PurpleAmerica's 100th Post!
We've Made it to 100 and The Support Keeps Growing!
WE MADE IT TO 100! I have to admit, when I first started this enterprise at the beginning of the year I didn’t know where it would go. I was sitting around after the New Years just constantly bombarded with annoying pundits, aggravating activists and a constant stream of arrogance emanating from both sides of the aisle (although I would want to stress adamantly that a substantial more of it comes from one side than the other).
So I started typing my first Substack post. I eventually paused that as I watched what was unfolding before my eyes; Kevin McCarthy was failing (repeatedly) to get enough votes to become Speaker of the House and a group of intransigent Republicans were making the votes as painful as possible. I immediately pivoted to that story and posted this one about an hour later:
The response was almost immediate and positive. I got a lot of feedback to continue on with my observations. I was so anxious putting that story up, the “Coming soon: PurpleAmerica” post actually came out a couple hours later.
Subsequent posts about the Lottery, Prince Harry, a Dear John letter to MTG about her “National Divorce” idea and about the collapse of Project Veritas all increased the number of subscribers and drew in a wider audience. Posts about the stupidity of pronoun policing and toxic activism won bipartisan approval and I have received accolades from both sides.
The most reposted post belongs to one targeting someone both sides of the aisle think of as stupid: Kyrsten Sinema.
But the breakthrough on format came through on of all days, Friday the 13th. A simple post about the date, the movies and some of the superstitions where all of the individual sections focused on a different angle of the topic received some positive notes to keep doing it that way. And its been that way ever since.
The most viewed post belongs to one I wrote about Ron DeSantis’ ill-advised attack on Disney and Disney’s lawyers taking him apart. That one still continues to grow as it gets passed around on different platforms and pops up in Google searches.
The moment we realized we were really catching on is when we began discussing the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. There was a sense in the atmosphere and on the ground in the badger state that something fundamental was changing in our politics. This was the first major statewide election since the midterms and was a canary in the coal mine for how Democrats and Republicans would shape up going into the Presidential Cycle. The outcome? Still fueled by anger about gerrymandering and the Dobbs decision, college towns came out en masse to vote for the Democrat and what was usually a narrow swing state election turned into a blowout. Wisconsin is expected to hear a case that will shoot down the Republican gerrymander soon.
We’ve covered not just politics but some cultural issues as well. We made our Oscars guesses (right on most, but way off on others), our favorite show (Reservation Dogs, 3rd season starting August 2nd on Hulu), the growing delusion of Roger Waters and our breakdown of the Mission Impossible films. We praised the dedication of Juneteenth as a national holiday. We discussed at length whether marijuana legalization makes good policy, the parole of a Manson family member, the economic calamities caused by funding sports stadiums and the Supreme Court shooting down Affirmative Action. We had three separate stories about the coming revolution in AI and tech.
But bar none, the issue we keep coming back to and the item we can’t stop discussing is the growing derangement of MAGA and the GOP. We discussed at length whether it was a cult. We praised Never Trump Republicans and questioned what happens to them when Trump is no longer part of the GOP. We questioned if the GOP was now a Third Party since they seem increasingly acting like one. We had a post of whether confrontation (currently by Chris Christie) would work against Trump. In fact, we had an entire post already endorsing Democrats for 2024 given Republicans cowardice and complicitness in supporting a twice impeached, multiple times indicted, serial philanderer, grifter and tax cheat as President.
As we have tried to adhere to the center of the electorate as our core audience, it seems like the margin of victory between the two parties currently consists of the ex-Republicans/Never Trumpers occupying a block of the electorate and broadcasting to that core group of voters. Led by Charlie Sykes and the Bulwark, we had an entire post praising the work they do too:
Our most recent pieces continue to gain attention and support. Admittedly, since Elon has self-immolated Twitter, spreading the word has notably gotten slower, but it still continues (Tell your friends to subscribe!) We have a growing fanbase and am proud of the first 100 posts so far.
Here’s to the first 100, and we look forward to providing for you the next 100.
Sincerely,
PurpleAmerica
PurpleAmerica’s Recommended Stories
When talking with some, I’ve been asked what post was my favorite. There are a number that I genuinely have enjoyed writing. For instance, I could not contain my glee writing about the downfall of James O’Keefe and Project Veritas, it couldn’t have happened to a more worthy person or group.
In truth, it was this one. While I was writing early drafts, I began to draw on my family’s own personal experiences over 150 years ago, and saw the same politics at play. I rewrote it from scratch and could not be prouder of the outcome. That, and any excuse to put Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America” into a post I’m going to take.
Our heritage all comes from somewhere, and unless you are indiginous, it came from somewhere else. The way our politics disparages immigrant communities does a disservice to them and to us. America is the greatest country in the world not because we are a singular nation of people, but because we are a pluralistic society of various nations all joined together in a common belief, the only such country ever. That belief is that anyone can make something of themselves here. E. Pluribus Unum is not just a saying on the back of a penny, it’s “out of many, one” is a mantra we need to adhere to more often.
As Purple America continues to work toward unifying a polarized and divided electorate, we’ll keep revisiting the immigration issue.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
Our most famous follower? That would be Twisted Sister Frontman Dee Snider.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
From the bottom of my heart and from all of us here at PurpleAmerica, thank you for reading, following, reposting and subscribing. We look forward to providing another 100 posts for you to enjoy.