You’re the embattled prime minister of a country. The Supreme Court has just agreed to begin proceedings to find out if there are grounds for your impeachment*. It’s only natural that people are going to ask you about your predicament.
[Yesterday, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra] told a group of visiting National Defence College students why he was suffering a downturn.
OK, this is gonna be good. Surely he’s gonna come clean and say that it was an unethical conflict of interest when he changed the nation’s laws, allowing him to sell his company’s shares at a greater profit? Right?
Let’s listen:
"They say Saturn has moved into the house of Cancer. My stars are the Moon, Mercury and the Sun, but they are foreshadowed by Saturn, causing a bad impact. The Moon signifies charm, the Sun stature and power. Since they are foreshadowed by Saturn, all have decreased."
I swear to God I’m not making this stuff up. It’s a damn shame that there’s no link to the Feb 15/06 story, "Stars not on his side," from The Nation.
My greatest fear is not that web surfers won’t believe me, but that hordes of militant astrologists might go on a rampage if I heap scorn upon the sacred beliefs of Prime Minister Moonbeam.
UPDATE (Feb 16/06): These things must work fast in Thailand. CNN International just today announced that the Thai Supreme Court rejected the bid for Thaksin’s removal.
UPDATE (Mar 22/06): Thaksin recently fired his personal astrologer, after the fortune teller told him that the stars were "not in his favor and he should step down."
Yesterday, a religious shrine was attacked by a mentally ill man, and the astrologer had this to say:
"This is a very unlucky omen, especially since the perpetrator was crazy and was killed after committing the sacrilege…This is a sign that if the prime minister doesn’t resign the country must sacrifice blood."
Don’t you hate it when the stars turn against you like that?