Cheers and Jeers is a weekday coping mechanism from the great state of Maine.
When people hear “I-22” in a Bingo hall, everyone shouts: “Toot Toot!” When people hear “I-ve been posting Cheers and Jeers for 22 years” in Daily Kos, everyone shouts: “WTF, dude, get a life!” To which I can only respond the way I have for over two decades: as soon as the first parking-lot attendant position opens up, I’ll be outta here faster than the current spread of measles.
But today we toss such foolishness aside. Today we ring the church bells, stop the presses, and give all the ICE agents celebratory wedgies in celebration of the 22nd anniversary of Cheers and Jeers. So many memories. So much Bacardi under the bridge. December 10, 2003 to December 10, 2025. Eight thousand and thirty-five days documenting a world gone mad and getting madder by the week. And to think that my first post got a whopping two comments. Heh, indeedy.
We’ve had a ping-pongy existence here, starting out in the diaries before being promoted to the front page a year and a half later. There I remained until last year, when I was booted from my lofty perch as part of the Pulitzer Prize committee’s retraining order/out-of-court settlement against me. It happens.
C&J, now back in the diaries and soon to appear to wherever the new Daily Kos design puts me, gets a few more comments these days. But its mission is the same: mock the mockworthy, praise the praiseworthy, and demonstrate as often as possible that politics and fart jokes are not mutually exclusive but rather inextricably linked.
“Inextricably,” by the way, is a 29-point Scrabble word. You're welcome.
Oh, before I forget: I need money. In 2007 you, the Daily Kos readership, put me on your collective—and full-time—payroll, a vote of confidence for which I'm grateful. There's a PayPal account set up for either one-time or recurring monthly donations, as well as a snail-mail address. If you'd like to support C&J, I'd be thrilled to have you join my legion of firm-but-fair bosses. Choose from the options below, with our mega-thanks:
One time contribution: click here.
$5 monthly contribution: click here
$10 monthly contribution: click here
$20 monthly contribution: click here
To donate via snail mail: Bill Harnsberger, 16 Pitt Street, Portland, ME, 04103.
But enough yammering and begging.
Come on downstairs with me for the annual reading of my first C&J, including my exclusive commentary from Older Wiser Billy (v. 20.25) to Younger, Dumber But Smokin' Hot Billy (v. 20.03). If we can work it out through the magic of A.I., you might even witness some high-stakes thumbwrastlin' between the two of me.
Although it's been said many times, many ways: thank you for reading and supporting my little rag day in and day out since the Iraq War. I pledge that I will never flame you for being a purist or a pragmatist. Unless it's consensual and we both have an agreed-upon safe word.
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