Time for a little exclusive news for those who did not read the comment thread in Meteor Blades's diary yesterday! Bill plans to restart his grillins': Yes, We're All Staring at YOU! Bill grilled me a few years ago - I was shocked when he asked me, but also excited, and it was a lot of fun. He's grilled around 70 kossacks, including Darcy Burner. Bill told me yesterday: The grillins' are coming back to C&J:
I've done around 70 of them, I think. Once the election madness dissipates, I'l have to send out a bunch of the dreaded "Tap Tap!!!" emails to some folks around here what need grillin'.
How did Bill land at DK? That's a common grilling question Bill asks us. My curiosity took me to a
radio interview of Bill by
Steve Hirshon. Hirshon asked Bill how he started blogging and how
Cheers and Jeers evolved. Bill started blogging due to Gov. Howard Dean who stated publicly his opposition to the Iraq War. Bill followed Dean to his website, where he had a link to
Daily Kos. Bill found DK to be filled with intelligent people discussing progressive issues! During the King George the Bush years, Bill noticed that not many people were using humor to address these wacky years so that we don't all go nuts. In the beginning of
Cheers and Jeers, the community did not really respond with comments. The first
Cheers and Jeers has two comments. I shook my head, thinking it must be a DK4 transfer malfunction, but maybe not. Anyhow, Bill continued. His humor, wit and charm with politics and world events opened the door for us to share personal issues in our lives, families, careers, and an opportunity for us to "vent about our lives in general."
Since Bill started Cheers and Jeers on December 10, 2003, he has wowed us with his extraordinary versatility!
It didn't take long for the liberal blogosphere to honor Bill with a Koufax award in 2004 for Best Series and two 2009 KOscar Awards for Best Snark and Best Front Page Feature. Heck, even Wikipedia gave Bill a full paragraph write up!
We love his humor:
JEERS to Dick "Elmer Fudd" Cheney. Slaughters 70 pre-caught game birds on "hunting" expedition. As if we needed more proof that his heart was removed long ago...
As a political activist, including writing Letters to the Editor of
The Portland Press Herald,
Bill nails down his points in a clear and concise manner:
If marriage is a sacred religious institution for the coming together of a man and a woman to make babies, how do you explain the atheist couple in their 80s who go to City Hall and get a marriage license without a single religious word spoken between them or the clerk?
The 80-something couple will never produce children and never recognize God.
Yet they are just as legally married as the couple who goes to church five times a day and produces a dozen kids.
And the couple who goes through a religious ceremony in their church but doesn't secure the necessary non-religious marriage license from the government?
They're as legally married as two rocks in the backyard.
To the list of humorist, interviewer, and political advocate, we can add dancer!
Are we hooked on Bill? Yup…enough so that when Bill goes missing from our stream, DK staff needs to be informed.
Bill is also known for his insightfulness. Bill wrote about Myths in 2010 that was so good it was picked up by digby!
And where did Netroots Nation turn for a great quote about how NN is a "giant family reunion for the left?"
It's like a political rally, a think tank retreat and a non-stop party with your best friends all rolled into one. It’s a celebration of the past achievements and future goals of the ever-expanding Netroots. It's an event where progressive leaders and candidates come to hear, in person, what you have to say. You’ll leave the convention deliriously proud of how far we’ve come … and where we’re headed. —Bill Harnsberger aka Bill in Portland Maine, Daily Kos
Did I mention Bill's clout yet? I heard there was a reason that President Obama did a speech on the new healthcare
bill in Portland, Maine!
Bill is there for us when we need him. We've done so many blogathons over the years about politics and environmental issues. Bill is there to promote our projects, and is one of our members of our email notice list, ready to recommend and comment in diaries posted for our blogathons. He's also there for NFTT, even cutting his finger from taping boxes at NN. Fortunately, Bill was able to recuperate in the kiddie pool!
So many nice options here! I pick snail mail!
One time contribution: click here.
$5 monthly contribution: click here
$10 monthly contribution: click here
$20 monthly contribution: click here
or send a check/money order via snail mail to:
Bill Harnsberger, 16 Pitt Street, Portland, ME, 04103