When Aquarians Go Wrong

Not since Ronald Reagan has there been such a contentious Aquarian figure in politics as there has been with the arrival and rise of conservative commentator Glenn Beck. Much like fellow conservative commentator Ann Coulter (thankfully not an Aquarius, but a Sagittarius) Beck, born February 10, is noted for his often illogically constructed and stubbornly held political viewpoints.

But whereas Coulter subscribes to some form of private Randian mythology superimposed on a gullible public in awe over her leggy blondness, Beck sums up his political viewpoints as someone who is just "fighting for individual rights"--versus not fighting for individual rights or fighting for human rights, I guess--and sources many of his beliefs through a triad of institutions that becomes dangerous when mixed: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, AA, and Libertarianism.

Aquarian conservatives are always shocking to come across, but it's important to remember that Aquarians are generally 1) A highly sensitive bunch, 2) fixed in their beliefs, and 3) contrarian by nature. If the zeitgeist is liberal, you can be certain there will be a legion of Aquarian conservatives perversely challenging the status quo. World peace could be announced, we all could be holding hands and laughing, ice cream could suddenly not make us fat, and dogs would stay puppies forever--even so, Aquarius cranks would have something to lambaste.

This is what astrologers refer to as the willful exoticism of Aquarians. The way it's often framed is that Aquarians are so different that to outsiders it appears that they're being obstinately odd for shock value. (Psst, it's true, they are). And this is where someone like Beck steps in with his cries of "fascism" and "communism," which, strangely enough, have been lobbed during what other political figures say is the most "open" and "forthright" administration in history. From an outsider's perspective, Beck is willfully odd and more often than not wrong. Yet almost certainly in his own mind he's justified and just "fighting for the small man's rights"...with an audience.

It's exactly this kind of mixture that happens when Aquarians go wrong: lots of good intentions combined with lack of factual information and a large-sized audience duped into believing what we're not even certain we believe, because we know that we don't know, and Rest assured that Glenn Beck knows that he doesn't know. There's a saying out there that reminds me of Beck: about how it's better to befriend a man you know will slit your throat while you sleep than a man with good intentions.

Beck will be on the Barbara Walters 10 Most Fascinating People tonight. I'm certain he'll aim for the gut with his bent arrows.