No. You did not.
First off, like a lot of conservatives, you treat the Constitution as if it were something that it's not. You invoke the Constitution as a magic word -- ascribing to it mystical powers of organizational perfection, as if the Constitution, in itself, holds the power to make us all free, well-behaved, and self-sufficient.
It is magical. America was The Great Experiment, labeled such by George Washington. And a successful one until communists started destroying it from within. There has never been another country like ours and never will be.
holds the power to make us all free, well-behaved, and self-sufficient
No. It gives us the right to Life, Liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness as was stated in the Declaration. It gives people the right to succeed or fail WITHOUT government interference.
Second, you tacitly assume that everybody basically agrees on the principles embodied in the Constitution, and on how those principles should be applied in real life.
Are you Ezra Klein? This is pure liberal claptrap. The Constitution VERY CLEARLY lays out the powers of government and the rights of the citizens. Anyone who disagrees with the limited power of government and the freedoms of the people is cordially invited to move to their favorite totalitarian regime.
that the Constitution -- as wonderful as it is -- is nothing more than a formal statement of a pre-existing common agreement on how government and people should co-exist.
More liberal claptrap. Again, the Constitution enumerates the LIMITED powers of government and the FREEDOMS of the governed.
It was based, further, on an assumption that people are not only "moral," but more importantly that people have a common understanding of what "moral" means.
People DO know what is moral and what is not. And the immoral constantly push the envelope. Government engages in immoral behavior in order to make citizens slaves. William Pitt said ""Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." We need to cutoff and destroy overblown government in order to free the people. The Tea Party that you hold in contempt is trying to do that.
That common understanding no longer exists (if it ever really did....).
Yes. It does. Liberals wish that it didn't.