Monday, July 28: About Essence referring to me as a Republican, although I told the interviewer otherwise, the magazine will publish a correction in the Letters to the Editor section…in the October issue. 
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2:58 a.m. PT: It’s a tragedy of epic proportions.
I’m spending the night in an airport. In Vegas, of all places. First time. Ever. It’s weird. Flight was canceled, stood in line for an hour to be re-routed. No straight flights, and nothing before 6 a.m. Madness. But I didn’t lose my religion! Thanks, God.
There’s free wireless, though, so I’ve been working and surfing and now I’m blogging. Big fun.
An Essence magazine writer or researcher or whoever interviewed me a couple months ago for a story about black Republicans and conservatives. Although it was nice to see my words quoted accurately, the person I spoke to or the person who wrote or edited the article or whoever got some facts wrong. Here’s my quote from “Crossing Over,” which appears in the August 2008 issue and is not online, unfortunately:
“Conversely, La Shawn Barber, a 41-year-old writer from Washington, D.C., says her Christian beliefs triggered her decision to become a Republican several years ago. Continuing to hold the line against gay marriage, for example, is a critical voting concern. ‘You might as well do away with the whole institution if you’re going to say two people of the same sex can have the same union as a man and a woman,’ she says. ‘Regardless of religious issues, it’s also a policy issue. Where are you going to draw the line?’”
Can you spot the error? If you’re a longtime blog reader, or if you’ve ever glanced at the About page, the error is glaring. But if you don’t know, don’t look. Just guess. And I went out of my way to make sure the interviewer had the correct information. Quite irritating. But hey, what can you do?
I spent two days at the Reagan Library discussing the concept of equality for all with folks like Tammy Bruce, Roger Clegg, John Fund and a host of others on the front lines of the battle to get government out of the skin color business. It was a privilege, indeed.
OK, I think I’ll grab a couple hours sleep now. I may blog Friday. Or I may be in a coma. So tired, and I have a looooong day in the sky ahead of me. Goodnight!
Update (7/25 @ 9:35 a.m.): Arrived home last night, out of it this morning. I have lots to write about, but the ideas won’t flow. They tell me I need to decompress first. Lucidity is a good thing.
Thanks for playing the guessing game, by the way. I am not a member of anyone’s party. When I registered to vote years ago, I decided not to join a party. When I switched from voting for Dems to voting for Republicans, I saw no need to become a joiner. I’m not even a registered Independent. In DC, I fall into the “Undeclared” category.
I call myself an independent conservative.
