Nancy Reagan Probably Did at Least One Thing Right

I never in a million years thought I'd be defending the recently deceased former First Lady, but in light of four score and many more cruel comments concerning Nancy "Just Say No" Reagan's obituary in the New York Times (this publication is getting tackier all the time: first they bow and scrape before Queen Hillary while marginalizing my homeboy Bernie, now they're opening up an obit to reader comments), I've gotta say it: consulting with an astrologer proves that Nancy Reagan probably did at least one thing right. I say "probably" because I really don't know whether or not Joan Quigley (who died in 2014) was a good astrologer. I'm guessing she didn't entirely suck if Nancy Reagan kept consulting her.

It just makes my blood boil that so many people commenting on Nancy Reagan's obit believe that hiring an astrologer is on a par with Nancy's solving America's Growing Drug Problem by telling us all to "Just Say No"; with having a Hollywood background yet willfully ignoring the AIDS crisis for years, even when it socked family friend Rock Hudson; for covering for St. Ronnie's escalating dementia while he was still in office; for graciously helping to usher in the "Greed is good" era, which widened the gap between the have-everythings and the have-nots and turned the proletariat condiment ketchup (as opposed to the yuppified Dijon mustard) into a vegetable.

There is a difference between using astrology as a crutch and using it as a road map. It's not a good thing if I excuse my bad behavior by saying, "I have a Scorpio Moon and a Mars-Jupiter square, so I can't help it." The whole point of studying your natal chart is to become super conscious of all your aspects, but especially your crappy ones, so that you can try to rise above them. However, it can save a lot of time, money, and/or aggravation by deciding to avoid traveling, partying, signing a contract, or sitting down to have a nice, rational discussion under a Mercury-Mars square (see my last post). I know this because once upon a time, when I first got into astrology, I refused to schedule my life around planetary aspects. Of course, sometimes you have to sign that contract, take that exam, head out on the highway, get loaded, or try to hash out a sensitive issue with your sweetie, best friend, or boss. Of course you can't always put off something or someone till the aspects improve; life can be very time-sensitive. But sometimes you can delay (or -- horrors! -- Just Say No), and that is what I learned when I kept damning the torpedoes when I didn't have to.

So as much as I disapproved of Nancy Reagan when she was First Lady during so-called Morning in America, I cannot on principle object to her consulting an astrologer on a regular basis.