Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Constitution Day 2014, "A republic...if you can keep it"

It was on September 17, 1787 when, after a speech by the aged Benjamin Franklin, thirty-nine delegates--not all of them--signed the United States Constitution in Philadelphia. It is the oldest constitution on the planet still in use. Although some people argue that our extra-legal president, Barack Obama, makes that statement a dubious one. Our hope-and-change president was a teacher of constitutional law at the University of Chicago. His students should receive a refund for the expense paid to attend his classes.

As for Ben Franklin, who was commonly called Dr. Franklin by his admirers, when he left Independence Hall after Constitution was endorsed, a woman asked the genius, "Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy." Franklin replied, "A republic...if you can keep it."

Over 225 years later, we are still fighting to keep it.

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