I missed Ben Franklin's 300th birthday, which should have been celebrated with revelry and debauchery. Stacy Schiff of the NYT remembered, though, and sums up beautifully what his contributions were to our country. He not only gave us bifocals, stoves and newspapers, he also gave America its go-to-hell attitude. If Washington was the father of his country, Franklin was more like the disreputable uncle who teaches you to spit, swear and ogle wenches, and whom your parents would rather you didn't spend too much time around.
Happy birthday, Ben! And a H/T to Patrick at the Paragraph Farmer.
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