Adam Schiff: “His rant this morning reinforces the urgency of our work. America is a Republic, if we can keep it.” (paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin.)

(photo courtesy of pixabay.com)

From NBC News, this quote:

“The President cannot use the power of his office to pressure foreign leaders to investigate his political opponents.  His rant this morning reinforces the urgency of our work.  America is a Republic, if we can keep it.”  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a tweet.

“if we can keep it” is a paraphrase of a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin, which supposedly went, when he was asked what kind of government the Constitutional Convention had just created, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

From google:

It requires the constant attention and devotion of all citizens. There is a story, often told, that upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

(attributed to a “Featured Snippet” from constitutioncenter.org)