Part One: Political Year 2016:
“The Monkey Speaks His Mind” on this “Planet of the Apes”

    (Opportunity for positive social change seen through applied Chinese Astrology and the history of certain American Elections)

(If 1968 is any indication, politics and cultural and social activism only starts to get interesting in
March of The year of the Monkey.)

Chinese astrology declares this American election year to be “The Year of the Monkey” (2/8/2016 through 1/27/2017). Although there are twelve animal years in Chinese astrology, American presidential election years only correspond to one of three Chinese astrology animals. This means that certain election years will have common themes with one another. Previous Monkey American presidential elections took place in 1800, 1812, 1824, 1836, 1848, 1860, 1872, 1884, 1896, 1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992 and 2004. This piece will generalize about commonalities of Monkey year elections, and corresponding changing cultural/political perspectives.

1776 was a Monkey year, appropriate for a the beginning of a radical change of government (as American elections will show, starting in 1800). Monkey years bring out the inherent “Monkey” issues mentioned below. Twelve years later, in 1788 saw the end of U.S. government by The Articles of Confederation and the beginning of Constitutional government. So, the status quo was being messed with early in U.S. history even before a real election.

So, socially and politically speaking, what’s the essence of a Monkey year? The best person to tell us what a Monkey perspective on America is all about is an Afro-American-born “Chinese Monkey” himself: Dave Bartholomew. Dave’s a living legend of American music, including his honored place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was born in Louisiana on 12/24/1920. In 1957 he sang and co-wrote the song, “The Monkey.” It was re-recorded and released in 1982 by The Fabulous Thunderbirds.    

Hear the Dave Bartholomew version of the song here

Mr. Bartholomew said that a woman he did not know handed him two notes, one, then another, at a Dallas airport. The first of the two notes told, or inspired, the idea for, and the lyrics of, “The Monkey.” Her second note said that it does not matter if her name is forgotten, but what does matter is to not forget God, our Creator.

Yeah The monkey speaks his mind And three monkeys sat in a coconut tree Discussing things as they are said to be Said one to other now listen, you two "There's a certain rumour that just can't be true That man descended from our noble race Why, the very idea is a big disgrace No monkey ever deserted his wife Starved her baby and ruined her life Yeah the monkey speaks his mind And you've never known a mother monk To leave her babies with others to bunk And passed them on from one to another ‘Til they scarcely knew who was their mother

Yeah the monkey speaks his mind And another thing you will never see A monkey build a fence around a coconut tree And let all the coconuts go to waste Forbidding other monkeys to come and taste Why, if I put a fence around this tree Starvation would force you to steal from me Yeah the monkey speaks his mind Here's another thing a monkey won't do Go out on a night and get all in a stew Or use a gun or a club or a knife And take another monkey's life Yes, man descended, the worthless bum But, brothers, from us he did not come Yeah the monkey speaks his mind

            “The Monkey” lyrics reject social Darwinism, that pseudo-science of white supremacy. [Black Lives Matter.]  The lyrics continue, holding men accountable for the damage they’ve caused women and children. The lyrics, unrelenting, condemn anti-socialistic poverty-causing Capitalism and the desperate petty theft the system generates. [Feel the Bern?]  Before coming to a close, the song’s lyrics also bemoans modern man’s predisposition toward murder with guns and other brutal weapons. (Obviously, the organized crime of war is included on the “Monkey-don’t-do” list.) “Yeah, The Monkey Speaks His Mind.”    
            Coming forward in time to Monkey Year 1968, the film, The Planet of the Apes is released. The film was so popular that it generated later similar science fiction “Planet of the Apes” films with cinematic variations to the simian – purported human contrast first laid out in Dave Bartholomew’s song. “Yeah, the monkey speaks his mind” before the camera.

