Burke: Dear God, stop Trump so I can write about other things

If Trump would stop being Trump, I could write about work songs, knitting, beer, birders, anything.

By Tom Burke

Stop. Stop. Stop. Please god, stop the pain! And stop the president from lying. Stop the president from tearing our country apart over Dreamers, immigration, race and the national anthem. Stop the president from taunting an unstable North Korean leader who commands an arsenal of nuclear missiles.

And God, please stop the president from destroying the State Department, the EPA, the separation of powers, the FBI, the Department of Justice and the rule of law. Stop the president from ignoring Russian hacking attacks against our political system and free elections. Stop the president from saying, “No collusion,” and “Fake News.” Please, please stop Donald Trump from being … Donald Trump.

Christian evangelicals apparently believe God (their Christian god, not Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim, Krishna, or Akaipurakh) made Trump our president. They really do according to Steven Strang, publisher of Charisma magazine and leading Pentecostal figure.

And if the evangelicals’ God can do that, why can’t He unmake him president, or at least change his heart, or give him a heart … or a conscience, sense of duty, and, if it’s not asking too much, a soul?

‘Cause I really, really want to write about something else.

But until Donald Trump begins to act like the president of all the people and not simply indulge his narcissism or pander to his shrinking base, I can’t. I feel I must speak out (just like I felt it was my duty to serve our country almost 50 years ago) against this existential threat to our republic, our democracy and our freedom.

I don’t want to write about Trump. I want to write about what happened to the rich and centuries-old tradition of the music that helped coordinate labor (laying railroad track), relieve boredom (cowboys crooning to the cattle on nightwatch), arouse passion (Woodie Guthrie’s 1930’s union songs), and commemorate occupations, jobs, and industries. You know, work music.

I want to find out where today’s work music is; what tunes folks writing code for the video game “Resident Evil 7” sing together as they work, as Scottish women who waulked tweed sang as they softened the wool by pounding it on a stout table; the songs that keep social customer care strategists in sync, as clipper ship sea chanties kept everyone in step as they toiled ‘round the capstan; and where’s the music immortalizing folk heroes (such as John Henry and Little Joe the Wrangler) among mobile applications testers, ethical hackers and cloud community advocates?

I want to write about birders. And not just the ones who flock to Eagle Days on the Stillaguamish, but those who are out in December doing the annual Christmas Bird Count.

And I’m fascinated by those still collecting stamps, contra dancing, or collecting vintage VW micro-buses and joining dozens of other car enthusiasts Thursday nights at the Dairy Queen on Bothell-Everett Highway in Mill Creek.

Is knitting making a comeback? Has it ever left? I know a local beer pub hosts a dozen or two millennials for Sunday night knitting: knit one, purl two, increase, decrease, cast off, try a new IPA.

I want to write about that.

There are other things that interest me and, I think, might interest Herald readers: Corvette car collectors, model railroaders, the seaplane base in Kenmore, and a tour of the Boeing factory.

But instead, I ponder mysteries like why the president tweeted, “Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history.”

Now that’s — sorry — fake news. Totally untrue. Deliberate. Easily provable (or disprovable). And a quick check of Nielson ratings shows his SOTU was only the sixth-most watched SOTU (and this 2018 address was two-million less than his 2017 speech to Congress).

What drives that man to say those things? What is in his brain or in his heart to be so blatantly dishonest?

If the president. Of the United States. Lies about Nielsen ratings. And lies about the size of his inauguration crowd, and denies he bragged about abusing women, and lies in the State of the Union speech about his tax cut being, “the biggest tax cuts and reform in American history,” what else is he lying about?

Is he lying about Russia? Is he lying about his finances? Is he lying about collusion? Is he telling the truth about anything?

At this writing the Nunes memo is being released. It may be a nothing-burger; but Trump averred, before he released it, (editor’s note: and after), that it vindicates him. Is he lying again? God, please let Robert Mueller finish his investigation. Don’t let Trump fire Rod Rosenstein. And please; please, please let our democracy work. Don’t make a lie out of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Woodie Guthrie’s anthem, “This Land is Our Land.”

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Saturday, July 12

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Authorities search for victims among the rubble near Blue Oak RV park after catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Sunday, July 6, 2025. The half-mile stretch occupied by two campgrounds appears to have been one of the deadliest spots along the Guadalupe River in Central Texas during last week’s flash floods. (Jordan Vonderhaar/The New York Times)
Editorial: Tragic Texas floods can prompt reforms for FEMA

The federal agency has an important support role to play, but Congress must reassess and improve it.

Comment: Reforms to involuntary committment law can save lives

Washington state should consider changes New York made to protect those who can’t protect themselves.

Comment: Medicaid reforms will keep it for those most in need

Beyond the ‘sky is falling’ claims, the BBB’s reforms to Medicaid are fair and necessary to save it.

Forum: ‘The vibrations hit you deep. You can feel it in your body.’

How the far-off cadence of a marching band’s drums caught a 10-year-old’s ear with the rhythm of the beat.

Harrop: Trump Country should brace for less federal disaster aid

Red states have been among the largest recipients of FEMA aid. Trump says he’ll end that help.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Friday, July 11

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

2024 Presidential Election Day Symbolic Elements.
Editorial: Retain Escamilla, Binda on Lynnwood City Council

Escamilla was appointed a year ago. Binda is serving his first term.

The Buzz: What the mainstream media don’t want you to know

They’re not, but we just liked how that looked at the top of the page and thought you’d read it.

Schwab: Yes, your Medicaid’s gone but you can gloat over gators

What Trump is taking from the social safety net, he’s adding to the cruelty against working immigrants.

Congress’ passage of tax cuts bill marked shameful day for GOP

This July 3 was one of the most shameful days in American… Continue reading

Tell senators to keep vaccine aid by rejecting recissions bill

The Senate could vote on a Trump administration-proposed rescissions package before July… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.