La Shawn Barber
02.18.05

This is a picture of bloggers blogging. The lady is Robin Burk. Sitting beside her is Bob Cox of National Debate. In the far corner is Sean Hackbarth (a conservative who wears an earring) of The American Mind, and I don’t remember who the other guy is.

Last night’s banquet was part comedy and part patriotism. First of all, the bloggers were assigned to tables 79 and 80, but the event’s organizers set up only 75 tables. That meant we had to stand around for about 45 minutes, hungry and watching the fancy people walk by. On top of the disorganization during the day, we were relegated to the hallway, waiting for belated accomodations like media stepchildren that night.

Dick Cheney gave the keynote address last night, and his speech stirred rousing applause. Matt has the audio. Also, go to RedState.org to see bloggers Erick Erickson and Robin Byrd (Winds of Change ) on MSNBC talking about blogs.

More about ME. I’m dog-tired. Despite all of yesterday’s activities, I was wide-awake and pumped. But now…caffeine can’t cure me. Because of the late nights and early mornings here at CPAC, I opted to stay in a hotel near the conference site, the Ronald Reagan building. Little did I realize I picked the one hotel filled with interns and high school kids. And they decided to have a party last night. I heard every movement, every laugh. I called the desk and said, “Put me in another room or put them in another room,” paraphrased, of course. The guy said he’d take care of it, and I thought, yeah right. But five minutes later, the party moved to another room way down the hall, and I eventually fell asleep.

In what seemed like another five minutes, the alarm was blaring in my ears. I dragged myself to the conference, first blogger here. Today Ann Coulter is speaking, and I doubt I’ll get to talk to her. I will try. I’ll speak with Herman Cain today, too. Very personable guy. He introduced himself to the bloggers yesterday, and I was so distracted trying to troubleshoot my non-functioning computer that I forgot to ask questions!

Enough rambling. I have to try to be a journalist today and ambush people for interviews and photos. Check back for pics and updates!

CPAC bloggers’ latest posts: Chris Nolan, Robin Burk, Erick Erickson, Matt Margolis, Sean Hackbarth

Update (11:21 a.m.): Kevin McCullough and I are having a friendly debate. I don’t own a laptop, so in his estimation, that makes me a “fraudulent blogger.” My rationale: Laptops are expensive and I don’t travel that often. I have a desktop at home and access to one at work. Why should I shell out two grand for a laptop just to be cool?

Update II (12:12 p.m.): Michelle Malkin and family will make an appearance at CPAC.

Update III (2/19): The first update may have caused some confusion on two fronts, so I’ll clear things up. The “debate” between me and Kevin is friendly, as in “not serious,” just jokes between bloggers. Secondly, the laptop I’m using is borrowed. I’ve been writing “my laptop,” so many of you may have been a bit confused when I said I didn’t have one. I don’t own a laptop and won’t ask readers to buy me one. I have a number of low and medium priced books on my wish list. That’s about as far as I can go in the “buy me this” department. ;)

Posted by La Shawn @ 10:15 am Permalink
Filed under: CPAC, Pictures    


7 Comments
  1. Don’t feel bad. That means for years I was a “fraudulent blogger” too.

    Comment by Sean Hackbarth — 02.18.05 @ 11:22 am


  2. La Shawn,

    Out of sheer stupidity I still haven’t fixed my laptop that broke a year ago. So, I guess I’m a “fraudulant blogger,” too! That’s alright. I’m at a computer enough. No need for me to have one that’s mobile! Plus, my flat-screen monitor is darn purty!

    Comment by Mike M. — 02.18.05 @ 11:31 am


  3. Hm. I guess I never read Kevin’s point of view…

    Because “fraudulent” means something and I’ll chalk Kevin up as not truthful. Way to give a first impression Kevin…

    BTW. I have been considered a “Senior Network Engineer” doing computer consulting work for over 8 years. I do not own a laptop. I’d love one. But don’t have one. By Kevin’s standard’s I must be a fraudulent computer consultant. Don’t tell the people whom I consult for that!

    This is a lesson in the truth hopefully for Kevin.

    Comment by Baklava — 02.18.05 @ 12:19 pm


  4. Off topic, but what will happen to blogs such as RedState.org when in 2008, the Democrats are scheduled to be red and the Republicans are blue??

    For those of you who don’t know, the color scheme was agreed upon by the mainstream media years ago… the color of the incumbent party switches every four years… for example:
    1992: Incumbent Party: Republican (Bush) = BLUE
    1996: Incumbent Party: Democrat (Clinton) = RED
    2000: Incumbent Party: Democrat (Gore) = BLUE
    2004: Incumbent Party: Republican (Bush) = RED
    2008: Incumbent Party: Republican (??) = BLUE

    Comment by jab — 02.18.05 @ 3:58 pm


  5. Stranger Things Have Happened
    But not many. Al Franken Hearts G. Gordon Liddy! Spread the word. ;-) La Shawn Barber, who is attending the Conservative Political Action Conference in DC and photo-blogging her heart out has a few more pundit sightings. (Thanks to Captain

    Trackback by baldilocks — 02.18.05 @ 4:29 pm


  6. My dear young lady, a fine laptop can be had for less than 600 bucks. The freedom will make you sorry for not having bought one sooner. I cannot imagine life without one.

    Comment by Steel — 02.19.05 @ 4:53 am


  7. I got my laptop at Costco for $1000 - It does everything I need!
    Katie

    Comment by Katie Kilcrease — 02.19.05 @ 10:35 am