S tephen Bannon’s ouster from the White House brought the sort of speculation we’ve heard a number of times before: Is the Trump administration stable enough to continue functioning? Core members are in and out at the president’s whim, staff members lie, cheat and steal for a slim personal advantage and the work atmosphere is more “Game of Thrones” than “The West Wing.” I am inclined to believe that Bannon’s removal will benefit the stability of the Trump administration and the country overall. The “deep state” has outlasted its primary enemy and will be able to properly resume its work: actually running the country. Removing Trump’s advisers is not a fix because the ultimate source of instability in the White House isn’t Bannon, Reince Priebus or Michael Flynn — it’s Trump himself. That said, removing Bannon removes one of the last lucid powers in the West Wing, one with the attention span and future vision to carry out effective — albeit disastrous — change. I see this as enabling the “deep state” to further restrain the president. The way we consume political news in this country requires a core narrative of dynamic characters — the beleaguered chief of staff, the malevolent chief strategist, the strategically patient vice president — and as a result, we often see their actions as much more consequential than they really are. Despite all that has happened, Congress still functions. The judiciary still functions. And — though it has some trouble with Trump — the executive branch still functions. Our government was designed to be slow-moving and cumbersome — to be a massive shipping barge, not a skip. Trump and his companions may loot what they can while they’re in power, and the man himself may do some cultural damage in covering for white nationalists, but the captain cannot sink his ship without the help of his crew. When Trump axed U.S. support for the Paris climate accord, lower-level executives — governors and mayors — contradicted him and offered their continued support. French President Emmanuel Macron’s own ambitions certainly played a large part in keeping the accord together, but I think these lower- level promises also played a significant role. A child-king’s advisers have the real power. Their deals are the ones that succeed and their promises are the ones that are upheld. A similar dynamic is playing out in the United States, as states and cities conduct pseudo- foreign policy. There is also the issue of political donors when we’re discussing the Americans with legitimate access to power. Trump was not all that popular when it came to campaign contributions, and “alt-right” figures modeled in his image are likely to fare even worse. U.S. elections depend heavily on access to funds, especially when we step back from the presidency and consider lower- level elections. Finally, I’d like to address the delusion that Bannon and company will be more powerful now that they “have (their) hands back on (their) weapons.” As Cersei Lannister from “Game of Thrones” put it, “power is power.” Money, knowledge and speech are all ancillary to the cold reality that, once installed in office or position, power rests with the politician. Breitbart propaganda, white nationalist rallies and thinly veiled “free speech” protests are all legitimate dangers, but when a mayor says the statues are coming down, they come down. When a governor says to make the racists disperse, the police disperse them. The delusion that a media campaign against the government will be effective thrives on the same desperation that brought the “alt-right” to prominence in the first place: a desire to be the victims, even when all evidence is to the contrary; a desire to be the underdogs, even when they have significant institutional power. The “alt-right” is, as a result, condemned to live in a perpetual struggle: When you are defined entirely by powerlessness, power destroys you. I don’t want to gloss over the legitimate problems posed by Trump’s position and the damage he can do. We have more than three years left with an executive who is unwilling to learn, at the mercy of his emotions and completely immune to nuance. I do, however, want to push back on the frantic terror that we will imminently be swallowed up by the racists, once again ascendant and ready to implement their ideas as real policy. Only power is power, and they are incapable of wielding it. A s leaves start to change color and classes begin this fall, a wave of football hype spreads across campus. For many University of Michigan students, the return of the football season provides relief from the classroom — a part of a work hard, play hard mentality that is a uniting force across campus. For many, NCAA football takes a backseat to professional football come Sunday. The NFL, a weekly refuge from work for countless students and employees, has now captured the attention of the vast and lucrative fantasy football community that is perhaps most crucial to the league’s consistent success. But the rise of the NFL has come with a fair share of problems, earning unfavorable media attention for the concussion epidemic and domestic violence issues. Despite fantasy football’s growth into a booming industry, it has worked to hide and ultimately perpetuate