By Fritz Schemel ’17

It’s one week into the presidency of Donald Trump, and already, everything has changed… almost.

Although many originally thought Trump would appoint a highly conservative judge to the Supreme Court at the start of his term, he instead declared the entire judicial branch unconstitutional, saying that because it did not rule in favor of every law he supported, it “was very mean, not nice and wrong.”

And so his first initiative as president was to attempt to appoint justices who were anti-Constitution. However, Trump’s plans were quickly foiled when the Senate refused to appoint Trump’s justices.

In retaliation, Trump  declared he would fire the entirety of the American bureaucracy, saying “these people are part of the Establishment. They have to go.”

 To assist him with ridding Washington of career politicians, Trump recruited some career politicans  like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Giuliani and Gingrich have been in politics since the late 1970s and will serve as real game changers for restructuring this country’s government.

“Listen, he clearly has a mandate from the people. I mean 47 percent of voters wanted him to win, compared to just 48 percent for Hillary. We have to listen to the people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said while hiding under his Capitol Hill desk, trembling at the thought that Trump will come, find him, declare him part of the Establishment and say “You’re fired.”

Trump’s attentions then turned towards dismantling the liberal American media. He attempted to ban press from attending any major mainstream news event. However, his efforts backfired when news sites cited the First Ammendment and still attended and reported on his events.

Trump’s presidency has tried to shake American democracy to the ground to be left in dust. However, checks and balances have limited his ability to create change and make America great again. What a shame.

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Donald Trump’s election is troubling to many, but it must be recognized that a doomsday scenario of a crumbling democracy is unachievable. Checks and balances prevent even the most egotistical, power-hungry leader from assuming complete control. In this time of great pessimism among Staples students, that’s something to be optimistic about.