When the personal is political, and the political is personal
As defined by AI (what happened to dictionaries?), “In astrology, Mercury retrograde is a period when the planet Mercury appears to move backward in the sky from our perspective on Earth, an optical illusion caused by the relative speeds of the planets. Astrologically, it’s traditionally associated with communication breakdowns, travel delays, and technological difficulties.”
First, as I introduce this essay about communication breakdowns, and the impact of political messaging on our psyche and serenity, full disclosure, I am a skeptic by nature. However, as a baby boomer, child of the sixties, and former hippie for a brief time, I enjoyed astrology as entertainment and still do. I’m old enough to remember when you were able to dial a phone (yes, rotary phones, or later push-button) and you could access local numbers for the following: time, weather, and your astrological future on your birthday.
We now live in a time when phones are computers; we are aided by communication tools including social media, apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, YouTube, X, Substack, Bluesky, text messaging, games, breaking news alerts, and the list goes on.
Both in my personal life and the political environment in which we are currently living and doing our best to cope, communication is breaking down, content is questioned, not to be trusted, and requires vetting. A quote from the film, Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman comes to mind, “What we got here is a failure to communicate.”
When I googled whether mercury was in retrograde, I discovered that my suspicion was true. This was the result, and yes, AI, again:
“Mercury is currently in retrograde, specifically from July 17 through August 10. This is an optical illusion where Mercury appears to move backward in the sky from our perspective on Earth, but it doesn’t actually change direction in its orbit, according to PhillyBurbs. Astrologers associate this period with potential communication difficulties, travel delays, and technology glitches.”
Maybe I need to be less skeptical, the timing seems to explain my current status, personally, and politically. Oh, My!
Past Is Prologue
Like mercury in retrograde, we sometimes look back and return to the past to understand the present, and warn us about the future.
“The past is prologue” dialogue from Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, is an oracle. It’s a reminder that history does repeat itself and we’re often asked to learn the lessons again until we master them. Poetry by T.S. Eliot also comes to mind:
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
Herblock Cartoon 1974
My Back Pages
I was active advocating for social justice, fighting for civil rights, and protesting the draft in Vietnam when I attended the university in 1968 and 1969. I dropped out of college and for a brief time lived communally, couch-surfing and experimented with drugs. I considered myself a hippie until the drug culture became more dangerous with amphetamines, and heroin. I married, and my husband and I found blue-collar, working-class jobs in Kenosha, Wisconsin, He at Anaconda American Brass, and me at Jockey, International. I became active in union rights and representation to include women.
As a second-wave feminist, politically active in the 1970s and early 1980s. I subscribed to Ms. Magazine from the very first issue, and shortly after I moved to Madison, I attended my first Feminist Consciousness-Raising (CR) group. Soon I joined the National Organization for Women (NOW), became trained as a Feminist CR Facilitator, and conducted CR facilitator training around the state and country as a member of the NOW National CR Task Force.
Feminist CR Group 1970s
NOW rallied to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which ultimately failed. We marched on Washington, DC, and lobbied legislators. We fought for equal pay for equal work, on behalf of displaced homemakers, for reproductive freedom, lesbian rights, and to protect women from domestic abuse, and sexual harassment and assault.
The Personal Is Political
The rallying cry for second wave feminists and activists was, the personal is political. AI describes it as: “The personal is political” is a foundational concept in feminism, particularly within second-wave feminism. It asserts that the issues women face in their private lives, such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, and unequal division of labor, are not isolated incidents but rather reflections of broader societal power structures and systemic inequalities. By recognizing these issues as political, feminism seeks to challenge and change the structures that perpetuate them.”
How does mercury in retrograde factor into this topic of the personal is political and the political is personal? Today, again, we are called to raise the consciousness of the uninformed citizenry who will be most affected by the harmful Executive Orders and legislation of Trump’s first six months dismantling social services to enrich and give more power to corporations and a privileged few billionaires and Trump Congressional enablers.
We’re tasked with challenging the damage of communication smoke and mirrors, characterized by disinformation, deflection, distractions, and distortions. Let’s look at current events, MAGA machinations, and how mercury in retrograde is causing chaos.
MAGA Machinations
Where to begin? We’re past the first six months of the Trump second term. So much has changed for the worse. Our democracy is unrecognizable and is being dismantled by Executive Order, a Republican majority in Congress, and a Supreme Court skewed toward conservative ideology, often partisan. For background, see links to my blog series in the related reading section at the end of this essay. The Toilet Zone: Second Flush, highlighting the second term, and The Toilet Zone: Unhappy Anniversary, six installments chronicling his first term.
