The main rhetorical effect of the series of three phrases beginning in line 3 ("the diminution, the subversion, the destruction") is to * convey with increasing intensity the seriousness of the threat Jordan sees to the
Constitution.
clarify that Jordan believes the Constitution was first weakened, then sabotaged, then
broken.
indicate that Jordan thinks the Constitution is prone to failure in three distinct ways.
propose a three-part agenda for rescuing the Constitution from the current crisis.