I disagree on the protest signs. The civil rights signs look like they were designed and printed by an organisation and just handed out to the marchers, whereas the recent ones are home-made and personal. "Walls suck. Trust Germans on this" shows a knowledge of history and the world outside the US. A cartoon potraying Trump as a puppet of a white supremisist cuts close to home given the story that Trump has signed at least one executive orders without knowing the content.
I hope you are right about the checks and balances. That is certainly being tested.