The 4th blogiversary of the ST blog

Exactly four years ago today, I started this blog and the first thing I posted was a defense of Rush Limbaugh over the comments he made about Donovan McNabb on ESPN. Who’d have thought nearly four years later, I’d be defending him again?

As I noted in my 2nd blogiversary post, liberal media bias against conservatives like Rush was the primary catalyst for me starting my venture into the blogosphere, and I haven’t regretted it for a second. In my 3rd blogiversary post, I explained how my readership had grown in that year, and how grateful I was for it – and also included some advice for bloggers just starting out, advice which still holds true today.

Since that first day, I’ve written over 4,500 posts and gotten close to 45,000 combined comments and trackbacks, and my Sitemeter as of this writing stands at 950,000. I may finally hit that elusive million mark by the end of the year I’m proud of those numbers, as I have worked hard to build up my readership, utilizing whatever free time I have during the day to blog, and of course catching up on blogging at night, as time permits. In fact, during the week, blogging is practically my life, while the weekends I generally try to reserve for my offline life Many bloggers will tell you that their blog is like their baby – their pride and joy. I’m one of those bloggers who feels that way, because I’m just as passionate about blogging today as I was when I first started. There is something amazing about having the opportunity to make a difference, to change minds, with just the touch of a few (or a lot of!) keystrokes. The term “citizen journalist” is so fitting for bloggers, because that is, in effect, what they are.

And when I talk about “making a difference” I’m not talking about the fascist leftosphere’s version of that, which involves lobbying to have someone taken off the air with whom they disagree. The difference-makers include Powerline and what they did back in 2004 on Rathergate, exposing the fake memo for what it was. I look at the Porkbusters project, created by conservative bloggers to keep tabs on how Congress was/is spending our money. Those things made/make a difference in a positive direction both for honesty in reporting and for conservative principles.

Anyone who ever talks to me about blogging, I encourage them to try it themselves, because literally the power of the citizen is in the palm of your hands when you blog.

These last four years I have made some wonderful friends in the blogosphere – some of the bloggers and some of them regular readers and commenters to this blog. I never dreamed when I started blogging that I would be where I am today, with my readership continuing to grow, and me being in the position of deciding what additional avenues I need to take in order to take the ST blog to the next level.

I still marvel (and am very appreciative) over the fact that people are actually interested in what I have to say on an issue. I’m not trying to be purposely self-deprecating, but I’m just an average Jane who is a political junkie, and who loves to write. The blogosphere can sometimes be an intimidating place, because you’ve got people who went to law school, some are professors, authors, designers, just incredibly brilliant and creative people – and here I am, someone who went to community college for 5 years, three of them mostly aimlessly, and who earned an Associates Degree in radio/tv broadcasting.

I’m not trying to diminish my accomplishments by any stretch, but all the same, trying to get a top-tier blogger who has tons of higher education to notice you can be a bit scary when you start making those types of comparisons. That is something I’ve had to try to work out of my system over time. It’s a thought that still lingers in my mind, but it’s not nearly as prevalent today as it used to be, as each day I grow more confident, and a large reason for that is because of your continued readership and support. I sincerely thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I have the most amazing group of readers, such a close-knit group that it’s not uncommon for me to email a reader if I notice they haven’t commented in a while, nor is it uncommon for me to get emails from readers asking about a regular commenter who hasn’t been around in a while.

Here’s to another year of blogging about the good, the bad, and the in between of politics – mixed in with a little fun along the way. Thank you again for all of the support. I’m truly honored that you would make this blog a regular visit on your daily reading list

Also, happy 4th blogiversary to the one and only Captain Ed, a true gentleman of the blogosphere.