"Last Chance"

DATELINE OCTOBER 23, 2012:
"Last Chance"
By: Bascomb Biggers
Well The Skunks and the Polecats have finished with their debatin, and I have to say that there was enough hot air durin these last few weeks to have blown Old Faithful sky high, and then some. We are down to the last few weeks before one of the most important elections this country has ever seen, and if you still can't make up your mind as to which way you want your money spent, then you can write in old Bascomb's name and cast your vote for common sense. The good Lord knows we need some right about now.

Just remember one thing about politicians, they all lie, and when they talk to you, they just say what they think you want to hear. Just once I'd like to hear one of those rascals say what they really mean, no matter what some special group might not like. Course, they can't do that since they want everybody's vote, includin the ones they don't like. Shoot, you can't even find a professional politician who can even give an answer to a question he is asked. Instead they give out some rehearsed spiel that one of their buddies told them to say, no matter what the question is.

Well old Bascomb is goin to tell you the truth, even if it ain't what you want to hear, Our country is in a big mess, and there ain't no easy way out of it. To get clear, we have all got to bite the bullet, and that means you, not just your neighbor. And the truth is, we are runnin out of time, and we better get started.

Now the one thing we all got to learn to get through hard times, is that you can't buy things that you ain't got no money for. If you are in debt, you can't borrow your way out of debt, just like you can't dig yourself out of a hole! That goes for folks in Nankipooh as well as the Skunks and Polecats up in DC!

Well that about sums up what old Bascomb is all about. I stand for honesty and small government. I also believe in people takin care of themselves, and not expectin somebody else to look out for them. I believe in America and Americans, not slash something else Americans. I believe Americans can lick anybody on this earth, and I believe we can lick the problems set in front of us right now, but we ain't gonna do it if we don't pull together, and we ain't gonna do it by sendin more money to DC.

Oh, there is one more thing old Bascomb stands for, and that's makin Fried Catfish the National Dinner.

"Now that's the way I see it , and you can tell-em I said so."

Bascomb Biggers

"Why Bascomb?"

DATELINE SEPTEMBER 17, 2012:

"Why Bascomb"



My name is Bascomb Biggers. In 1828 when my daddy was just a small boy of four years, his family moved from South Carolina to a small frontier town on the Chattahoochee River, called Columbus, Georgia. He spent the next sixteen years of his life growin up near the river and watchin his father plow the hard, red Georgia clay, in an effort to feed his family.

When he turned twenty, he struck out on his own and started his own farm in Harris County, Georgia, near what is today Calloway Gardens, but in those days there was just little Mulberry Grove, and a small village named Hamilton. I was born on that farm in 1857.

Durin my lifetime I saw quite a lot of history as I watched our country grow up. That included the Civil War, which is about as bad as it has ever got in this country. It looks like now though, that we are in some pretty hard times again, and I just can't hold my say any longer.

Here are a few things that remind me that no matter how hard times get, we are still lucky, and mighty beholden to the good Lord for looking out for us. When people ask me how I am, I say, "Better than I deserve, but not as good as I wanna be!" Which is a reminder to me that we all owe everything to the good Lord! But, here are a few of those things that I mentioned.

1. Hearin the bell rung to come in for dinner, after bein in the field since sun up.
2. A dipper full of cold well water, after six hours out in the hot July Georgia sun.
3.The sound of caddie-dids up in the trees at sundown.
4.Watchin the lightnin bugs after dark.
5. Hearin that old bull frog down by the mill pond late in the evening.
6. Waking up in the mornin to the rooster crow, and knowin there are fresh eggs, and homemade biscuits for breakfast.
7. Walkin out to the fields with the fresh scent of Georgia Pine in my nostrils.

Something I ain't never liked: A politician standin on a tree stump makin promises for votes, that you know he ain't never gonna keep! That might be why I decided to run for President of this great land, and since some folks have asked what it is that I stand for, I decided to run a little list in the Enquirer to let everyone know.

"A lot of folks have been askin me where I stand on the issues, besides hatin all of the lyin Skunks and Polecats up in DC." Well there are three big issues facin the country today.

1. Immigration
2. Money
3. Jobs

Well first let me say that when it comes to our borders, that I believe we should have regular patrols to keep them folks from down in Columbus from sneakin in up here in Nankipooh. I also understand that there has been a few of them Roosevelt Liberals from over in Warm Springs comin over here to our barn dances.

When it comes to the broader issue, I ain't wantin none of them folks from Alabama or Tennessee comin around here neither. Now my kin folks came to Nankipooh from South Carolina a few hundred years ago, so I guess them folks are alright, but we don't want none of them yankees sneakin up here from Florida though.

Now when you start talkin about money, its a tough subject, since most of the folks around Nankipooh ain't got much of it. It seems like the government and the banks got most of the money, and they ain't spreadin it around too much. The big Federal Bank up in DC just keeps givin the littler banks money for free, and they use it to buy up mortgages and other banks. The 1st Nankipooh Bank wouldn't even lend old Bascomb any money to put more stock in the Nankipooh General Store. A bunch of folks around here is tradin with each other, since they ain't got no money, but I understand that the government is tryin to figure out how to put a tax on that too.

