Vodkapundit

By Stephen Green

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What a Long Strange Trip, from the Bedroom to the Basement

January 10, 2012 - 10:57 am - by Stephen Green

Ten years ago almost this very moment, VodkaPundit was born with this inaugural post:

It is the VodkaPundit’s view that the best commentary comes after a lovely adult beverage or three. Just enough, in his grandfather’s wise words, to “loosen the lips and sharpen the wits.” Thus, you’ll find most new postings after 5pm.

The VodkaPundit is squirreled away in his Rocky Mountain hideaway, imbibing the news in safety and secrecy. Just so you know, he’ll be attacking things from the Decadence Caucus of the Heinlein Wing of the small-L libertarian perspective.

And a special thanks to Home Depot, without whom the new office dry bar would still be just a dream.

How long ago is ten years in blog time? A few weeks before launching VodkaPundit, I told the then-VodkaFiancée, “After the holidays, I’m going to start a blog.” And she said, “A what?”

A hobby turned into a job — so now the postings begin much earlier in the day. Part of that job involves sitting in front of a high-definition video camera, operated in real time from a studio in Los Angeles. That was unthinkable in 2002, when I was using an achingly slow dial-up connection and the notoriously unreliable BlogSpot.

People once known only virtually have become real friends, and some of those friends have become coworkers. But the song remains the same: Covering the absurd in American politics, and the delightful in American life.

And I’m going to keep doing it until somebody makes me stop.

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47 Comments, 47 Threads, 2 Trackbacks

  1. 1. Tim Wright

    Pretty good work for a decade…but seriously, how’s the liver?

    January 10, 2012 - 11:15 am   Link to this Comment
  2. 2. Kevin

    “…until somebody makes me stop.”

    So until SOPA/PIPA get signed into law?

    January 10, 2012 - 11:19 am   Link to this Comment
  3. 3. Elena

    Congratulations on 10 years of excellence in punditry. Have a drink. What am I saying, you’ve probably already got that covered!

    January 10, 2012 - 11:33 am   Link to this Comment
  4. 4. Tom Hennigan

    Mazeltov! I hope you have many more happy and successful years of pie-eyed punditry.

    @Scolaighe

    January 10, 2012 - 11:38 am   Link to this Comment
  5. 5. Frank Martin

    I for one, thank you.

    January 10, 2012 - 11:48 am   Link to this Comment
  6. 6. Joe Tetreault

    Salud! May you never run out of topics to cover, wit to cover them with, and spirits to ensure the journey as pleasant as possible.

    PS-why are we in a handbasket?

    January 10, 2012 - 11:49 am   Link to this Comment
  7. 7. Pat Berry

    Best wishes for another ten years, Stephen.

    January 10, 2012 - 11:49 am   Link to this Comment
  8. 8. Patrick

    Congrats! I only wish I would have been following you for more than roughly 7% of your blog

    January 10, 2012 - 11:49 am   Link to this Comment
  9. 9. Dave Zahn

    Congratulations on a great 10 years! Good luck for the next 10.

    January 10, 2012 - 12:06 pm   Link to this Comment
  10. 10. Calvin

    Congratulations, old friend. Your punditry will always be welcome in our modest house.

    PS: The black cat you thought cute is still with us and he weighs 16 pounds. And the Cascade Mountain Gin is still as good as it ever was.

    January 10, 2012 - 12:11 pm   Link to this Comment
  11. 11. Jim Ryan

    Woo hoo! Go VP!

    January 10, 2012 - 12:13 pm   Link to this Comment
  12. 12. The Sanity Inspector

    Vodkapundit gave my blog one of its first traffic spikes, in the early going.

    January 10, 2012 - 12:22 pm   Link to this Comment
  13. 13. Will Collier

    ¡Salud, ‘mano!

    January 10, 2012 - 12:36 pm   Link to this Comment
  14. 14. tim maguire

    I started my first blog at about the same time, but my posts were too long to put up regularly, I never got an audience because I didn’t post regularly, and I stopped fairly quickly because I was working for nobody.

    Congratulations on getting it right and keeping it going.

    And Will, good to see you in the comments here. I miss your guest posting.

    January 10, 2012 - 12:41 pm   Link to this Comment
  15. 15. Ed Driscoll

    Congrats!

    January 10, 2012 - 12:45 pm   Link to this Comment
  16. 16. SusannaS

    Hurrah and cheers for the Vodkapundit! Great political acumen, great tech tips, and the best food commentary EVER. ::raises glass::

    January 10, 2012 - 12:48 pm   Link to this Comment
  17. 17. David WL

    Congratulations from a socio-theo-con.

    Love your work…but keep the liver in good working order!

    January 10, 2012 - 1:00 pm   Link to this Comment
  18. 18. RPD

    Back in the day I was reading an Andrew Sullivan post exhorting the war with Iraq where he happened to link to Asparagirl, who had Vodkapundit in her blogroll. Thus I started reading blogs. It’s been interesting times.

    January 10, 2012 - 1:19 pm   Link to this Comment
  19. 19. David Beatty

    Thanks, Stephen. Here’s to another 10 years.

    January 10, 2012 - 2:30 pm   Link to this Comment
  20. 20. Allan E.

    Thanks Stephen, May the Vodka always flow freely and the “Eyebrow of Disdain” ride high.

    January 10, 2012 - 2:53 pm   Link to this Comment
  21. 21. Robin Roberts

    Always a great read and an entertaining dinner companion.

    Uh, that’s you, Stephen – not me.

    January 10, 2012 - 3:04 pm   Link to this Comment
  22. 22. Steve Ducharme

    Wow! It’s been that long? It seems like just yesterday I tripped across your Vodkapundit Superhero generator or we’d had a non-nuke discussion about the JFK aircraft carrier.. or Vodka on Mars as a hyper exclusive beverage.. Time roars on.. Here’s to decades more!