Human See, Human Do: A Complete History of 'Planet of the Apes' BY DON KAYE July 1, 2014 Read article here

   Also in Monkey Year 1968, hairy hippies opposing nukes and the Vietnam War and racial injustice had their heads bashed bloody by the “peace officers” of Chicago outside the Democratic convention. The enormously influential MLK, and then probable Democratic nominee RFK were killed in 1968 before that convention. However, when Monkeys speak their minds, it can be dangerous. Both sides can play at “Monkey business” particularly in a Monkey election year. “Lone nuts” are never a reality in Nature, as any monkey knows. (“Yeah, this monkey speaks his mind too.) (Read more on 1968 in part two.)

What about now?
          At 95, David Bartholomew may now be too old to lead us, but on February 12, 2016, Michael Moore’s new documentary Where to Invade Next, began to be shown in U.S. theaters. Even though Moore wasn’t born in a year of “The Monkey,” he shows us that we can ALL be monkeys this election year, if we care about what’s really important.     

Moore’s film encourages us in the U.S. to look to, and borrow from, what other modern countries are doing right. In Western astrology’s mythological terminology, the film says in many ways that we need a whole lot more Venus and a whole lot less Mars.  (That’s a whole other story in itself, so just let his film speak in its own way.)

           From “The Monkey” wise fun of David Bartholomew, to the wise fun of Michael Moore’s new movie, let’s now look at what went down during previous “Monkey” elections, part one: 1800 through 1956. Part two will cover 1968 through 2004.

Monkey year elections find the nation extremely polarized. At a minimum, the wealthy elite and a powerful populist movement clash in dramatic contrast. However, there is often even further splintering, as if the country is breaking apart, as happened in Monkey year 1860.

Note just three of some Monkey year themes:

