It was a mistake to think that my views would have been taken on their own terms. It was a mistake to think that my last name wouldn't be a factor.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Perhaps I shouldn't have been influenced by the idea that my name could be spread across the entire world.
I'm convinced that had I not changed my name, I don't think I would have had quite the same career curve that I eventually had.
I thought it completely absurd to mention my name in the same breath as the presidency.
Changing my name was traumatic for me.
It would be an egregious mistake to ever refer to me in the same breath as most of the people I write about.
People think that I changed my name. I could've been an actress, a superhero, or a stripper.
If my name had not been cleared, it would have been difficult, perhaps impossible, to continue as a journalist.
I didn't want to have to deal with having any moniker or separation between the self that I see and know myself as.
I'm not deluded enough to think that everyone who knows my name is a listener. You know, I hope that part of that interest - part of that public interest - has to do with me still making records that people like.
I think people assumed because of my last name that I was a real right-winger. And if you cared to look at my writing, you would be hard pressed to deduce that I'm an ideological right-winger.