win in 2020 and that Melania was the only person from the last admin. to attend and that she felt that she had been abandoned and was not pleased.
i know that sounds way out there and might make a good plot for a book! I’m not even sure that the caretaker government thing is possible and it seems like May is eons ago. Such are the times that we are living in!
When I think of Haley, from the beginning of ever thinking about her and hearing her name, starting a few years ago, I got that she’s calculating and ambitious and when tested by the party, she’s a “yes” person.
i see her positioning herself on a pedestal as a star and a heart felt conservative, and perhaps her deeper nature is as a moderate, but it’s mostly appearances. She’s too compromised.
When I throw cards on her I get that she’s not ruthless but also not strong enough to twist her principles and get away with it. In other words, she dislikes Trump and dark Republican sponsors, but she bends her principles to win their favor. I don’t think she’s dark enough to win them over and she is not strong enough to be independent of them. She's hoping that the electorate will be so sick of extreme hate-mongering politics that she will be the last person standing when the pendulum swings back towards center.
Then I hear the words, “a Republican is a Republican is a Republican.” I’m not thinking that all republicans are bad, but that the party is so far to the right that they have to join in with the darkness to get ahead in it.