To illustrate my point, I offer myself. I am politically conservative. I believe in a strong national defense, including securing our borders and knowing who is in this country. I also favor free market capitalism, freedom of religion (including the right to celebrate the Christmas Holiday), and some semblance of morality in my fellow human beings. So far I'm sounding like a garden variety conservative, but like most people, I have more than one facet to my personality. My liberal twin side is in favor of gay marriage. Will someone PLEASE explain to me how my marriage, your marriage, or any body else's marriage is the least bit affected by a gay couple three doors down being married. And, if it is, how is that THEIR problem:? Do I have other flaws according to my fellow conservatives? The answer would be a resounding "YES" because I'm also in favor of keeping abortion a legal option in this country. I don't ever want to lose another woman's life because she was forced to get her proceducre at a back alley midwife or worse perform her own with a coat hanger or a knitting needle. I have lost members of my family in this manner and don't wish to lose anyone else.
There are many other purple people out there. You might be surprised to learn their identities., I've no wish to out anyone, but the following purple people are public figures and so their belifs are known to all. I would like to nominate the following to the purple people hall of fame. The nominees are: Bill O'Reilly, Whoopi Goldberg, Arnold Schwarznegger, John McCain, Joseph Lieberman, and last but not least, Hillary Clinton. Now if I were an omniciscent diety I would be able to hear all the horrific gasps and questions forming in your minds about the preceding list. How, you may ask, can these people from such opposing political backgrounds, have anything in common enough to make them purple people? To set your minds at ease, let me explain in choice in greater detail. There are many other candidates I could have named, but the ones Ive chose seem to represent a fair cross section of celebrity choices sufficent to illustrate the principle.
My first choice, Bill O'Reilly, was chose because, contrary to popular opinion, Bill O'Reilly is not a far right kind of guy. He is conservative in his political beliefs in the same way I am, but he is also an avid proponent of social justice, fairness, and he wants all people to experience the best life has to offer. He is a bloviator to be sure, but if you are straight with him, even if he disagrees with you, he will be fair to you. If you dobt this, just ask Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
My second choice is Whoopi Goldberg. Ms. Goldberg is politically liberal but she is a purple person because in her own words, she owns guns and she's in favor of abortion. She belives in religious freedom, civil rights, equal justice under law, etc. While not a regular viewer of "The View", I am fortunate to catch excerpts from it on programs such as "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity," "Red Eye", and other programs such as "E News Daily," The Daily 10," and "Entertainment Tonight." Like Bill O'Reilly she will defend her position , but she also gives her guests a chance to state theirs and is willing to extend them the simple courtesey of not interrupting or belittling them as they do so. And who could forget Whoopi's performance in "Jumpin' Jack Flash?" I'll never forget her saying, "I'm a little black woman in a big silver box." That particular line is irrelevant to this subject matter, but in unlikely event she ever reads this, I wanted to let her know how I felt about that performance.
The last names on that list are all pretty obvious s to why they were included here. For one thing, they are all politicians, As for Arnold Schwarznegger, hes a Republican governing a very liberal state. He's also married to a liberal Democrat. You have to be purple to live and govern under those conditions. John McCain and Joe Lieberman are another classic odd couple, albeit only in political terms. Senator Lieberman broke with his party to support John McCain in his presidential candidacy because he was more loyal to his friend than to the idealogy of his party. As for John McCain, how many times has he crossed the aisle to the consternation of his fellow Republicns? But, like him or hate him, you have to respect him. Not only did he stay true to his principles during a blistering campaign, but he remained genial and respectful towards President Obama throughout the entire campaign. How can you not respect a man who used some of his limited campaign warchest to broadcast a commercial congratulating his opponent on his historic nomination? As for Hillary Clinton, she supported President Bush after September 11, 2001, she also voted for the Patriot Act, and the surge of troops that made victory in Iraq a likely outcome. She has also shown herself to be strong on national defense, and willing to cross the aisle to work with republicans, albeit mostly moderate ones.
Now that I've given you this glimpse into my mind and character, I hope you'll come back for more because there is lots more where this came from.
