@evan - If anything, those "creaky mechanisms" of the Constitution have been one of the few things that previously slowed a bit the US's dive into blatant authoritarian oligarchy. The words in the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment - IF they were actually enforced, are worthy ideals towards protecting some of our essential human rights. But sadly these are the exact things under attack by so many of those that often previously claimed they were concerned with the Constitution.