So much to do before President Trump’s parade passes him by

In the quintessentially New York musical “Hello, Dolly!,” matchmaker and meddler Dolly Levi realizes at the end of the first act that time is slipping away, and she should move on with life. So she resolves to refocus her energies, put her past behind and set new goals as she sings her empowerment song, “Before the Parade Passes By.”

President Donald Trump’s desire for a massive military parade in the nation’s capital gives rise to deep concerns about why the leader of the world’s pre-eminent superpower feels the need to flaunt its military might in a gaudy display. Trump will be Trump, but we wish the president a character-building moment, too, when he lets go of the past and sets new goals before his parade passes by on Pennsylvania Avenue. If he can pull it off, we can assure him it will be a tour de force moment that will have the audience on its feet, applauding wildly.

Before it steps off

And only we’re left

Before the parade passes by

We’ve got some long to-do lists in our pockets

Before you move down the avenue

With all those big guns and tanks and rockets

Please build some rails and roads

Stop with the nuclear codes

We’re having trouble sleeping at night

We need some goals again

No talk of holes again

We need to feel respect, love and support again

Before the parade passes by

Before the parade passes by

We’ve gotta go and get a fair DACA deal

Before the parade passes by

We’ve gotta let Mueller find the truth that’s real

We’re ready to hear unvarnished facts

We want to listen to speeches delivered with tact

Don’t rip the FBI

Let Kim’s taunts go by

We’re too strong to worry ’bout that

Start making some quality hires

Please no more hacks, beaters, liars

Try splashing water on all of those partisan fires

Before the parade passes by

When the parade passes by

We want a budget that works for the whole nation

When the parade passes by

No more science and research evisceration

No drilling for oil off our coast

Rising seas are not imagination

Don’t cancel safety regs

Don’t let mines dump their dregs

Take a breath before you tweet

Give us an insult halt

Give us a deal on SALT

Bring those drug prices down

You took an oath not a crown

Before the parade passes by!