American Thinker founders Thomas Lifson, Rich Baehr, and Ed Lasky got a nice mention in the New York Times story from yesterday by Daniel Libit about the roots of the tea party movement in Chicago.

The same area where Mr. Obama's political career first bloomed is now home to some of the most influential drivers of the movement on the libertarian and conservative right. While largely unknown or ignored in City Hall or Springfield, they have demonstrated an outsize impact on the national stage. These leaders include Ed Lasky, a Northbrook lawyer, and Richard Baehr, a Chicago health care consultant, who helped create American Thinker, a Web site often cited by Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

[...]

American Thinker, Mr. Lasky's Web site, sharply criticized Mr. Obama for months leading up to the 2008 presidential election. One of its favorite topics was Mr. Obama's association with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his controversial former pastor in Chicago, and what Mr. Wright's critical comments about Israel might say about Mr. Obama's commitment to American-Israeli relations.

[...]

Mr. Lasky, who serves as American Thinker's news editor, said he was simply putting the research skills he learned at Northwestern University to good use, and doing what he felt the mainstream news media would not do: give the president and his positions a proper and honest vetting.

Mr. Lasky started The American Thinker in 2003 with Mr. Baehr and Thomas Lifson, a Berkeley, Calif., sociologist and business adviser. The site has become a major force in national conservative circles, attracting 1.2 million unique visitors a month, Mr. Lasky said.

Erick Erickson of Red State, another conservative Web site, said, "Their ideas routinely help shape and advance the agenda on the right, and they have an added level of credibility because they do not live or work in Washington, D.C."