Great discussion Carlyn. Especially rich historical and philosophical content. The Founding Fathers did not anticipate political parties, nor that one party would totally ignore their oath to defend the constitution. The president was designed to be the anti-king. As the Federal Papers demonstrate our system was designed to limit tyranny by having, "ambition countering ambition". However, it facilitated oligarchy, while assuming that no particular faction would rule over all oligarchs at once. Moreover, they could not imagine that sociopaths without a modicum of human decency or honor come to prevail, BAD GUESS! NOTE: But is is not so much the weaponization, as it is the abandonment.