Part Two: “The Monkey Speaks His Mind” on this Planet of the Apes

    In Part One, we encountered the timeless Monkey years’ wisdom of Chinese astrology, as interpreted by Monkey Year poet musician Dave Bartholomew in 1957, in the Planet of the Apes films starting in 1968, and expressed in most American presidential electoral politics every 12 years from 1800 through 1956. Now we swing into the other Monkey year election years, 1968 through 2016.

1968: Usually an incumbent president isn’t challenged for his party’s nomination, but this was a very Monkey year. In early March, antiwar Eugene McCarthy’s strong showing in the New Hampshire primary embarrassed pro-war president Johnson. McCarthy’s success was aided by the (incognito Monkeys) “get clean for Eugene” activism of young men who shaved and got haircuts before campaigning door-to-door. RFK entered the primary race March 16. On March 31st, LBJ announced that he would not run again for president. Less than a week later, April 4, MLK is assassinated, one year to the day that he spoke out against the Vietnam War.

Popular, charismatic anti-war RFK is assassinated on June 5 just after winning the California primary, seemingly on the way to his party’s nomination, and probably the presidency. Peaceful eloquent advocates for equality, Yeah, these ‘Peace Monkeys’ spoke their minds --- and their hearts. Some 10,000 less well known gathered in Chicago’s parks to protest outside the Democrats’ convention. Some chanted, “The whole world is watching” (on live television), as hairy “monkey” heads were beaten by an army of cops, guardsmen, etc.
Inside the convention, Al Gore’s father, hot under the collar, bothered by the democracy outside, along with other big cogs in the party machine set up LBJ’s V.P., Humphrey, as the Democratic candidate. “Pleased as Punch” HHH had not even bothered with any primaries, speaking behind closed doors to those who controlled those we would today call “super” delegates.

Although they did not get a significant number of votes, TV reminded America of alternative candidates including Eldridge Clever (Peace and Freedom Party) on a few state ballots, plus write-in campaigns for both light white comedian Pat Paulsen, and serious Afro-American comedian Dick Gregory. However, another alternative candidate, racist George Wallace got 9,906,473 votes. Compare Wallace’s fear-filled hate votes to the 31 million plus votes of winner Nixon and 31 million plus for Humphrey, and less than a quarter million votes for all others. Combined, far more voters didn’t want Nixon to be president compared to those who did.
[NOTE: Central Michigan University professor of history, Kathy Donohue, via SALON on 3/6/2016 and on The Real News.com on 3/9/2016, said that the current primary is more like 1968 than 1972.]

1980: Chimp movie co-star Reagan won this one, but besides the competition from his Democrat opponent, independent John Anderson got almost 6 million votes, a Libertarian got 921,128 votes, yet another party got 233,303 votes, plus there were over a quarter of a million votes for “others.” Republican Reagan won just over 50% of the popular vote, despite the media’s spin, declaring “overwhelming” popular approval. Don’t forget the “monkey business” of the Republican’s “October Surprise.” (It’s a long and heinous story, but worthy of study.)

1992:Apparent populist Clinton won, but besides “Poppy” Bush, he competed against in-the-race, out-of-the-race, back-in-the-race H. Ross Perot, who got almost 20 million votes, a Libertarian got 290,087 votes and a self-described populist got 106,152 votes, while 269,507 votes went to others presumably including the Ralph Nader-suggested write-in, “none of the above.” More registered Republicans than registered Democrats voted “none of the above.” Clinton got only about 43% of the popular vote (compare to Lincoln’s 40%).

2004: Earlier in the year, populist John Edwards had to drop out when there was a scandal about him “monkeying around.” That set up a Skull and Bones (ultra-rich pirates) alumni election. Winning incumbent “W” was sometimes drawn in editorial cartoons as a monkey. Meanwhile, Nader got 463,653 votes, the Green Party candidate got 119,859, a Libertarian got over 397,000, and there were less than a quarter million for others. Just as the Red Scare stifled “Monkey power” in 1956, post 911 fear-mongering stifled yet another Monkey year election, but was that all? How much Republican electronic monkey business was going on?

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wrote, “Was the 2004 Election Stolen?” (6/1/2006, ROLLING STONE). He wrote: “I think this is more serious than Watergate…. There should be an official investigation. Otherwise this becomes a blueprint for how to steal an election from here to eternity.” (Related: The Corbett Report, 4/14/2012, “Episode 226 – Crashes of Convenience: Michael Connell”) CNN had called Ohio for Kerry by 4.2%, but Bush supposedly won. About 350,000 probable Kerry votes were not allowed. One voting district in Ohio supposedly rendered more votes for “W” than there were registered voters, and….” (No good Monkey trusts Karl Rove.)

2016: In a Monkey year,” It ain’t over ‘til the last Monkey swings” out of the voting booth. What’s “Monkey” about 2016 so far? Before looking at primary election politics, note that already in early 2016, “left coast” governments have come out against fossil fuel business as usual. Remember southern states non-compliance with federal desegregation law in 1956, and secession in 1860. Is it time for “the left coast” to peacefully and ecologically secede? (Yeah, the monkey dreams his soul.)

# 1: Like Monkey year 1968, candidate hate talk is strong. This ignorance is that of the “man descended, the worthless bum” that Bartholomew’s monkey alluded to in the song’s lyric. Switching to a “western astrology” perspective, the discrimination correlation involves further out (non-personal) planets in Virgo. Personal planetary placements like the Sun do not correlate to discrimination (for instance, Bernie Sanders is a Sun in Virgo). On the other hand, the astrology of planets orbiting further from the Sun and Earth, like Jupiter now, indicate collective generalizations.
The sign of Virgo is symbolically inherently related to discrimination, which can be a good thing when separating wheat from chaff, as in the original image. However, if such simplistic generalization is applied to the politics of race, things get ugly quick. Decades ago, there was an astrologer who (under a pseudonym) wrote for The Washington Post. She saw the Republicans with their elephant mascot to be associated with the planet Jupiter. Jupiter has been in the sign of Virgo for the hate talk debates. However, in September, Jupiter leaves Virgo, so hopefully a more moderate Republican might be the actual Republican candidate. Hatemonger George Wallace ran independently. Perhaps Trump will also.

# 2: There is an unlikely start-to-finish predictability to who will be the candidates.
Clearly there are more than just two ho-hum options.

# 3: An unlikely out-of-nowhere non-rich humane populist generates surprising numbers despite the media promoting a hatemonger populist, Drumpf.

# 4: A significant third party (or more) could emerge, even after the primary.

# 5: To rekindle fear of foreign terror, The Obominable Snowman and/or Killary- Pillory can scare talk “don’t change war horses in the middle of the mainstream” when her likely ever-lessening popularity further plummets. It unfortunately worked for chimp “W” in 2004.

# 6: Remember that there is a good possibility that in a “Monkey” year, no one will get an Electoral College necessary majority of electoral votes, letting the Republican Congress “pick their poison.”

# 7: The United States only two domestic soil wars both occurred after “Monkey” year elections.

# 8: Monkey year elections bring new political and economic realities, such as FDR’s “New Deal” of economic sharing, or “Reaganomics” “take-backs are hell.”

# 9: Do not assume this is “just another election” or “Just wait four more years.” “Be the change you want” as Gandhi said, or be unpleasantly surprised in November.

# 10: Learn or remember the story of the 100th monkey.

“Yeah, the monkey speaks his mind.”