When the Twin Towers were struck down on 9/11/2001, Saturn, in Gemini (The Twins), was opposing Pluto, in righteous Sagittarius. When Saturn meets Pluto, we experience the heart of darkness, and are forced to face our deepest fears, and our very will to live. Pluto purges secrets, personal and collective.

In the months after 9/11, living in NYC was bleak. We were fed a constant diet of fear; from color-coded terror alerts to anthrax scares, to our soldier’s first footsteps on the ground in Afghanistan. We were bullied into the Patriot Act and gave up our civil liberties. Next came a war of choice against a manufactured enemy.

Saturn/Pluto did a number on us then, and now it’s back, in the form of a square between Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Libra. The USA Saturn is also in Libra — our 8th Saturn Return is on tap soon.

But now, watch what’s coming over the airwaves. Notice that the story of the moment is set just a few blocks from where the original archetypal event took place on 9/11. Yes, our wounds still rage. But this is a democracy, and freedom of religion is the law of the land. The Cordoba Center will be a place of tolerance, a community center that poses no risk to anyone in downtown NYC. Republicans have manufactured a wedge issue to win back Congress in November, and frighteningly, many Americans have fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

Keith Olbermann brings the issue into stark relief in his special comment.