# Blue skinned Libertarians? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2002, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363 "2002-10-22T11:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/21 "2002-10-23T14:51:44Z")
> [@](#): > > A similar condition caused by ingesting gold is called chrysiasis. Cool, **bibliophage**. What color would you turn if you drank enough gold? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/22 "2002-10-23T15:36:21Z")
> [@](#): > > **Cool, bibliophage. What color would you turn if you drank enough gold?** > [@](#): > > CHRYSIASIS (Skin Pigmentation Due to Gold) > > Similar to silver, a gold preparation used parenterally for a long period may rarely produce a permanent skin pigmentation especially if the skin is exposed to sunlight or artificial ultraviolet radiation. Color has been described as uniformly gray, grayish purple, slate gray, grayish blue [http://www.jeghers.com/annts/ARGYRIA1976.html](http://www.jeghers.com/annts/ARGYRIA1976.html) ( ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/23 "2002-10-23T17:40:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Color has been described as uniformly gray, grayish purple, slate gray, grayish blue That’s too bad - I was thinking I could attain that golden-brown tanned look without having to lie in the sun or tanning booth all afternoon. Blueish gray is not what I had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Gold\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Gold\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gold_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/24 "2002-10-23T20:49:56Z")
Some Smurf fans go too far. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/25 "2002-10-23T20:56:41Z")
Hey, he looks like Violet from **Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!** ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/26 "2002-10-24T01:49:50Z")
Amazing…are there any other precious metals one can ingest to change skin color? Like a nice forest green? And of course, the real question is…what will this guy’s skin look like after he’s been dead awhile? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/27 "2002-10-24T02:17:37Z")
I once read about a movie director who liked to chew scraps of movie film. The silver nitrate got into his blood, and the parts of him that were exposed to the sun turned purple, as exposed film would. When he quit his habit, the color subsided. –Nott ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/28 "2002-10-24T07:54:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Milton De La Warre \*2. Is this common among Libertarians or others? Um no. I am a very pale sort with freckles. And no, it is no more common amongst my political party to use strange remedies than it is in any other political party, or any other human life form. It is not unique to the best of my knowledge. The only reason this has made news is it’s a Libertarian candidate. Which even as wacky as it is, it’s free press and they don’t use your tax dollars to get your attention. Crap, I know some Democrats and Republicans and other party affiliations that do some weird stuff. It’s just that the press likes to poke at the Libertarian party because our views don’t fit the two major parties. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/29 "2002-10-24T08:25:41Z")
It’s clearly a successful attempt to internalize the tinfoil hat. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/30 "2002-10-24T11:35:09Z")
Apparently, it can also be hereditary, as in [The Blue People of Troublesome Creek](http://www.people.virginia.edu/~rjh9u/fugate.html). ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/31 "2002-10-24T11:55:49Z")
Amazing. But as to the people who take metal solutions and turn blue, how common is this? Are there dozens, hundreds, or thousands? No offense was intended to Libertarians. It seems that “treatments” which have the side effect of turning the skin blue are marketed to an audience that includes some Libertarians, and at least one who is in the public eye (somewhat). I know in the specific instance in my OP, the gut made his own “medicine”, but it seems from subsequent posts that silver solutions are sold commercially or at least semi-commercially. Have there ever been cases where people taking this supposed treatment sued the makers for its very visible side effect? Are the people who take this stuff aware that it will do this to them? I can’t get over the guy’s appearance. He looks quite dead. It must have a very negative effect on his ability to get his message across. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/32 "2002-10-24T12:48:06Z")
For those interested… [http://together.net/~rjstan/rose1.html](http://together.net/~rjstan/rose1.html) [http://together.net/~rjstan/rose2.html](http://together.net/~rjstan/rose2.html) Sad. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Starbury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Starbury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbury)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/33 "2002-10-24T16:13:24Z")
Cecil has also talked about “blue people” who have a hereditary disposition towards blue skin: [The Article](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a980724.html) The search engine doesn’t seem to be working right now, but there was a pretty good thread in the Forum on Cecil’s Columns. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/34 "2002-10-25T12:29:39Z")
I was interested in particular to find in one of Crafter Man’s links the following: [http://together.net/~rjstan/rose14.html](http://together.net/~rjstan/rose14.html) Which says that “supplement” manufacturers no longer need prove that their products are safe or free of dangerous substances such as heavy metals (or toxins or drugs such as morphine). This decline in public health and safety standards is said to be attributeable to Senator Orrin Hatch. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/35 "2002-10-25T12:49:35Z")
Stan Jones’ blue skin condition is always described as permanent, but is it reversability? I take “permamenent” to mean it won’t go away by itself, but perhaps could be treated. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/36 "2002-10-25T15:52:59Z")
Revtim: To judge by the other references (Rose’s story in particular) the conditon is irreversible. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363/37 "2002-10-25T21:13:47Z")
We have a Green Party. Why not a Blue Party? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-skinned-libertarians/133363.md?page=1)