Maybe the best thing would be for us to print our own money down here in Nankipooh and not use none of them DC greenbacks. We ain't got none anyway. Course the Skunks and Polecats up in DC won't allow that either, since they are the only ones allowed to print money to pay bills, that they ain't got no money for. So I say let's do away with money and go back to usin gold and silver, or just tradin with one another.

Now the hardest thing is how to come up with some more jobs. Maybe the farmers could take on folks to help them, and teach them how to farm, and then after they have learned, they could give them a little strip of land of their own to farm. Old Bascomb is willin to take on a helper at the Nankipooh General Store and teach him how to be a store keeper in exchange for him runnin the soft drink department on a commission basis.

There is a lot of folks that ain't got a job cause they don't know how to do what people is payin for. Maybe the Mayor of Nankipooh could teach some folks about politics, since there seems to be a lot of work for politicians. It also seems that the government and the banks ought to be hirin since they got all the money. If folks don't work, they can't spend money or pay taxes, and that's what it takes to keep things runnin.

Now the one thing we all got to learn to get through hard times, is that you can't buy things that you ain't got no money for. If you are in debt, you can't borrow your way out of debt, just like you can't dig yourself out of a hole! That goes for folks in Nankipooh as well as the Skunks and Polecats up in DC!

Well that about sums up what old Bascomb is all about. I stand for honesty and small government. I also believe in people takin care of themselves, and not expectin somebody else to look out for them. I believe in America and Americans, not slash something else Americans. I believe Americans can lick anybody on this earth, and I believe we can lick the problems set in front of us right now, but we ain't gonna do it if we don't pull together, and we ain't gonna do it by sendin more money to DC.

Oh, there is one more thing old Bascomb stands for, and that's makin Fried Catfish the National Dinner.

"Now that's the way I see it , and you can tell-em I said so."
Bascomb Biggers

"Horseshoes"

DATELINE AUGUST 08, 2012:
"Horseshoes"
By: Bascomb Biggers

Every Thursday is horseshoe pitchin day at the Biggers Grocery Store down in Nankipooh, except of course if its rainin, and then we have a checker tournament. The usual players are George Adams, the richest farmer in Nankipooh, my brother in law, Harry Rogers who works for the railroad, and his son Pete, who is also a railroad man, my brother James, the architect, and of course, Old Bascomb. I like pitchin horseshoes on Thursday, since Wednesday is my regular fishin day, and I always got a good fish tale to tell the boys on Thursday.

Well you know in horseshoes, you score points of three for a ringer, two for a leaner, and one for a shoe within a shoe width of the post. I got to thinkin the other day that some of the politicians runnin this country ought to be paid about the same way. That is, of course, if you can find any that are worth payin to begin with. You know ball players get paid based on whether they can hit or pitch, and the better they do, the more money they make. Now politicians usually get paid accordin to how many times they been elected, and I ain't talkin about their salary, cause you know the more times they been in office, the more money they make on the side. I believe that's called "political influence", and the more of that they got, then the more money they can make.

But what if they was paid based on what they do for the people, or even by how little they steal from the taxpayers? For instance if they was to lower the budget for a whole year, then they get a ringer, or three points. If they was to lower taxes, that might be a leaner, and get them two points, and if they don't get caught stealin for a whole year, then they get one point. Well by the end of a year, we might even have a couple of those boys who actually earned a salary. Of course they don't care much if they don't earn any money, cause their real job is gettin elected, and then re-elected. The more times that happens, the more "political influence" they got. And, that goes for both the Skunk and the Polecat Parties. You know, you can't tell-em apart since they both stink.

"Now that's the way I see it , and you can tell-em I said so."
Bascomb Biggers

"Friends"

DATELINE: 7/01/2012
RE: "Friends"
When I was twelve years old the principal at my school give me a whippin for something I didn't do, and I told my daddy that I was never goin to go back to that school ever again. Daddy says "Son if you ain't goin to school, then you are goin to work on the farm like a grown man", and right then I began what was to become sixty years of bein a farmer. It was also then that me and Albert began workin together.

Albert was the grandson of a slave that had worked on my grandpa's farm, and he was the same age as me, and wasn't goin to school no more, since in those days the black folks didn't go to school past seventh grade. Me and Albert already knew each other, and was friends who went fishin and swimmin together. Workin together for fifteen hours a day like men taught us some new lessons about life, like dependin on other folks to get the job done.

One day me and Albert was hoein out in the cotton field when I turned around and saw Mr. Rattlesnake all curled up and gettin ready to bite me. Before I could even blink, Albert had cut that snake's head clean off with his hoe, and sent Mr. Rattlesnake on down the road to glory, and snake heaven, if there is such a place. From then on me and Albert wern't just fishin buddies, we was brothers.

I worked with Albert for more than forty years, and I have never known a better man. He was honest and hard workin, and me and him sweated through some mighty hot summers on the farm down in Nankipooh. One night late, when Albert was comin home from his job as night watchman at the old spinnin mill down in Columbus, he was run over by the train only a mile or so from his home. He was only fifty seven years old. I ain't got over it yet.

One thing I learned from Albert, was how to tell a good man from a bad one, and how to trust a good man and call him your friend, when you do find one. In this world we are livin in today, it is gettin harder to find good men, so you better hold on to any you do find. It is even harder to find a good man among politicians, so if you do find one, you better send him up to DC. Most of the time we have to choose between two bad ones, and send the better of the two up there, and hope they won't steal as much of our money as the other one would have.