~ Funky! (That is, often not typical, not predictable, unexpected, etc.)
~~POPULISM (not Elitism)
~~~ More than just two choices

            The very first Monkey Year U.S. presidential election was 1800.
1800:  For his time, Jefferson was the comparative populist winner, but T.J. tied Aaron Burr in electoral votes, so on 2/17/1801, the House of Representatives chose Jefferson as the president, and Burr became vice president. It won’t be the last year in which more than the popular vote and that of the Electoral College was involved in deciding who gets to be prez and V.P.

1812: Declaring war with England DURING his re-election campaign, Madison wins, while his opponent tells voters in some states he is pro-war, but says the opposite in other states. (Politics: Tell the people what they want to hear.) [Hillary, Wall Street and Main Street]   (Like Monkey year 1860, a messy domestic soil war follows the election.)

1824:  Populist Jackson won both the majority of the popular vote and the most electoral votes, but not over 50% of the electoral vote. The House of Representatives again chooses the prez, John Quincy Adams, on February 9, 1825. “Clay chooses Adams over Jackson as the lesser of two evils and is named secretary of state.” (Quote from James Trager’s The People’s Chronology)
            Also in 1824, Robert Owen purchases New Harmony, Indiana, the first of many communes in the U.S., England, Ireland and Mexico. He promotes the abolition of slavery, women’s liberation and free progressive education. [A past life of Bernie Sanders, perhaps?] “Yeah, the monkey speaks his mind.” 

1836:  The Whig party ran FOUR different candidates. (It’s a long story, but their aim was for the presidency to be determined by Congress). The senate decides the vice presidency. (Another long story)

1848:  Winner Zachary Taylor is not a “party line” Whig; Democrats split into pro-slavery and the spin-off Free Soil Party

1860:  This election had the highest voting percentage ever (until 1876) at 81.2%. Republican Lincoln “wins” with only 40% of the popular vote; Democrats again split over slavery; staunch Whigs and “Know Nothings” support neither the Democrat nor the Republican candidate.

(“When Political Parties Implode, Part 2: The 1860 Democratic Convention" by 'Padre Steve' Dundas, reposted at Daily Kos)

1872:  Grant wins, but there were more popular votes against him than for him. Candidate Horace Greeley dies during the election campaign.

1884:  Cleveland wins by a narrow margin. Both the Greenback (Labor) (anti-Wall St.) Party and the Prohibition Party get significant votes, complicating which of the bigger parties would win. (Note regarding Prohibition: the lyrics to “The Monkey” bemoan the negative consequences of human drunkenness.)

1896:  SIX parties get a significant amount of votes, including SOCIALIST LABOR. Populist William Jennings Bryan comes in second, defeated by a record amount of big money. Many historians consider this the hardest fought election in U.S. history.

1908:  Again, SIX parties get a significant amount of votes, including again Wm. J. Bryan, the Socialists, and the Populists (and the Prohibitionists). However, even if all the “alternative” votes were added to Bryan’s, Teddy Roosevelt’s choice, Taft, would still have won.

1920: SEVEN parties get significant votes. Women vote for the first time, but only one women in fourteen voted for a Democrat, Socialist, Labor, Prohibitionist, etc. Rather, most women in the 1920 election favored Republicans. (Remember, Democrats then were more like today’s Republicans. Democrats then actively sought the votes of white supremacists.)

1932: SEVEN parties get significant votes. This is FDR’s first of four election victories.

61% of the popular vote is “leftist”: FDR, plus Socialists and even 103,307 Communists!

See Steve Neal’s Monkey Year 2004 book, HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN (The 1932 Democratic Convention, the Emergence of FDR --- and How America Was Changed Forever, HarperCollins, NY, NY. Mr. Neal died in February of that same Monkey year. This book covers the issue of FDR’s polio, race relations and much more.) Amazon

Before there was Bernie, there was FDR: “Powerful forces were out to stop him. The opposition included the leadership of the Democratic National Committee, the hard and ruthless bosses of the big city machines, and the most influential members of the last Democratic administration…the Roosevelt organization from Jim Farley down, about 90 percent of them were newcomers and amateurs...In the era of the press lords, the largest newspaper chains opposed Roosevelt’s nomination…. Only one of a half dozen New York daily newspapers supported Roosevelt. Of the five Chicago daily newspapers that would be read by delegates during convention week, none were friendly to FDR…. Big business openly worked against Roosevelt’s nomination. The international bankers of Wall Street…were determined to stop him…. As delegates arrived in Chicago, they were deluged with more than one hundred thousand telegrams urging them not to vote for FDR.” (HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, Pp. 5, 6) (I rate this book 5 of 5 Stars.)

1944: Amidst WW II, FDR wins his fourth term (no other president had more than two terms). Socialists, Prohibitionists and anti-FDR “Dixiecrats” got significant votes, but nothing like the high voter numbers of pre-war Monkey election years.

1956: To be honest, this wasn’t a very monkey year type of election. A sickly president Eisenhower easily won his re-election, putting controversial V.P. “Tricky Dick” Nixon a heartbeat away from pressing the MAD (mutually assured destruction) nuke-the-world button on the president’s desk. Perhaps the Red Scare suppressed the Monkey spirit in most of the electorate. Meanwhile, Southern congressmen issue a manifesto vowing to overturn the 1954 federal desegregation order. The University of Alabama, defying federal law, illegally expels its first black student, Autherine Lucy. However, only months later Dave Bartholomew would sing out a wise Monkey Minority Report.

Fortunately, far afield from white talking heads in grey suits, 1956 brought great success for out-of-nowhere Monkey music. The list of incredible, unprecedented now classic music of 1956 includes a long list of diverse, but “wild” talent, from Elvis to James Brown; from rockabillies Wanda Jackson and 15 year old Janis Martin to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins; a national rock’n’roll radio party hosted by Allan (great-last-name) Freed; a rock’n’roll movie, The Girl Can’t Help It, starring Jane Mansfield; Dave Bartholomew backing up Fats Domino, all that, plus much, much more joyful “Monkey Business.”

For the definitive western astrology article on the Rock’n’Roll era that began only a week before Monkey Year 1956, click here to read my article: Neptune in Scorpio.

In political contrast to ’56, see the VERY political Monkey year of 1968, notes on Monkey year elections through 2004, plus a look at Monkey year 2016, click here to read: Part Two of The Monkey Speaks His Mind.