the prevalence of domestic violence across the league. The NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell have come under fire for their mistreatment of various domestic violence cases in the past few years. NFL players Ray Rice, Josh Brown and Ray McDonald were all suspended on domestic violence allegations, but many claim their punishment did not match the violent nature of their crimes. In the case of Rice, a video surfaced of him violently beating his wife, Janay Rice, in a hotel elevator. For someone without the privilege and fame of a three- time pro-bowler and Super Bowl champion, this type of concrete evidence could lead to jail time. Instead, the NFL “cracked down” with a measly two-game suspension — the same penalty that has been handed out for failing a drug test. In the wake of their actions, the NFL received tremendous backlash and moved to harshen their protocol for sexual assault and domestic violence punishment. However, this topic remains at the forefront of the league and has resurfaced in the past few months. Ezekiel Elliott, a Dallas Cowboys first-round draft choice, allegedly abused his then-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson in July 2016, for which he faced a six-game suspension as of August 2017. Though this is a step up from the NFL’s weak punishment in past cases, the severity of the allegations is clouded out by the very reason Elliott garnered so much attention on the field — fantasy football. One read through ESPN’s fantasy website reveals a string of articles and videos about Elliott, but virtually none of them comment on the morality and character of his actions. Rather, the main theme is: “Where will Elliott be drafted?” By focusing on Elliott’s draft position and projected points for the year, talk about the second-year running back has gradually moved away from his domestic violence case. Masking the severity of these cases is a dangerous trend that elevates the status of athletes and causes them to deviate from social norms, offering them an excessive sense of pride, or hubris, and the belief that they can commit illegal acts and still get away with it. Earning millions of dollars should not earn any athlete a free pass from domestic violence. Glorifying superstars for their statistics and treating them as tradable commodities creates a sense of immortality, potentially leading to more violence in the future. If anything, spectators and the media must strive to hold athletes to a higher standard, especially as fantasy football opens up an escape route for players whose performance attracts so much attention. It is this relationship between sports and the media, as one of the most influential in the entire entertainment industry, that allows companies like ESPN and Fox Sports to shape and alter public opinion through their coverage. Once SportsCenter, ESPN’s flagship program, takes a stance on an issue, especially a sensitive topic like domestic violence, it has the tendency to become the main perspective viewers take as well. While nearly monopolizing the world of sports, ESPN has used its power to alter the timing of the NFL Draft, the schedule of NCAA football games and the entire conference structure. Because of its influence, the station has a responsibility to maintain moral high ground on any and all controversial topics. Even as football season approaches and viewers demand predictions and rankings for the upcoming year, the network should not allow for turning a blind eye to domestic violence. Thus, as ESPN fantasy insider Matthew Berry continues to harp on Elliot’s second-round draft value, the public too will continue to forget his act of domestic violence. Even as the NFL harshens punishments and speaks out against these cases, it has found an opponent in fantasy football. As participants, we must also play a role. To neglect domestic violence and sexual assault because of an athlete’s performance sets the stage for continued violence against women, a scary prospect given the safety net handed to these athletes. On our campus, domestic violence awareness and prevention is a constant and impactful theme. There are numerous lectures, counseling resources and programs devoted to eliminating domestic violence from our community, especially among athletes. As students, we have the duty to make use of these resources and be upstanding citizens if and when a situation arises — either in person or through an online draft board. So even if Elliott is available when it comes to your pick, give it some consideration. Maybe don’t take him at all. Opinion The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com 4 — Thursday, September 7, 2017 REBECCA LERNER Managing Editor 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. EMMA KINERY Editor in Chief ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY and REBECCA TARNOPOL Editorial Page Editors Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Can the ship steer itself? HANK MINOR | COLUMN Fantasy football needs reality check BEN CHARLSON | COLUMN Ben Charlson can be reached at bencharl@umich.edu. What I learned at airborne school Carolyn Ayaub Megan Burns Samantha Goldstein Caitlin Heenan Jeremy Kaplan Sarah Khan Anurima Kumar Max Lubell Lucas Maiman Alexis