"Now, That's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so."
Bascomb Biggers

"Testimonial"

DATELINE: 5/16/2012
RE: "Testimonial"

The following is a statement from a Bascomb Biggers supporter.

"The President and the Democrats are succeeding again in dividing and distracting the American public by pandering to minorities, and raising emotional issues which have nothing to do with solving the economic crisis in America today, The President has been so unsuccessful in coming up with solutions, that all he can offer is distractions.

Whether it be scaring seniors over Social Security, turning blacks against the bad white man, pitting the poor against the rich, or the latest, turning gays and other emotional folks against those fascist Republicans, it is working.

Meanwhile the Republican candidate is still searching for his personality.

While Americans focus on Abortion, Same Sex Marriage, The Evil Rich and Capitalism, Racial Conflict and a host of other "Hot Bed" issues, the true problems of the country like, Huge National Debt, Sky-Rocketing Energy Costs, and Unemployment are not addressed.

The only answer is Bascomb Biggers for President!"...nb

"Now, That's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so."

Bascomb Biggers

BASCOMB BIGGERS FOR PRESIDENT !
PLATFORM PLANK #9-Make Fried Catfish the National Dinner

"The Man from Nankipooh"

DATELINE: 4/10/2012
RE: "The Man From Nankipooh"


Well a lotta folks have been askin me what the difference is between the Skunks and the Polecats, and I can tell you that about the only difference is the way they want to spend the money that they steal from you. Other than that, they both stink! Now that brings me to another question, now that we are down to one Skunk and one Polecat to go up against the man from Nankipooh. What is the difference between a "Flip-flopper" and a "Flop"?

Well, you see, one has changed his stand so many times, that you ain't real sure what exactly it is that he stands for, other than wantin to be elected. The other ain't changed his stripes much, other than lyin about his record, but the record in truth is a complete failure at doin anything other than spendin your money. Of course, there are a few Skunks left who won't admit that they are finished, but you can put a fork in-em, cause they are done.

It reminds me of a fishin trip awhile back, when me and Clem Patterson was fishin on the Standing Boy Creek up near Mulberry Grove. Well you see me and Clem had a bet goin as to who was goin to catch the most fish that day, with the winner gettin a bucket of beer from the other one. By five o'clock I had done caught seventeen bluegill to Clem's four, but he just wouldn't give it up. So he says, "I will go you double or nothin, that I catch a bigger fish than you before six o'clock".

Well right after that, I caught a bluegill that must have weighed a pound and a half, which was a really big one for that little creek. But old Clem he just wouldn't give it up, and then about five minutes before six, he got a bite that just about pulled that cane pole right out of his hands. "I got you now, Bascomb", he says as he struggles to land that mighty fish. Well he finally drug it up to the bank, and it turns out it wasn't a fish at all, but a big old three or four pound snappin turtle. Of course, old Clem claimed that it counted even if it wasn't a fish, and I argued that we was fishin not turtlin, and so nobody got a beer, and me and Clem have been arguin about that day ever since.

That's kinda what this election seems to be all about, with nobody bein able to agree what the contest is really about, except they all want to win, and get a taste of your money. The truth is though, that this is about fixin what's broke about our country, so most of the money needs to go toward that, and that's just what old Bascomb wants to do. We got some serious business to take care of here, so we better get to doin it instead of arguin about who gets to count the money!

"Now, That's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so."

Bascomb Biggers

"The County Commissioner"

DATELINE: 3/14/2012
RE: "The County Commissioner"


I been thinkin a lot about all the political shenanigans we been watchin lately, and it reminded me of old Dub Johnston when he ran for County Commissioner down here in Nankipooh. Now Dub had moved into Nankipooh about fifteen years before, when he bought old man Robertson's Feed and Grain. Dub was a likable man mainly cause he was the one always buyin the drinks, or pickin up the tab down at the cafe. In fact his favorite sayin was "I got money I ain't even spent yet".

Well a few years ago Dub decided that he was gonna run for County Commissioner, and he commenced a campaign like we ain't never seen in these parts before. He was givin speeches where ever there was more than three people, and sponsorin things like pie eatin contests to drum up a crowd. He was also makin promises to give folks things from the county for free, like gradin their driveway, or promisin a county job like deputy sheriff. He even offered one old boy the county dog catcher job. It got to the point that he would offer up most anything to get your vote.

Well not too long after Dub won the election people started wantin to collect on those campaign promises, and that's when things got a little ticklish. You see the county only had one deputy sheriff and Dub had promised the job to more than a dozen. It turns out that there was no county dog catcher, nor the money to pay one either. It also seems that about fifty people expected to get their driveways graded, but the county could only do about five or six a year. This, of course stirred up a lot of anger, and before you could say scat, the voters had voted for a recall of old Dub, and would not even shop at his Feed and Grain any more, and Dub ended up havin to leave the county.

Well I learned a big lesson here, and that was that if you promise folks something, you better be able to give something to at least some of them, or you might have to move out of the county. So, old Bascomb has decided not to promise anything to anybody, and that way nobody is mad at you, and you can stay put where you want to. So you just listen to what those Skunks and Polecats from up in DC are promising and figure for yourself whether they can pay off or not.

