Proud to Be Purple: One Year of PurpleAmerica
A Quick Jaunt Down Memory Lane From the Past Year
This past week marked the one year anniversary of PurpleAmerica. Thank you to all my subscribers, followers, casual walk-ins and always great guests. You’ve made me believe that this has all been worth the effort and as enjoyable as possible.
It started out with just an idea that a lot of people are tired of the same claptrap spewed out from the extremes of the culture. This adamant, uncompromising view that its all or nothing. More sensible seasoned people understand that the world doesn’t work that way; that there are shades of gray….or in the US politics version of the adage, purple. I wanted to put together page dedicated to them. On January 1st of 2023, I made the New Years Resolution to do just that. So I started out sketching out everything I wanted to do and how I was going to do it.
That all hit the shitter the moment the Republicans couldn’t elect a Speaker of the House and I knew I had to start getting something out there immediately. The whole day was one laughable joke after another. I was so quick to get a post out there and circulating that I posted it BEFORE even my initial, introductory post was made.
That first post? A total of only 44 views.
That first post was more a rough draft but featured some of the more basic elements I had in mind. First, a primary story of what was going on or a point of view. Second, some lighthearted banter about what movies or shows or books were out there so people could start discussing things about them. Then wrapped up with a Tweet I thought was funny, or insightful. It’s been fun watching that evolve over the following months until we got to the current format. I changed the format into a singular issue/theme with Friday the 13th. I had such a fun time doing that, I thought, let’s turn it into a singular theme of the day. It then slowly became a more formal format: The main story, recommended stories, a cultural corner, an obscure fact and then a final word (the final “tweet” went when I dumped Twitter about a few months later) all based on what the theme of the day was. It clicked.
I followed that first post up with two pretty noteworthy stories that started to gain a following. The first, “What MTG Got Right,” was about how Marjorie Taylor Green siding with Kevin McCarthy was the smart move when it comes to governing as compared with what Lauren Boebert was doing with Matt Gaetz. That was picked up by an aggregator site which started directing traffic my way. The other was a piece titled, “The Constant Idiocy of Kyrsten Sinema” which has been posted and reposted and reposted about a dozen times. The sheer level of views that pop up on that whenever she says or does something inane continues to astound me. I was off to the races.
Since then, I’ve touched on scores of issues. We’ve published 171 total pages and continue to go strong. We’ve scaled back a bit from an every weekday posting to 2-3 posts during the week, plus a recap on Fridays. I think it’s worked out well and views and engagements continue to climb (though they did drop when I got off Twitter, I know for certain though that that was for the best, and have thankfully recovered and exceeded where I was before). For this, I am completely humbled and grateful to all my fellow PurpleAmericans out there. Below is just a recap of some of the best moments from the year. Enjoy!
PurpleAmerica’s Ten Most Viewed Stories
It’s really interesting to me which articles get the most views. Largely, the highest viewed ones get picked up by political news aggregators which then gains traction in viewers. Some of them are surprising but then you take another look at it and nod thinking, “Yeah, that makes sense.” Here is a list of the top ten viewed pieces (not including weekly recaps).
Is MAGA Really a Cult? PurpleAmerica took the general indicators of Cults and applied it to MAGA. The analysis: Total Cult.
Are Swifties in a Cult? Its funny these two ended up next to one another. We used the same indicators and applied them to Swift fans. Result: Not a cult. Still, its interesting to see this one top the first one on MAGA. I guess it proves Taylor Swift beats Donald Trump.
An Open Letter to Progressives. Trying to persuade progressives against their worst campaign instincts.
The Constant Idiocy of Kyrsten Sinema. An oldie but goodie that seems to come back every time she says or does something dumb.
Redefining Patriotism. This was my most recent post, and not only demonstrates how much PurpleAmerica continues to grow, but that we are striking a chord. Currently, it sits at #6, but will likely pass up to #3 by tomorrow.
An Assholism Epidemic. There just seems to be more of them nowadays.
The Nihilist Party. Advocating renaming the Republicans for what they really are; Nihilists who want to blow everything up.
In Des Moines for the First GOP Primary Event. It was serendipitous that I would have a friend in Iowa the day of the first debate. Some great dispatches of what they saw there.
Hey All, It’s Really Actually a Good Song. This was about the Oliver Anthony song “Rich Men North of Richmond,” and yes, it was a good song.
Don’t F**k with Disney. This was about Ron DeSantis’ inane crusade to take on the Mouse Empire. It didn’t go well. The breadth of this one was pretty insane, since it got picked up by a few sources and I got a lot of DMs at the time of how on point it was.
Do you have a favorite from the past year? Let me know! Put your thoughts in the comments! :)
PurpleAmerica’s Best Moment of the Year
OK. I grew up in the 1980s. And in that time there was no bigger rock anthem than Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” That frontman Dee Snider didn’t just talk the talk, but walked the walk when he testified before the Parent’s Music Resource Council (PMRC, led by Tipper Gore) only made him more of an icon. Since then, he has been a vocal supporter of many liberal causes, which included Gay and Trans rights.
Back in May, he was ousted as a Grand Marshall of the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade and his song was discarded as a theme because he “liked” a post by a fellow 80’s rock musicican advocating for pause in giving minors puberty blockers, and was called “homophobic” and not a friend to the trans community because of it (something he rebutted by saying his band in the 80s was about as trans as could get). He posted this non-apology to his Twitter account.
I put together a piece about the controversy and sided with Snider. You don’t have to be 100% on board to be a friend. Friends often do disagree. Just because you are 99% in total alignment doesn’t make you enemies if you disagree on that 1%. It is an important standard and the foundational principle of PurpleAmerica. Demanding rigid lockstep to a cause is just Toxic Activism. I posted the piece “Dee Snider, Twisted Sister Frontman, Gets It” in reply to one of his posts asking “Who is with me in saying good friends can disagree?” Dee Snider saw it and reposted the article.
“Proud to be Purple.” I still love it. I may have to turn that into a T-Shirt, coffee mug or something.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
I chose the name “PurpleAmerica” after seeing the typical red/blue map by precinct like the one at the top of the page, but it was done with shades of purple in it—there was still red and blue, but if a precinct was 50/50 it was solid purple. The overall impression is that there was a helluva lot more purple out there than red or blue, and we are all a lot closer in opinion than our politics seem or suggest.
I still believe that, and more importantly, I now know it.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
Here’s to a great first year. Let’s keep this going.
—PurpleAmerica