With superb timing as the nation prepares to observe the Fourth of July holiday in a revved-up patriotic mood following the horrific events of last Sept. 11, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shot itself in the foot with a mid-week ruling that the vast majority of Americans might charitably describe as nuts.

A three-judge panel that apparently included at least two who would seem to be out of touch with you and me and the horse we rode in on, declared in a 2-1 decision that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the words “under God” inserted by Congress nearly 50 years ago.

The judges said the phrase “one nation under God” amounts to a government endorsement of religion in violation of the separation of church and state. If allowed to stand, the ruling – which, when all hell broke loose, was subsequently put on hold by the very judge who wrote the opinion – would mean that little school kids could no longer recite the pledge, at least in the nine Western states covered by the court.

Happy 226th birthday, America. God sheds a tear for thee.

The resulting hue and cry, in effect beseeching the judges to smarten up and the rest of us to go out of our way to emphasize the phrase when reciting the pledge – to say it in capital letters, underlined and in boldface, so to speak – was predictable.

Putting the best possible diplomatic spin on the nonsense, President Bush called the ruling “ridiculous.” Republican Sen. Kit Bond called it “the worst kind of political correctness run amok,” and suggested that the founding fathers must be spinning in their graves.

Politicians of both major political parties in the Congress, never ones to miss a photo opportunity that has “Can’t Miss” written all over it, dropped everything to be seen on camera reciting the pledge en masse – a pretty fair indication that they intend to grab all the headlines they can while the grabbing is good. “Faulty logic” was the kindest thing that the dissenting judge in the case could come up with, warning that such patriotic songs as “God Bless America” could be the next to get the boot. Respected Harvard scholar Laurence Tribe said there is no way the ruling can stand; that if the 9th Circuit doesn’t reverse itself the U.S. Supreme Court surely will take care of the matter. The high court, which itself invokes the name of God in beginning each session, has previously said that schools can require teachers to lead the pledge, but students cannot be punishing for refusing to recite it.

For their part, ordinary Americans from coast to coast seemed to indicate that they are mad as hell about liberal judges who seem always to come down on the side of the whiners and the rebels-without-a-clue who get involved in these things, and they are not about to take it any more. The whiners have taken the Christmas nativity scene from the village green, removed the images of dead white presidents from the school foyer, and have generally made it illegal for little Johnny do anything that little Suzie can’t, anatomical differences and gender-driven proclivities notwithstanding. Enough of the politically correct nonsense, already.

The dustup was precipitated by Michael A. Newdow, a California atheist who professed to be offended and filed suit because his second-grade daughter was required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the Elk Grove school district in Sacramento.

Newdow’s next targets for elimination include the words “In God We Trust” on the nation’s currency, and the word “God” long ago chiseled into the granite of various national monuments. In an interview on the Cable News Network’s web site he described the filing of such suits “a cool thing to do” and suggested that more people should have a go at it.

The aging war veterans who bravely fought in defense of God and country are not likely to break ranks in the pending Fourth of July parades to march to the beat of this different drummer, I dare say.

Still, as Independence Day nears we are reminded that, in the spirit of 1776, it may indeed be “cool” for the vast minority to buck the system when it feels wronged. But in the same spirit of the founding fathers it would seem equally as cool for the overwhelming majority to say, “Not on my watch, Bubba,” and take whatever action is required through the courts or the Congress to ward off the incursion.

If that means going back to the drawing board to fix the document that defines our established laws and customs, well, isn’t that why God invented the constitutional amendment?

NEWS columnist Kent Ward lives in Winterport. His e-mail address is olddawg@bangordailynews.net.