"Now, That's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so."

Bascomb Biggers

BASCOMB BIGGERS FOR PRESIDENT !
PLATFORM PLANK #9-Make Fried Catfish the National Dinner

"The Shell Game"

DATELINE: 2/14/2012
RE: "The Shell Game"


When I was a young man a small carnival passed through Nankipooh, and we was all excited about things like havin a Gypsy tell our fortune, and getin to see an elephant. One of the things I remember most was a man with three walnut shells and a green pea, and for a quarter, you got to guess which shell the pea was under. Of course that's hard to do even if the game is honest, but if it ain't, then you got no chance at all of winnin.

Well folks, we got a shell game of sorts goin on right now in the good old USA, and it is effectin everybody, includin the folks down here in Nankipooh. You see the name of the shell game is distraction, so that you take your eye off of the pea. Lets say we got three shells, the National Economy, Unemployment, and all the big Social Issues, and the pea is your money.

While the government is distractin you with those three big shells, your money is dissapearin just as fast as that pea bein palmed by the carnival man. Take the way the Federal Reserve is givin your tax money free to the banks, and then they turn around and loan it to you for three to five percent interest. Now if you are lucky enough to have any extra money to save back, the bank won't pay you more than one percent to keep it for you, and why should they, when they can get money to loan for free from the federal bank.

Now I ain't much for math, but figure this. If you was lucky enough to have $10,000 extra money, like that Skunk Candidate who was willin to make a bet for $10,000, and you put that money in the bank, if you was lucky you would get 1% interest. At the end of one year, you would have made $100. Of course, last year the inflation rate was 3% so your original $10,000 is only worth $9700 plus the $100, so you now got $9800. Don't forget though, that Uncle Sam wants taxes on the $100 in interest, which is about $20, so what you really got is $9780.

Meanwhile the bank loaned out your money at 5% interest to your neighbor Silas Jones, and they made $500 off of him for the year. So the bank made money, and so did the government, but you and Silas are just gettin deeper in the hole. This ain't gonna stop till the federal bank stops givin the banks money for free, so they don't have to pay you anything for usin your money. That's why Mr. Thomas Jefferson was against a big National Bank two hundred years ago, because he knew what would happen, and it has!

The big question is, how long are you goin to be distracted by big banks, big government, and professional politicans? If you don't get your eye on that pea, and your money, there won't be nothin left in a few more years. Wake Up America! No more Skunks and Polecats stealin you money, let's make a change. Vote for the man from Nankipooh, he won't steal near as much, and will let you get a little bit ahead. It would be like havin a man with a shotgun guardin your henhouse, so the Skunks and Polecats don't get all the eggs. You could also take him with you when the carnival comes to town so that the pea don't end up in the palm of the man runnin the shell game.

"Now, That's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so."
Bascomb Biggers

Professional Fools

DATELINE: 1/23/2012
RE: "Professional Fools"


It sure has been fun sittin around down here in Nankipooh watchin the professional politicians make fools of themselves. This Presidential election has got to be just about the most confusin one this country, and Old Bascomb have ever seen. The Skunks and Polecats parties couldn't put on a better show, if they was P.T. Barnum and Mr. Baily themselves, with a whole tent full of clowns, which is of course is just another name for fools.

Now, you know, Old Bascomb has tossed his hat into the ring for President, but I never knew that it was goin to be a three ring circus. Why, a man could grow old and die, just waitin for the dust to settle, and see who the final choice for Skunk and Polecat will be to go up against the man from Nankipooh.

Just for a re-cap, let's see what we got here. First we got a man sittin in the White House who ain't never seen a dollar he didn't want to spend. The fools in the Skunk Party figured this would be an easy chance for them to go up against the man sittin there, and they started out with a whole bunch of challengers, who very shortly commenced to chasin their own tails. When they got tired of that, they started chasin each other's tails. You had several of them who have had a hard time keepin their pants zipped up, and most of the rest don't know when to zip up their mouth. All in all, its been a pretty good show so far.

Now the Polecats have been mostly just sittin and watchin, and besides enjoyin the show, they been lookin pretty much like a coyote watchin a prarie dog, and waitin for dinner. Course while they been watching, they been gobblin up dollars faster than a black mouse eatin cheese on a white floor. I guess they figure that if they don't hold on to the White House next year, it won't matter much, since they will have done got all the money they can carry off anyways.

This is of course has got the Skunk party kinda worried, since they didn't get their fill the last time they was in charge, and the Polecats have done took stealin money from the voters to a new all time high. Now my friends this might make you ask the question, "what's in it for Old Bascomb?", and I'm gonna tell you. All I want is a full time job, and a chance to cut back on stealin the taxpayer's money to a reasonable level. I figure about half of what the professional politicians are gettin right now would be about right.

You see I believe we can run the government on a whole lot less money, and the Skunks and Polecats can still fill their pockets, while leavin a little left over for doin the work of the country, which means a little bit for you, the taxpayers. After all, you are the ones payin the bill, and Old Bascomb only wants a fair day's wage for a fair day's work, so I see the job of President as being kinda like a guard on the henhouse, so that the Skunks and the Polecats don't get all the eggs. Oh, and I do want to make Fried Catfish the National Dinner, with enough Hush Puppies for everyone!

"Now, That's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so."

