evidence: Americans remember Benjamin Franklin as one of our founding fathers. And well they should, as he was not just our most famous citizen at our country’s birth, he was a central part of that birth. [...] Unfortunately, the result has been that attention which deserves to be paid to what Franklin said about America and the liberty it was designed to protect has often been crowded out by that paid to his other accomplishments. It is worth remembering some of those inspirational words. [...] Benjamin Franklin made clear the ultimate intended result of America’s experiment in liberty, when he said, "God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: This is my country." As we reflect on the political developments of the day, we should take a moment to reflect on how far we are from that goal, and ask how new life can be brought to that ideal which America was intended to embody.