It wasn’t that many years ago that politicians of both major parties often wrapped themselves in the American flag while in campaign mode, professing themselves be to both patriotic and eager to defend the Constitution and serve the will of the people.

A growing number of Americans are joining a movement that would like to wrap the flag around the Constitution and toss both into the trash. A cover of TIME magazine proclaimed, “Does It Still Matter?” referring to the Constitution with several learned scholars at Harvard University coming out against the Fourth of July holiday because they see it as a “breeding ground for Republicans.”

I was in Joplin on July 4, for the Fourth of July fireworks and entertainment. American flags flew everywhere and a big one was unfurled from atop a crane that was said tohave survived the terrible Joplin May F-5 tornado. Free tea was provided by conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh and he was there to make a brief speech extolling America’s freedoms, her people and their virtues. He donated $100,000 to Joplin to help in reconstruction. But to hear voices from the liberal side of things explain his appearance, he was only there to stir up hate-monging and to use Joplin’s suffering as a chance to promote himself.

Limbaugh did proclaim the Constitution as the impetus that made America a great country, a belief that actually angers many Americans.

Joy Behar of “The View” TV talkshow is upset because “Constitution loving was getting out of hand.” Several CNN hosts declared the Constitution to be outdated and needing to be scrapped and the president of the UnitedStates openly complained of the “negative nature” of the Constitution that limits the good things that the government can do. Lots of Hollywood celebrities, major news outlets and elected government officials supported the idea of overhauling the Constitution or even abolishing it outright.

I often listen to talk radio when I am in my car and I have heard some of the call-in shows where people express their opinions. I listened to perhaps five or six different programs where callers stated that since the Constitution was written hundreds of years ago before the advent of automobiles, cell phones, airplanes, Twitter, Facebook and the Internet, it is outmoded and outdated and needs replacing. Invariably the host asks the caller which part of the Constitution is outdated and the caller goes silent because he/she didn’tknow what the Constitution had in it.

Recently on a morning talk show, a host asked a caller if she believed in the freedom of speech. She did. He asked if she believed in the freedom of assembly. After the host explained to her what that was, she was in favor it. The host asked her if she believed in the freedom of religion and the rights to a fair trial and due process. After the host explained those parts of the Bill of Rights to the caller, it turned out that she was in favor of them, too. When pressed to point out the parts of the Constitution that needed replacing, she finally admitted she didn’t know whatwas in the Constitution.

In all actuality, the Constitution cannot be updated generally speaking. The document was built on the understanding of human nature, something which hasn’t changed in thousands of years. The document was and is revolutionary in that it allows the people to rule, as elected officials are enjoined to represent the will of the people and to rule by the consent of the governed. The Constitution allows amendments when the people wish a change.

What is behind all these calls to abandon the Constitution and embrace a more modern form of government?In the 1800s, a German national living in England wrote a book called “Communist Manifesto,” and the book has since spawned socialist movements all over the globe in one form or another. Karl Marx, the author, has many fans in our present federal government.

Socialism is not modern but a throwback to days when an elite people held sway over the majority. Instead of kings, there are dictators, and the whole structure is a polar opposite of what made the United States the envy of the world.

Under the Constitution, the government serves the people while under socialism, the people serve the government. Socialist thought led to the birth of the Soviet Union, a now defunct government that murdered millions of its citizens. Socialist ideals led to the National Socialist Party taking power in Germany (we know them as Nazis) and the socialist revolution in China has resulted in the massacre of millions of Chinese. Socialism in practice has led to the wanton slaughter of innocents in Cambodia, Vietnamand Korea.

The Constitution is our secular moral compass. The Constitution is our freedom and without it, we will cease to be free.

On the Hillsdale College website, there appeared a quote from Calvin Coolidge who made the remarks on July 5, 1926, when American progressives were just then beginning their goal of replacing the Constitution. His words carry a lot of weight today.

“It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning cannot be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowedwith inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.”◊◊◊

Editor’s note: John McGee is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 09/21/2011