Bascomb Biggers

"Will Rogers and Politics"

DATELINE: 1/01/2012
RE: "Will Rogers and Politics"


Back durin the Great Depression, when we was in really hard times, and the country was hurtin real bad, there was a man named Will Rogers who kept us all on balance by makin fun of some of the things that was hurtin us the most. One of his favorite subjects was the government, and if he was alive today, he sure would have a lot of ammunition to fire off at these rascals we got runnin things today. Below are a few of his best quotes which seem to work just fine with today's crop of professional politicians.

Will Rogers Comments on Politics and the Government
"The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other."
"A fool and his money are soon elected."
“The short memories of the American voters is what keeps our politicians in office."
"There is no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."
"The difference between death and taxes is death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets."
"Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago."
"The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected."
"If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of Congress?"
"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."

Now, back in Will Rogers’ time when we really were in hard times, he made a lot of us laugh when there wasn’t much that seemed funny. I ain’t Will Rogers and I ain’t all that funny, but I do know that one thing this country needs is a good laugh, and the government sure is tryin hard to give us one. One thing about old Will, he sure liked dogs, and a man that likes dogs can’t be all bad. One of my favorite quotes from Will was...
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went’.

That reminds me of one of my favorite old sayins, which is, “the more people I meet, the better I like my dog!”
Of course that sure applies to politicians, both the Skunk and the Polecat parties, which is one reason old Bascomb is runnin for President, besides needin a steady job. Of course I ain't a Skunk or a Polecat, I'm what you call "Independent". Remember folks, I ain't never lied to you, except for maybe right now.

"Now, That's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so."

Bascomb Biggers

"Preachin"

DATELINE: 12/12/2011
RE: "Preachin"


My wife's daddy was a school principal and they lived in a little small town up in the northwest corner of the state called Flintstone. Now Flintstone, Georgia ain't much of a town, and it is right across the state line from another little bitty town called St. Elmo, Tennessee, which is where her family went to services, at a little bitty one hundred year old church. These two little towns is so small that both of them together is about the same size as Nankipooh. 

Now her daddy being an educated man and all, fancied himself to know a bit about public speakin, him bein the school principal and all. It seems that the old preacher at the church they went to had a bad habit of not lookin at the congregation while he preached. Instead he usually stared at a patch of ceiling back behind them while he gave his sermon. Now after a few years of this, Pa, as I called my wife's daddy, got just about fed up with this, since the man's sermons were kinda borin anyhow. Now Pa was a man of action, so he decided that he would take that old preacher aside and teach him a little bit about talkin in public.

So one day after the service was over, Pa took the preacher aside and said "look here Reverend, I been standin up in front of folks and talkin for most of my life, and I know that it is important to look at people when you talk to them. It seems that you are always lookin up at the ceiling while you preach." Well that old preacher looked Pa straight in the eye, and said, "I don't look at the people cause I'm lookin up to God hopin that he will tell me the right thing to say." So Pa says, "Well God must not be lookin back very often, cause if you was lookin at the people while you preach, you would see that half of them are asleep every Sunday."

Now Pa and his family kept goin to the church afterwards, but you might say that him and that old preacher never quite saw eye to eye after that little talk. It got me to thinkin about how important it is to look someone in the eye when you are talkin to them. It helps folks believe that you are being honest with them. Course a professional politician knows how to look you in the eye and not even see you.


"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers

"The Christmas Tree"

DATELINE: 12/01/2011
RE: "The Christmas Tree"


When I was a boy growin up on the old Biggers' farm in Nankipooh, we always cut a tree off of our land to use as a Christmas tree. Now we had lots of different trees to choose from, but we always had a cedar tree for our Christmas tree. One year when I was about fifteen, I had spotted a perfect tree up by the main road that was just the right shape and size, so I asked my Grandpa about cuttin it. He said no, since that he could see it from the house, he wanted it to stay there, and I should go further back in the woods behind the house and get one from back there.

Well a couple of days later I was huntin quail out in the little valley between the house and the main road with my old single shot, 16 gauge shotgun. Now I'll tell you that you have to be a pretty good shot if you want to eat quail when you hunt with a single shot, and no bird-dog. Well I ain't braggin, but I ate a lot of quail back in those days. About this time I happened to look up on the ridge where the main road was, and I saw a wagon pulled over and a man and a couple of kids standin next to that pretty little cedar tree that my Grandpa wouldn't let me cut.

I walked up there just about the time the man hit that tree the first lick with his ax. I said, "sure is a pretty tree ain't it?" Well the man was in his mid thirties, and his boys were about seven and nine. He says, "Yeah its mighty pretty, and we are goin to use it for our Christmas tree." Then I said, "reckon whose land this is?" and he says, "I don't know." About then, I pointed that old single shot 16 right at his belly and said, "Well this is our land, and since you done started cuttin, you might as well finish up, and we will be havin that tree for our Christmas, and then you and your young-uns can git and don't come back!"

Well that tree did make a mighty pretty tree for our Christmas, but Grandpa always was a little sad that he couldn't see it from the front porch, standin tall on the ridge up by the road.

Now folks, there is a lotta people in this old world that are willin to come and take what is yours, without sayin howdy do. We got plenty up there in DC that keeps takin more and more from us, and they don't seem to be able to stop. That's one reason that old Bascomb is runnin for President, because I aim to stop at least some of the takin, and I don't need my old single shot 16 gauge to do it.