Megdanoff Madeline Nowicki Anna Polumbo-Levy Jason Rowland Anu Roy-Chaudhury Ali Safawi Sarah Salman Kevin Sweitzer Rebecca Tarnopol Stephanie Trierweiler Ashley Zhang Hank Minor can be reached at hminor@umich.edu. NIA LEE | NIA CAN BE REACHED AT LEENIA@UMICH.EDU KEVIN LIU | OP-ED T his past summer, I attended Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Ga. BAC is a three-week course where service members from all branches attend to become qualified in successfully exiting an aircraft and landing on the ground, minimizing any injuries. The first two weeks are a training phase where BAC students learn how to properly exit an aircraft, conduct a parachute landing fall, use the main and reserve parachutes and prepare for emergency landings. Jump week is the culminating week where students must successfully conduct five jumps from an aircraft. From my five jumps, I was able to remind myself of key takeaways that have affected my career at the University of Michigan. Jumping into the unknown: When you’re inside the aircraft, be it a C-130 or C-17, you typically aren’t the first person to jump out of it. The advantage of being the first person to jump out of the aircraft is that you can observe the drop zone prior to jumping out of the door and thus has a clear view of what you are jumping into. In my experience, I was typically placed in the middle or the rear of the line in performing mass-exit jumps. Here you can only see the people in front and behind you. Once the jumpmaster signals “Green light, GO,” you have no choice but to move forward and jump without hesitation into the abyss. Tying this in with my experience at the University, I’ve encountered brief moments of turbulence, and I was unsure about the decisions I ought to make because the consequences were unforeseeable. Personally, I’ve had better experience jumping right into actions than second-guessing myself, because even though I may not have the most ideal patch of grass to land on, at least I can enjoy the ride on the way down. Hard Landings: After exiting the aircraft, you experience a brief gust of air that blows your body parallel to and away from the aircraft, prior to the deployment of your main parachute. After your main parachute deploys, you inspect the canopy for any rips or tears and gain canopy control. During your descent, you maintain situational awareness of your position relative to your fellow jumpers to prevent any accidental collisions. At 200 feet, you pull down and hold onto your risers in the opposite direction of your drift to ease your descent prior to landing on the ground. For my first jump, I hit the ground HARD. Contrary to executing a proper PLF on all five points of contact, I landed on the balls of my feet, glutes and upper back on a hard dirt road. Even though I acted on the training I received to the best of my ability, I still managed to eat dirt. Likewise, at the University there’s going to be that one problem set, quiz or exam that you spent hours preparing for. You frequently attended office hours and study group sessions and reviewed every past assignment, but your best still wasn’t good enough to do well on that exam. This happened to me after receiving terrible marks for my first midterm in NERS 311. Nevertheless, I picked myself up, reflected on what went wrong, and readjusted my method of action which eventually improved my performance in NERS 311 and my PLFs in further jumps. Pulling your Reserve: During my last jump, I pulled my reserve parachute when I was about 200 feet above the ground because my main parachute had some serious twists and I thought I was falling at a rate faster than my fellow jumpers. I was attempting to undo the twists in my parachute by trying to separate the risers while doing bicycle kicks in the air. Due to my limited depth perception, I believed myself to be falling at a faster rate than usual, so I panicked and pulled my reserve parachute to prepare for the worst. After I pulled my reserve, my main parachute untwisted and reflated so my reserve parachute flew up and wrapped around me during my descent to the ground. The reserve parachute’s failure to inflate was an indication that I did not need it to land safely. By the time I landed, I was berated for using the reserve in a non- life-threatening situation. However, I did what I was trained to do in pulling my reserve when I felt that my life was at risk. So, at the University, don’t be afraid to use the resources available to you to ask for help. This can be tied to almost anything at the University — be it academics, social life, mental health, etc. If you don’t understand what your professor went over in class, address and resolve the situation as soon as you can instead of putting it off until the last moment. Even if the situation doesn’t exhibit any present treachery at the moment, it is better to deploy your reserve parachute 200 feet above ground than 70 feet if and when your main parachute fails. Kevin Liu is a senior majoring in nuclear engineering and radiological sciences and an ROTC Cadet. WANT TO JOIN OUR TEAM? Come to The Michigan Daily’s mass meetings! Mass meetings will be located in our newsroom at 420 Maynard St. on Sept. 10, 13, 18 and 19 at 7 p.m. Hope to see you there!