Cheers and Jeers: The First Dozen Years

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE

And thus began it thusly...

December 10, 2003. A Wednesday. 7:33pm. Shrouded in the New England darkness, a freakishly-handsome newbie blogger clasps his mouse with trembling fingers and clicks the "Post" button. In history's greatest act of technology FAIL, the blog accepts his diary: Cheers and Jeers: New Series.

This is followed by two comments: Nevsky42 at 7:38 and Bob Johnson at 7:50. While the Pulitzer committee routinely denies the newbie blogger his prize(s) due to---their words---"stalking," three years later the blogger is chosen Time magazine's Person of the Year. And the site at which the first C&J was posted? It becomes the #1 political community blog in the Outer Rim.

As my dozensquentennial blogiversary gift to you, below the fold is our traditional posting of the video-like* re-release of the very first Cheers and Jeers. It's been re-mastered, re-digitized and re-edited so that during the cantina scene Ben Carson stabs Greedo first. I've also added all-new commentary with myself, Bernie Sanders, Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli and Time's newest Person of the Year Angela Merkel. If you haven’t read the first C&J before, I bet your first thought will be, "Why didn’t this win a Polk Award, or at least a Chester Alan Arthur?" And I bet your second thought will be, "That was the dumbest first thought I've ever had in my life."

Although it's been said many times, many ways: thank you for reading and financially supporting my little rag for so many dozen of years. I appreciate it almost as much as I question your time-management skills.

Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

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*If you jiggle your screen around really fast it kinda looks videoish. C&J is not responsible for damage to monitors or internal components resulting from this, but it's really cool so try it!!