"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers

"The Supreme Court"

DATELINE: 11/16/2011
RE: "The Supreme Court"


I once had the chance to sit in on a hearin before the Supreme Court of the United States of America, and I learned quite a few things that I didn't know. First I learned that there are nine of them, but all of them ain't awake at the same time. There was one who slept through the whole thing (ain't mentionin no names, but some call him CT). The second thing that I learned was that they ain't always polite to the folks speakin to them, cause they keep interuptin with one question after another, sometimes before the one in front of them has even had a chance to answer the first question. Course, I don't mind them bein in-polite much, since the ones standin in front of them is lawyers, and I ain't got much use for lawyers at all.

Now back in 1911 there was a big case before the court involvin the big oil business.
It was Standard Oil vs. the United States. The Chief Justice was a man named Edward Douglass White. Mr. White was from Thibodaux, Louisiana and had been an officer in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, so he couldn't be all bad. He was Chief Justice from 1910 til 1921.
In those days we was all scared of the big corporations takin advantage of the citizens. (sound familiar?) Well the court ruled that Standard Oil could not have the whole U.S. oil business just for themselves., so they had to break up into smaller companies which still controlled more than 75% of the business. These days we got about four big companies controllin most of the oil business, along with about four big banks, and about four big stock market companies. These are of course, controlled by about four million lawyers, and what with most of the Supreme Court Justices bein lawyers themselves, you ain't got much of a chance if you ain't one yourself.

Now you realize that most of them Skunks (Republicans) and Polecats (Democrats) up in DC are lawyers don't you? When I was up in DC watchin the court, there was people scurrin around all over town, and I was wonderin to myself, "how many of them was lawyers?" Just imagine if all lawyers was banned from DC, how deserted would the place be? One thing is for sure, I bet we would get a lot of work done! Vote for Bascomb Biggers for President of these United States of America. I ain't no lawyer.


"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers
BASCOM BIGGERS FOR PRESIDENT !
PLATFORM PLANK #9-Make Fried Catfish the National Dinner !

"The New Orleans"

DATELINE: 10/20/2011
RE: "The New Orleans"



My daddy used to talk about what a great man Mark Twain was, writin about the mighty Mississippi, and river boats, and all that stuff about Huckleberry Finn. Well it set me to thinkin about how all that got started, and here we are at the 200th anniversary of the first river boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans.

It is the 200th anniversary of the voyage of the steamboat New Orleans. The New Orleans left Pittsburgh, PA on October 20, 1811, and changed the course of the history of the United States as it cruised down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, arrivin in New Orleans, LA in January of 1812. Now that ain't a speed record which stands today, since it took more that twelve weeks for the trip, but it is the beginnin of a new era for this country.

Now I don't recollect any politicians being on board, but there probably was a few just for the headlines, and by the way, one of the owners of the boat was an ancestor of them Roosevelts. Now this was a big event and it set the tone for Mark Twain, and the importance of the mighty Mississippi to this country. Of course the government has been tryin to control the river ever since, just like it does everything else.

The government's control of the river ain't been too good after these last couple of centuries, what with there bein quite a number of floods, and a lot of loss of life and money along with it. If you ever wonder if the government would be any good in charge of anything else, just look at their record on the Mississippi river.

The two parties we got up in DC right now (Skunks and Polecats) is just the same as all the ones before them, they want to control everything from the Mississippi river to what kind of light bulbs you use in your house. I say its time for the government to git out of all the business that don't involve protectin the citizens and the borders, and makin the country safe for the people that pay them their wages.

"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers

"Snakes"

DATELINE: 10/04/2011
RE: "Snakes"


Growin up in the woods around Nankipooh, you learn a thing or two about snakes. Now we got all kinds of snakes around here, and some of them might kill you, while others are just a little aggreavatin, and a few can help out every now and then. We got diamond back rattlers, timber rattlers, pigmy rattlers, cotton mouths, copperheads, and coral snakes. Grandpa Biggers used to say, "Only kill the ones that have got poison, but if you ain't sure, go ahead and kill em anyway." You can always tell your friends, which are the king snakes and the garter snakes.

The best thing to kill a snake with is a hoe, with a sharp blade and at least a six foot handle, so you can keep the snake out of strikin range. You also should not use the same hoe you use to fix hoe cakes with.

I once killed a chicken snake, which looks a little like a rattle snake, except for a round, instead of triangle lookin head. This one had a bluge behind his head and I wasn't sure, so I fetched my hoe and chopped off his head, but it turned out that the buldge was a big old toad he had just swallowed. Well the toad, he hopped out of that snake just as happy as could be, since he figured he was a gonner when he got swallowed. Of course the chicken snake didn't think much of my mistake, since he was dead.

Now you all know we got a bunch of varmits up in DC, belongin to either the Skunk or Polecat party, but we also got quite a few snakes up there too, and you can't always tell which ones got poison, and which ones ain't. Now skunks and polecats, and snakes will all get into the chicken coop and rob you of your eggs, so maybe its time to sharpen up that hoe and commence to choppin heads.