    January 10, 2012 - 3:22 pm   Link to this Comment
  23. 23. Larry

    I decided to marry foreign and so espoused a woman from out your way. Worked out for me. Seems Colorado is congenial to you, too. Your vids are the most. Happy anniversary.

    January 10, 2012 - 3:45 pm   Link to this Comment
  24. 24. EBL

    Congratulations. May you be on the top of the liver transplant list.

    January 10, 2012 - 4:04 pm   Link to this Comment
  25. 25. Judith

    Congratulations and thanks. You’ve been a daily stop for me for at least six of the ten years.

    January 10, 2012 - 4:07 pm   Link to this Comment
  26. 26. Kathy Kinsley

    Congrats, happy anniversary and many happy returns of the day. Raising a glass (sorry, Scotch, not Vodka). Cheers!

    January 10, 2012 - 4:16 pm   Link to this Comment
  27. 27. Susie N.

    Congratulations! You are so entertaining with just the right amount of humor applied to some serious subjects. Trifecta, Hair of the Dog and the Week in Blogs are my favorites. Many thanks!

    January 10, 2012 - 4:28 pm   Link to this Comment
  28. 28. John Holmes

    In veno veritas, and in vodka…often olives. Happy 10th Stephen and best wishes for many many more.

    Cheers indeed

    January 10, 2012 - 4:29 pm   Link to this Comment
  29. 29. JohnB

    Congratulations, and best wishes for continued wit and wisdom.

    January 10, 2012 - 4:36 pm   Link to this Comment
  30. 30. wheels

    Congratulations! We’ll have to get together sometime … we never did celebrate Cheryl’s 21st, but I have a bottle of scotch that’s from her birth year that I’ll split with you sometime.

    January 10, 2012 - 4:51 pm   Link to this Comment
  31. 31. rbj

    Congratulations, well done. I suppose I’ll have to have a drink tonight to toast you. Darn it.

    January 10, 2012 - 4:55 pm   Link to this Comment
  32. 32. Jimmy

    Don’t stop keep drinking!

    January 10, 2012 - 7:12 pm   Link to this Comment
  33. 33. NukemHill

    Congrats, Steve! It’s been great fun, following along, slurping up the spilled Gin.

    Here’s to a stick in SOPA’s eye.

    January 10, 2012 - 7:17 pm   Link to this Comment
  34. 34. Chris Campion

    Great stuff, Steve – I was unforgivably late to the V-Pundit Party, but it’s been well worth the trip. Where everyone else went ten years ago, but neglected to tell me. Perhaps I was out getting a taco.

    January 10, 2012 - 7:29 pm   Link to this Comment
  35. 35. Eric Scheie

    Steve, I can’t match you (whether drink for drink or post for post) but you keep me fueled and ready to go, no matter what happens or how bad it gets. Please keep it up.

    I’m drinking to you right now!

    January 10, 2012 - 7:55 pm   Link to this Comment
  36. 36. ussmidway

    Thanks for helping enlighten your readers all these years. You have provided levity & insight in balanced measures, just like a well-made cocktail. Best wishes for the next 10 years!

    January 10, 2012 - 8:08 pm   Link to this Comment
  37. 37. jaymaster

    Congrats, man!

    I found you about 9 years and 9 months ago, when I did an AltaVista search for “Vodka Punch”.

    Thankfully, their engine wasn’t quite as efficient as that upstart Google….

    I’m still loving what I found!

    January 10, 2012 - 8:28 pm   Link to this Comment
  38. 38. KZ

    Here’s the the power of positive drinking!

    Good job Stephen.

    January 10, 2012 - 8:28 pm   Link to this Comment
  39. 39. c

    What a long, strange trip it’s been… ;)

    Happy anniversary, and here’s to the next ten years!

    January 10, 2012 - 11:18 pm   Link to this Comment
  40. 40. Semper Why

    Good for you! Bad for my liver.

    Happy anniversary from yet another loyal fan.

    January 11, 2012 - 9:15 am   Link to this Comment
  41. 41. Foxfier

    Gads, I feel old…. you were one of the “new” blogs back when I started reading blogs!

    A decade?

    January 11, 2012 - 9:27 am   Link to this Comment
  42. 42. Rick Moran

    Your grandfather was a wise man.

    And you sir, are a national treasure. Keep it up – and keep the martini’s dry.

    January 11, 2012 - 10:06 am   Link to this Comment
  43. 43. RebeccaH

    Cheers, Mr. Pundit!

    January 11, 2012 - 10:29 am   Link to this Comment
  44. 44. Michelle

    What fantastic times we live in! Via the magic of the internet and great herald Tim Blair news of your impressive achievement even reaches a housewife with insomnia located in a piss-ant Australian town.
    Blogging on a booze diet can prove lethal. To survive ten years of posting under the influence is worthy of a gold star and a shot or three from the top shelf.
    May your fingers never miss a key and your head never ache.

    January 11, 2012 - 3:24 pm   Link to this Comment
  45. 45. Andrew

    Congrats on 10 years!!

    Glass is raised. Contains whiskey, but it is still raised!!

    And now its empty. Dang. Back in a few!!

    January 11, 2012 - 3:58 pm   Link to this Comment
  46. 46. ArtD0dger

    I, too, have been drinking along lo these ten years. I see from my early bookmarks that you were an original “double 0″ blog — so prefixed so you would stay at the top of my alphabetized blog bookmarks.

    Congrats, cheers, skoal, salut, & etc…!

    January 11, 2012 - 10:48 pm   Link to this Comment
  47. 47. el polacko

    have i told you lately that i love you ?

    January 12, 2012 - 12:43 am   Link to this Comment