One year ago last night, we – Steve, Tiff, Alien, Lenny, and myself – realized our soft launch of The News Blender had gone a little differently than we had anticipated. In the very best of ways, of course – we were met with such enthusiasm that we were a bit overwhelmed. So, we decided to just go for it and fling the doors open. We meant to take a little time to get feedback but we just jumped in and started swimming. I was awaiting an unpleasant medical test the next morning, so the launch – and the response to it – gave me something to smile about as I waited.
When I got home the next day, I tweeted about TNB, so that everyone who hanging out on Twitter waiting for the new cyber home that we had been teasing for a few weeks would hear the good news.
As Steve said yesterday, we had been working hard for weeks preparing for the launch. And even though our beta testing lasted about five minutes, we were ready. Of course, there has been a learning curve involved. We continue to learn and adapt but the day we opened our doors was one of the most gratifying days I have personally experienced and I couldn’t be prouder of what we have accomplished.
True to course, there has been good-natured debate about which day our actual anniversary falls on. The 16th? The 17? I say we celebrate both days because, truly, it feels like one day is not enough to fit it all in.
The last year has been amazing and my fellow founders are the best. The very best.
Lenny has moved on from TNB, but his ability to create bespoke images (you cannot even begin to fathom what we asked of him – take the image in this post of Steve’s, for instance. “Hey Lenny, can you get me an image of lemmings wearing MAGA hats jumping off a cliff?”), often, in a matter of minutes was nothing short of amazing.
Tiff, our resident fisker and Trump Tweet whisperer, is a work horse who can churn out post after post while simultaneously chatting in Slack about everything from congress’ dereliction of duty to financial news to constitutional clauses to whichever celebrity has died or done something stupid to offering personal support when things are difficult in our ‘real’ lives. Tiff, we wanted a place to talk about the news and roast Trump and here we are.
Alienmotives is our other workhorse. From foreign news to analysis of domestic events to his astounding range of trivia for the Night Owl, he never stops. That is not an exaggeration and it makes me exhausted just thinking about all he does in the course of any given day. Furthermore, his calm, rational, measured approach to every issue and problem makes him a team member to be thankful for and I am, every single day. He also makes me laugh with his wicked sense of humor.
Steve is also widely known for being calm, rational, and measured and is a genuine pleasure to work with. Add in his Constitutional knowledge, dedication to the principles of the founding fathers, his sense of humor, and his technical savvy and he is, in a word, indispensable. He is a good friend and companion in the trenches, as well. I am so thankful that he hopped on Twitter and, when he saw some of us talking about creating our very own site, messaged me to say, “I’m in!”
Like Steve, I want to give a special shout out to Halodoc. She came on to help out when I had surgery last year and has been an incredible blessing for TNB. Our “canary” is an absolute hoot and a font of linky goodness as well, while contributing on a daily basis. I am awfully glad she is on our side.
Stig, Don, Gretchen, Richard, Andrew, Annie, Mrs. MaryLou, Mike, Thomas, August West, and Lyin Don have all been invaluable contributors to what we are working towards at TNB and they are appreciated so very much. (I cheated and looked at the list so I didn’t forget anyone!) We have an absolute embarrassment of riches for writers here at TNB and I haven’t even mentioned all the folks who have written guest editorials for us.
Last but certainly not least, all of our readers and commenters – we wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you so much for reading, chatting in the comment section, sharing links to our articles and donating. You are the very best folks on any website on the internet and every day seems like a family reunion as we navigate the craziest of news cycles together. I would have gone stark raving mad without all of you.
I wish The News Blender many many more happy returns of this day (or yesterday or both, depending on how you want to count it!) and the best to all who have worked so hard this past year to get us to this day. The phrase “Many more happy returns of the day” (you might be more familiar with: “And many more” that is sometimes tacked on to the end of “Happy Birthday”) is an old saying that simply means “may this happy day come around many more times”.
We at TNB are in this for the long haul. The need for a website that stands for both old school conservative values and civil discourse isn’t going to go away any time soon. We will be here with all of you next year and, God willing, for years after for many more happy returns of this day.