We got a whole bunch up there who don't want to do nothin except lay around all day eatin your eggs, and lie about whether they got poison or not. Now I ain't sayin they are all bad, just most of them, and they ain't doin nothin to solve this country's problems. Well old Bascomb ain't a polecat or a skunk, and he shore ain't a snake. Shoot, I hardly ever eat eggs, and I ain't got enough poison to kill a gnat! The one thing I do have is an honest reputation, and a will to be fair, and do the right thing. So Bascomb is bound to be better in DC than what you got up there right now, besides I need a payin job, and I am willin to work for half of what the Skunks and Polecats are gettin. After all friends, I ain't never lied to you, except for maybe right now.

"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers

"Bascomb Takes a Stand"

DATELINE: 9/15/2011
RE: "Bascomb takes a Stand"


A lot of folks have been askin me where I stand on the issues, besides hatin all of the lyin Skunks and Polecats up in DC. Well there are three big issues facin the country today.
1. Immigration
2. Money
3. Jobs

Well first let me say that when it comes to our borders, that I believe we should have regular patrols to keep them folks from down in Columbus from sneakin in up here in Nankipooh. I also understand that there has been a few of them Roosevelt Liberals from over in Warm Springs comin over here to our barn dances.

When it comes to the broader issue, I ain't wantin none of them folks from Alabama or Tennessee comin around here neither. Now my kin folks came to Nankipooh from South Carolina a few hundred years ago, so I guess them folks are alright, but we don't want none of them yankees sneakin up here from Florida though.

Now when you start talkin about money, its a tough subject, since most of the folks around Nankipooh ain't got much of it. It seems like the government and the banks got most of the money, and they ain't spreadin it around too much. The big Federal Bank up in DC just keeps givin the littler banks money for free, and they use it to buy up mortgages and other banks. The 1st Nankipooh Bank wouldn't even lend old Bascomb any money to put more stock in the Nankipooh General Store. A bunch of folks around here is tradin with each other, since they ain't got no money, but I understand that the government is tryin to figure out how to put a tax on that too.

Maybe the best thing would be for us to print our own money down here in Nankipooh and not use none of them DC greenbacks. We ain't got none anyway. Course the Skunks and Polecats up in DC won't allow that either, since they are the only ones allowed to print money to pay bills, that they ain't got no money for. So I say let's do away with money and go back to usin gold and silver, or just tradin with one another.

Now the hardest thing is how to come up with some more jobs. Maybe the farmers could take on folks to help them, and teach them how to farm, and then after they have learned, they could give them a little strip of land of their own to farm. Old Bascomb is willin to take on a helper at the Nankipooh General Store and teach him how to be a store keeper in exchange for him runnin the soft drink department on a commission basis.

There is a lot of folks that ain't got a job cause they don't know how to do what people is payin for. Maybe the Mayor of Nankipooh could teach some folks about politics, since there seems to be a lot of work for politicians. It also seems that the government and the banks ought to be hirin since they got all the money. If folks don't work, they can't spend money or pay taxes, and that's what it takes to keep things runnin.

Now the one thing we all got to learn to get through hard times, is that you can't buy things that you ain't got no money for. If you are in debt, you can't borrow your way out of debt, just like you can't dig yourself out of a hole! That goes for folks in Nankipooh as well as the Skunks and Polecats up in DC!

"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers

"Fish Tales"

DATELINE: 8/19/2011
RE: "Fish Tales"


I was fishin down at the mill pond with my old cajun buddy Beaudreaux the other day, and the fish weren't bitin much, so we started swappin yarns with one another about fishin trips. Now old Beaudreaux is a famous liar from way back, and he can even out lie most any Skunk or Polecat politician from up in DC, and that's sayin a lot!

Well I start out, and I say, "Beaudreaux you remember that big drought we had back in '95? Well it was so hot and dry back then, that one day I was fishin down at the creek, and when I finnaly caught a little scrawney catfish, he had three ticks on his back from being out of the water so much."

"Shoot, that ain't nothin," says Beaudreaux. "Last year me and my cousin Jimbo was out on the bayou doin some frog giggin late at night, and just as I had gigged a frog and was fetchin him into the boat, a big old channel cat jumped up and grabbed that frog and my gig, and made off with the whole lot. When he did, the kerosene lantern got tangled up in the mess, and he fetched it off with him too. Well we couldn't see nothin without no light, since there weren't no moon, so we went on back home."

"The next day me and old Jimbo went back down to the bayou to look for my frog gig, and we come up on the rope I had tied to it, layin in the water up against the bank. Well at least I got my gig back, I says, and I got ahold of that rope and you know what, when I pulled it out of the water there was my frog gig, with the frog still stuck on it, and holdin on to that frog was a twenty pound channel cat. Well looky here! I done got lucky, and I pulled that catfish up out of the water, and you know what? That lantern come up out of the water all tangled up in the rope with the gig! And, do you know what else? It had been so hot and dry that that lantern was still lit!"

Well I knew right then that there was no more use in swappin lies with Beaudreaux! That man could lie his way out of a Lion's den, with a story about a mouse, and an old shoe, but that's one for another day.

The fact is, them old Skunks and Polecats up in DC think they got the market cornered when it comes to lyin, and I got to admit they sure got a fair amount of the votin folks all caught up in their lies. But when it comes to tellin lies, they can't hold a candle to a good old Southern Boy, especially a Cajun!