I won’t attempt to summarize all that has transpired recently that impacts the citizenry of our country that POTUS, legislators, and Supreme Court are mandated to serve. Rather than serve us, the Federal government has become more self-serving and profiteering than ever before in our history. Since mercury in retrograde began on July 17th, here’s a short list. Some items will have long-term impact; others are simply distractions:
- Casualties of the Congressional Reconciliation Bill, “$9 billion in funding, including money for public broadcasting entities like NPR and PBS, as part of a broader rescission request approved by Congress. This funding was primarily channeled through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).”
- Retribution investigations of Obama, Hillary Clinton, Biden, James Comey, Adam Schiff, FBI officials under both Obama and Biden administrations, news organizations including CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, plus the list goes on.
- Legal action against universities including Columbia, Harvard, and Brown University, putting research funds in jeopardy. Columbia settles and is fined $221 million.
- Proposal to rename The Kennedy Opera Center to First Lady Melania Trump Opera House. WTF?
- Trump’s tariffs impact on the economy, stock and bond market, and inflation.
- Settling the lawsuit with CBS/Paramount. “Paramount has settled a lawsuit with Donald Trump for $16 million to resolve claims that CBS’s 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris, with the payment set to fund Trump’s presidential library. The settlement, reached in July 2025, occurred while Paramount was seeking approval for a merger, and some sources suggest it was a strategic move to secure the necessary regulatory approval from the FCC.”
- A casualty of the CBS/Paramount suit was the nonrenewal of Stephen Colbert’s contract for hosting The Late Show, and the cancellation of the show in May, 2026.
- After the CBS/Paramount suit was settled, and the merger with Skydance approved by the FCC, South Park broadcast their premiere episode of the 27th season skewering Trump.
No caption needed.
- The handling of the Epstein Files and response by Trump has ignited a firestorm of interest in the content of the files, fueling conspiracy theories, and MAGA supporters and media demanding answers.
Linus Says It All
- After meeting with the Deputy US Attorney General for two days, “Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been moved from a Florida prison to a new minimum-security facility in Texas, authorities have confirmed.”
- Trump fired labor statistics chief after weak jobs report.
- Trump and the White House announces a $200 million addition to The White House, for a ballroom, construction to be underwritten by Trump and donors (however, some infrastructure, future maintenance etc. to be paid by taxpayers). “This is the latest change Trump is making to the White House. Currently, the famous Rose Garden is also under construction with pavement replacing the grass. He also paid to have two, 88-foot-tall flagpoles put up on the White House North and South Lawns. Trump also redecorated the Oval Office with an extensive amount of gold details, including on picture frames and in furnishings surrounding the fireplace. The artist renderings of what the new ballroom will look like shows it, too, will be filled with gold trim, similar to decorations at the ballroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.”
The White House Ballroom Plan
The Political Is Personal
Returning to the theme of this essay, mercury in retrograde, instead, it could be titled, democracy in retrograde. Not only is communication not to be trusted without vetting to parse the truth due to social media conspiracy theories, AI, MAGA’s machinations to dismantle democracy for its own financial gain and increased power, and the disinformation campaign by Trump and the Republican Congress, the political has become personal.
Families, children, the elderly, BIPOC communities, immigrants, the unhoused, and the marginalized including those who identify as LGBTQ+ or suffer from mental conditions and/or substance use, and people who lack healthcare coverage. A democratic government that collects taxes to underwrite social programs and services under this administration is now funneling money to corporations, tax breaks profiting Trump and billionaire donors, and solidifying power within an American oligarchy.
From my essay, Self-Care During Uncertain Times, I wrote, “In response to the chaos and uncertainty, people have been responding along a continuum from protest and resistance to retreat and isolation. For myself, I can swing from one poll to the other within a day, depending on the news and next barrage of pronouncements. Most of us are not emotionally nimble enough to know what action we need to take quickly. We’re feeling battered and bruised, fearful and confused.”
Like mercury in retrograde, though we are experiencing the pain and loss of the political is personal, we must remember the clarion call, the personal is political. We possess power when we remain informed, find our voices, assemble, protest, protect the constitution, and vote in every election. We must find hope, maintain resilience, and never surrender!
Related Reading from Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!
The Toilet Zone: Unhappy Anniversary
1968: Flashback & Fast Forward
AI: “Be afraid, be very afraid.”
Self-Care During Uncertain Times
Additional Reading & Viewing on the Topic
A Sign-by-Sign Guide to Thriving
The Swamp (2020) HBO Documentary
Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print
Why South Park Did an About-Face on Mocking Trump