Talking about that a little bit later on but im just really excited about that. I want to talk about why that day is importantportant to me at kind of ties into the theme of the book. Im not talking about the book yet, introducing myself first. Lp wctually, let me back up. Kno if you dont know what socratesc in and the city is and if youre watchingop on cspan book tv yo, have no idea. I want to thank you for wrapping up your early bird dinner and hustling to the tv, i thank you for that. Tv its tough to pull yourself away. Golden corral has several suitsp and i know itsre tough to pull yourself away that i appreciate. Ive been on cspan before, they getetbefore a my humor. Its okay. Want to but this is a socrates in thes h and the city event but its a little different event. Normally i interview someone any you can go on youtube. We have tons of videos of me ex interviewing extraordinary people. I cant even think of the list e now. Bu but we had Malcolm Gladwell on the stage, we had share, tony fields, jack carter, steve georg allen, the andrews sisters, the lennon sisters, smothers brothers, flip wilson, abbott and costello, the ritz brothers, [laughter] whatever makes you squirm what is the nature of reality those questions that people dont get into. So everything is fair game that means all kinds of different guests and subjects we encourage you last year we did a bunch of us even san oxford in england because he said what we take it there . We have had a wonderful time over the years we had a speech data podium like s i think about cheers ago we decided i with the then i guess guest one wrote the book i was the speaker and i introduced myself. And get messed with my head so i decided not to do that this time but they have come up with another book so it is of question that we should all be thinking about it is something that we should be interested so my Publisher Viking has many representatives but they picked the date as the release date do they know this is flag day . Industry is very important to me it turns out they did not they just picked it as the day that it should come now. I dont exactly call it a miracle but it is a coincidence but it is that the center of what happens in the book i will not introduce myself. That would be a slap in the face so your beano i. M. Neece allotted you im stunned at how many people are here if youre not from new york raise your hand. Unbelievable. [applause] is incredible im so thrilled and a number of friends have not seen in many years thank you for coming in and sharing this important event so now let me turn to the subject at hand the book i have just written is called if you can keep it so i will talk for a few minutes about that then we will open it up but theres so much i want to say on the subject of the book i hardly know where to start. I will start with the title. If you can keep it some people get the reference and other people did not graduate highschool. Just kidding. I would not have gotten the reference myself but once you know something you feel everybody should know that. In 1787 franklin was exiting Independence Hall in philadelphia. Part of the background is that i did not know this. The Parochial School i went to a Good University but none of these places really seem to communicate that i will show you why wrote the book writers such a burning passion to communicate but is 1787 date struggling so well for the United States of america. We genuinely had miraculously come into existence it is staggering we should not have sense i do not put the battle of long island into the book he could not pull that off. There are so many miracles that happened if you put them together you say this is remarkable nonetheless looking at the things that came together to create the nation. I would read these to say really does seem like god had his hand on the creation of the nation you have to understand it is remarkable that we are here. Become into existence rather miraculously to win the war but in 1783 the articles of confederation with the weak federal government the whole point was heavily federal government. [applause] and the teapartier. But if it is too limited and have no government so there is a fragile balance all of the leaders in the founders understood it was not quite working so they said we have to go back to the drawing board to figure this out and spend 100 days the creation of the constitution itself seems miraculous they have to read what they wrote they all say try to find a compromise between the slave states between maine and georgia was essentially impossible a nonworking in they were despairing this could never work imagine the people inside the Constitutional Convention rethinking what will they do with their . A limited monarchy . There had never ben a republic or anything like that what is the big deal . It is in the history of the world so people are in this room doing something and people are wondering what will happen . A limited monarchy . Weld Benjamin Franklin one of the most secular of all founders asset people to parade you realize how bizarre that was at Benjamin Franklin asked . And he said god came to our aid in the formation of this country why would we doubt he would help us now . The representative the every pass things worked out they created the constitution many of those used the word for iraq unless it was astounding that the seated worked out and he walks out of the building and a woman woman, mrs. Powerball of philadelphia confronts him. So i can imagine in this dowager says dr. Franklin what have you given us . A monarchy or a republic . He says a republic madam, if you can keep it. That is where this comes from. [applause] maybe you heard it history class but it is an odd quirk of history the only way we know about this exchange and franklin is James Mchenry the 34 yearold delegate heard this and went home to write this live and his diary the reason we know the existence of this isnt like the speech this was off the cuff but think of the words if you can keep it he understood what they created buses utterly unprecedented but the greek city states were very small for a tiny period hear we have 13 colonies a couple Million People the idea to bring this idea of Self Government to one nation had never been done and the founders and the framers really understood what they were trying to do had never been done improbably rationally should not be possible because of it has even done for millennia bin why do they think it could be possible now . We take this for granted now of course, it works. But they really did think first of all, the constitution is to be an extraordinary document which it is but requires the people to keep it if you dont it goes away and evaporates the natural state of affairs is not civil republican democracy. This is not normal. That is why well always taken this club so basically franklin did not say this lightly he said if you can keep it now is that to you so pick up that anomaly where to continue and if they dont it goes away so as we know the people did it and it worked i think we forgot about the idea of keeping it so i submit for the last 40 years we have forgotten what it takes to keep it and how important it is for us to keep it so i think we have come to a place where we are in trouble we are not keeping it basically it is like a cup flour and looks very nice but it is dead in two weeks it will look very nice i really think that is where we are that is not the kind of thing you would notice but i think to be a people you have to know who you are that negative narrative has taken hold if you focus on the native americans those are bad things that we need to read knowledge and repent but if you get stuck if you keep saying we are bad and we did this and you are in this self cycle that doesnt never celebrate you are with you abolished slavery and always struggling to do this kind of stuff something goes wrong if you dont boast about your house it will fall down and pershare there is something fundamental to be proud of your family in your village of your islander your nation sanders city there is something fundamental about that we know when nationalism goes wrong we have seen that can go wrong. But we also have to understand that so that can also go wrong not really teaching kids you need to love your country and were at a place where most americans my age and younger registered turned 32 really probably did not get this in school. And never hit me and tell live is it in this room will sing to a man speak at this podium i dedicate the book to eyes that he wrote a book called the three people suicide we had and as a speaker and he spoke about that from here and much of what he said in she was from england how come i have never heard ready is talking about . It was basic but at the heart was the Golden Triangle of freedom and this is what struck me that Golden Triangle of freedom of the founders were aware of this it was simply freedom requires virtue, that requires faith in turn requires freedom. Freedom requires virtue . What does that mean . I spoke at a classroom in texas and the kids knew that yes they are getting in that school but i have never heard this you will certainly never see that on television virtue was like a dirty word and not talk about character what does it mean it is basic that freedom which is Self Government requires the people govern themselves so think about that it means you have to govern yourself it is in just about we govern ourselves better every person has to govern himself so it means the people will pretty much govern themselves most of the time im not afraid of being caught or thrown in the dungeon i believe it is wrong to steal so by march if they are virtuous bin selfgovernment becomes possible sanders did it is impossible unless there are people who can handle it to govern themselves. Freedom requires virtue of some kind. The founders all understood this they all got this. Not everyone was a person of faith is virtuous or vice versa of but the founders knew practically speaking when they saw a Community Serious about its fate they intended to be selfgoverning and virtuous. When they receive the fax in the colonies it is extraordinary. People generally speaking able to govern themselves so they understood that. Faith requires freedom what does that mean . So any type of real kind of faith cannot be forced if you face somebody been you know, unless they do a voluntarily where they going . And the countries did europe a lot of people are going i dont buy it because i want to go to a jail you have to have real freedom for faith to flourish of free market of ideas i go this church because i choose to not because the Government Forces me. Or i dont go to church so were not forcing anyone to go to church or any particular kind of church it is free the founders all understood if the people dont choose themselves it does not work so it wanted a robust expression of faith. This form of government will not work but the faith must be free. So they enshrined that liberty in the constitution is a universal but basically america got this sold guinness said it from this very podium im thinking this is crazy he told me how Government Works and has over 200 years and i have never thought about this. So i was deeply embarrassed in july realized nobody else had. So i thought something is wrong this is strange why dont i know about this . Then one day when my daughter was about seven she is right here and is no longer her seven, i get the cigarette out of your mouth. [laughter] i found a paper model of the Paul Revere House something about that tidiness that appealed to him that would be a nice thing to do with my daughter said that it realized the poem i never really read that the long ride of paul Revere Police stupid people would want poems that rhyme those one elliptical obtuse palms that mean nothing so i picked it up and started to read it. Was a like children you shall hear the big night ride of paul revere. Hardly a man is now live here remembers the fame this day and year and i had the kahn pass that much it was so beautiful and so moving i was stunned by the beauty of the pollen and i thought i have people sneered at this poland . This is where we are in a culture with the patriotism like rockwell is the city it so i said to my daughter to think we can pull this off . So we decided to memorize it in my daughter was seven or eight at the time with a fresh grave could memorize it slightly quicker and i thought to myself i am reading this poem and they are breaking my heart there is no lawyer and to say so revoking the image of a man a few hours from now because that is the father but that means something to you and i was so moved by this up that i thought i have never thought about this. You certainly dont hear about this in the ivy league. Handed is a sad thing but then you start to realize how sad . They turn their backs on fake and as i was never raising this because they are not afraid of patriotism and every march march 25th to celebrate greek Independence Day the kids are forced to memorize poems i hated it. So the one that i remember is about an old patriot and really get choked up you dont understand when your parents are choked up but he was experiencing what i was experiencing because you understand sacrifice these are not something that we take likely slightly so in the Greek Culture we dont want to talk about greek exceptionalism they know that theyre better than everybody it. [laughter] so we were proud of the greek heritage were not ashamed and so my cousin john my father in the al gore were very patriotic but they knew this was a great country so they said something against america they would come after them. Who the hell are you . Have you bed to other countries . To understand what we have . We better be grateful of course it is imperfect other why is you are a fool. To view that nationalistic fool but do not appreciate what we have is wrong with the United States of america so greedy that made me think were living in a really strange time if there were 90 or 80 years old many had memorized that paul revere ride it was what was done because the people need to know the story that makes you a people otherwise to break down into read state blue state monsters beat each other over the head you have done something in common what we had was that kind of history and all those stories everyone liberal conservative we all understood this that paul revere was a hero david hale died for his country age 21 and all those stories from the lips of every american and when you came to america you were forced to learn less people would say we will take about American Culture read want to do that so my parents learned unless they were buying into it because america is not defined by ethnicity it is not defined by religion every religion exist in america the only idea in the history of the world treated and defined by an idea so therefore to keep the republic we must know those hideous and buy into them and live them out or america ceases to exist the more i looked around we really dont know these ideas we have not been taught them they are not popular on tv so what has happened . Are we america in dave only . If that is an idea we dont understand it seems that is what happened. American exceptionalism doesnt mean we are inherently better. I of a christian and so everybody has an equal amount of original sin. Everything we have is a gift from god were not better by where we live for the ethnic background were better than the french but i will be that that im at a time for that. [laughter] were not better than anybody anybody thinks america is better but american exceptionalism refers to these ideas which is a gift from god there is a gift from history we did not create everything that we have it is a gift when you were given the gift to know the value of that the you dont use it as the frisbee that person would be in a wide they could save themselves some money so we have the explicit treasurer and we dont appreciate any more and it isnt easy to keep the republic if you think democracy is easy put that on iraq and afghanistan it doesnt turn out so well because they have not prepared how to use that but we were prepared we had centuries of british law going back to the magna occurred at so we were prepared in a way that was extraordinary in the most extraordinary thing of all reading about George Whitefield i was astounded because he came to this country one of the august figures it in history a cross side evangelist a phenomenon makes Billy Grahams looks like the loser atheist he preached four times a day nonstop unlike anything that has existed coming to the shores and he was day preaching maniac will receive preaching . He was preaching that you must be born again saying the most basic gospel message of jesus and grace and that gen teaching morality talking about what a jerk you are now he tells you you are a coal miner or a loser or failure got lachute has a plan for your life you are no different than the duchess or the duke for the king theyre really upset the duchess said to give making soviet is preaching the message that people say that is true this hierarchy and order created an american character so over the decades he preached up and down the colonys so much that by the time it was over 80 percent of the people had heard him speak in person there were no television in those days so try to imagine how much he preached thousands would come to hear him. Over and over by the time he was done basically the patron saint of america the only celebrity known from maine to georgia everybody bought into this thinking and he said if you are valuable in gods eyes nobody can rule over youve there is a tyrant then if you say be gone. You dont have to submit if king george the third axe lakehead jerk then get rid of him he did not put it that way but these radical ideas so you have all of these americans uniting around these ideas many people very serious about their face away revival breaks out people became more virtuous life franklin loved George Whitefield because for every he goes the people become virtuous and govern themselves and by the time he dies suddenly theyre uniquely prepared to govern