Now I have done told you before, that you can trust old Bascomb, because I ain't never lied to you, except for maybe right now.



"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers

"Borrowin Money"

 

DATELINE: 8/08/2011
RE: "Borrowin Money"


The other day I went down to the Nankipooh 1st Bank to see old Lem Barlow the head banker down there, about borrowin some extra money, to help get some more stock for the Nankipooh General Store. Now, I been doin business with old Lem for about forty years now, and him and me has always got along just fine.

Well this time Lem says, "Sorry Bascomb, the bank can't lend you any more money, since you already owe us almost half of what the store brings in every year." So I says, "So what, the boys up in DC just borrowed some more money for the government, and they are in about the same shape as me and the Nankipooh General Store." Well old Lem just leaned back in his chair and started laughin. You ain't the government, Bascomb, and besides you ain't got a printing press to print up more money to pay your bills with!" Now I did have a cousin one time, who had a money printin press, but the T-Men caught him, and now he lives in a big house in Atlanta over on Boulevard Ave.

It seems like these days there is a whole lot of things the government can do which they don't allow us to do. Such as runnin a gamblin business (Lottery), while we can't even run a legal poker game for money, out of our house. Now I don't want to run a poker house or print money, I just want a loan to help me run the Nankipooh General Store. Now, that ain't fixin to happen, you see my credit ratin has done gone down below AAA.

I hate to tell those rascals up in DC, but their ratin with me has done fell below triple F, and I don't feel much like givin them no more money.


"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers

"Retirement"

DATELINE: 7/25/2011
RE: "Retirement"


I was sittin down at the Nankipooh General Store the other day playin checkers with my cousin Pete on one of those plus ninety degree Nankipooh summer days, when in comes my cousin Jimmy lookin just about whipped. Old Jimmy picked up a mason jar of sweet tea and downed it in just about one gulp. "What's up Jimmy?", I says. "My old mule Jenny just dropped dead in the traces while I was plowin out back of the house", he says. I guess it was time for her to "retire" he says.

Now that started me thinkin about retirement, which ain't that far off for old Bascomb. Of course that little dab of money I got saved up for retirement ain't much, and these days its worth less than it was, what with the Skunks and the Polecats spendin money they ain't got, and printin more to cover for it. The bank pays me less for my savins account than the rate of inflation, and yet the DC politicians keep givin the banks more money, and they keep gettin richer and richer. If they ain't got enough, the big Federal bank will loan them more at no interest. Lets see you borrow money and pay no interest!

They say there is more than one way to skin a cat, and I reckon that the Shunks and the Polecats got all the ways figured out, when it comes to the big guys gettin richer and the little guys gettin poorer. All they got to do is keep some of the folk's heads above water, so they can keep squeezin enough money out of them to keep themselves and the fat cats rollin. Of course sooner or later, you can't squeeze no more out of that turnip, but they can't see that far down the road. They just want to keep runnin up the debt till everything comes fallin down.

Now I ain't tryin to make you feel low, it just seems that old Bascomb and a lot of others ain't goin to find retirement till we fall dead behind the plow, just like old Jenny.  The only thing I know to do is keep throwin the Skunks and Polecats out of office, till we get a batch that will stop spendin money they ain't got!

"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"
Bascomb Biggers

"100 Years Ago"

DATELINE: 7/18/2011
RE: "100 Years Ago"


In 1911 things was real different from what they are now, but a lotta things was pretty much the same. For instance, if you look at a couple of headlines from 1911, you see that folks was fightin over Libya just like they are today. Also in 1911 the U.S. Government was tryin to take some of the power away from the big oil companies, which they claim to have been doin for the last 100 years. Of course things got a lot better when Jimmy Carter was President about 35 years ago, and created the U. S. Department of Energy to study on how to reduce American dependence on foreign oil. That really worked!

Here is those Headlines.

1911 Tripolitan War -(9/28/11) The Italians declared war on Turkey in September. The Italians were interested in annexing Libya, the only available land in North Africa. All of the European powers opposed the action, but none were sufficiently motivated to take any action. The Italians expected the war to be brief, but it took them over a year to achieve victory against stiff opposition.

1911 Standard Oil Broken-(5/15/11) In the largest and most viable anti-trust case in American history to date, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey was ordered to divest itself of its 37 interlocking firms. An appeal to the Supreme Court was turned down.

There you go, history keeps repeatin itself, and the DC politicians still say they are workin hard to make things better for us! What I don't understand is how so many of the voters keep gettin fooled over and over by the same old lies. It don't matter who is tellin the lies neither. It could have been the Whigs or the Tories, the Grangers or the Bull Moose, the Republicans or the Democrats, or the Skunks or the Polecats, its all the same manure, just a different spreader.

When the American Voter realizes that a politician's only fear is losin his office, then maybe we can start to get somewhere. That's why you need to vote for Bascomb Biggers. Why not? You been swallowin all that horse manure for more than 100 years, and the only thing that has changed, is that things keep gittin worse. Course, we could keep on waitin until there ain't no money left, and then the Skunks and the Polecats wouldn't want their jobs no more.

I don't promise nothin, except to try to help myself to an honest paycheck, for an honest day's wage, and look out for you where ever I can. Don't forget, I ain't never lied to you, except maybe, for right now.

"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'em I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers