Dear Jimmy,

Dear Jimmy,

You know, you don't look so good in this picture. You look, well, old. But that's not why I'm writing you this letter. I'm writing because while you're in Israel and Palestine, over here some people criticize you. They say you shouldn't have met with the Hamas official. They say you hugged him. Did you? Did you hug the bad man?

One has to wonder why so many people get upset about two people hugging, one of whom is, well, an old man. And what's so wrong with an old man hugging someone, anyway?

And look at that--while the Israeli government ignores you and the US government criticizes you, while cycles of violence expand throughout the world and threaten to take us all with them, the man you hugged said this: "Carter asked what he can do to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel ... and I told him the possibility for peace is high."
Jimmy, you make me believe peace can still be achieved in my time. And that's pretty good for an old man. Good luck to us all.

And thank you.