The 14th amendment, and it's beating the states to death, was the worst possible thing that could have happened. There was a reason why the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government. The founders wanted to limit the beast while keeping the States on an even balance of power. The founders knew what a runaway centralized federal government could do and they did not want to make that mistake.
Try reading the 10th Amendment and see what powers are granted to the people and to the states....a whole lot more than the founders gave the federal government.
I don't think so, not in the least bit. The creation of the 14th, although lacking the verbal strength of the 1st and 2nd, was one of Congress's greatest acts. It extended protection of federally recognized rights to all it's citizens, regardless of what State they were in. In case you forgot, it was enacted, because certain States were trampling on the rights of some of it's citizens. You may not care that local jackboots railroaded folks to long prison terms, because they couldn't afford legal representation, but I certainly care.
"The founders wanted to limit the beast"
What you're missing is that their are many beast that need restraint. The 10th applies to the fed beast, the 14th applies to all the lower beasts. Anything that restrains beasts is always good.