Dear George,
My wife and I spent the Easter weekend in Washington, DC with several friends. I am sorry we didn't get a chance to stop by and see you, but we had a busy weekend scheduled. I had hopes of staying in the Lincoln Bedroom, but I don't have that kind of financial statement. I also figured you were tied up with that Easter egg thing and dealing with that whole gay and lesbian problem. That's the problem with being the president. If it's not one thing, it's another. There is some good news, however. We went to the DC Improv on Saturday night and I am happy to report that none of the comics mentioned you. You have to admit you have given the comics some good stuff to work with over the past couple of years.
On Easter Sunday we found ourselves strolling along beside the cherry trees on the Western edge of the Tidal Basin near the National Mall. Most of the cherry blossoms had left the tree limbs and were blowing around. It was as if it was snowing pale pink snowflakes. As I glanced ahead I could see the Jefferson Memorial and it's reflection in the Tidal Basin. It was a beautiful and peaceful site, but there was one minor problem. Please let the gardener know that if you are over 6', your head hits a lot of those cherry tree limbs. I am 6'2" so it was a bit of a problem. As you know, my wife is 5'2" so it wasn't an issue for her.
As we walked along with me ducking under the branches, we discovered a treasure we somehow had missed on our last couple of trips to our capital. Tucked in behind the cherry trees, we found the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. I can't believe you never mentioned it to us. The huge pieces of rough South Dakota red granite and the beautiful fountains make for a magnificent piece of art. Even more powerful than the wonderful design of this monument, are the many FDR quotes carved in the red granite walls. The words chosen for the walls were important during FDR's time, but might be even more profound now. I don't want to upset you, but I think you need to take a walk down to the FDR Memorial and read some of what is written on those walls. The following are two of the carvings that spoke to me and I hope will speak to you as well.
"The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, or one party, or one nation... It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world."
"In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow men."
I wish you had seen the first quote before you decided to take us to Iraq. I also hope that from this day on, any decisions you make as our president, will be based on the second quote.
Sincerely,
Tom