[deciplex]

Your understanding is correct. The workings of the US government would make the Byzantines scratch their heads. Hopefully though, it doesn't take one-thousand years for this shit-show to get rubbed out and replaced with something better.

[jessaustin]

To paraphrase your comments elsewhere in this thread, you're awfully pessimistic. Do you really imagine the USA lasting that long?

[deciplex]

I don't. But, I drew a comparison between the Byzantine Empire, which IIRC correctly lasted about 1000 years after the fall of the West, so I thought I'd follow it through to the end.