Great commentary, Amos! I spotted it on another thread and listened, but I think it deserves to be posted in enough places so that no one can miss it.
On that other thread, I posted a scene from one of my favorite movies/plays, A Man for All Seasons. I think this brief but intense conversation should also be posted in as many places as possible. So here goes.
The same things Sir Thomas More says about laws in this scene also apply to constitutional protections:
William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that! Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!