My daily walk around Washington took me to the National Mall. I had intended to do a simple power walk up and down the Mall, but the heat forced me to take a break, so I strolled into the Smithsonian Sculpture Garden. There I came across a “Wish Tree” planted last year by Yoko Ono.

Next to the tree, there are pieces of paper and pencils provided, and you are invited to scribble a wish and hang it from the tree. Apparently, the wishes will be collected and displayed in the “Imagine Peace Tower” Ono is creating in Iceland.

I walk around the tree, looking at the messages hanging from it. This being a Yoko One tree, there are plenty of wishes for “love,” “harmony,” “brotherhood,” and of course, beauty pageant-esque “world peace.”

There are a lot of heartbreaking appeals for a life free of suffering and pain. One says, “I wish people in my family would stop dying.” Another wishes her son to be “cancer-free.” Yet another wishes his “wife loved him more.”

Then there are the blatantly political: “I wish for no more global warming.”. (Good luck–today’s a scorcher! Oh right: it IS summer.) “I wish for less greed.” And my personal favorite: “I wish for an international socialist revolution so that all the people in the world would be able to live in peace, security, plenty, fulfillment, and love.”

Since when did socialism ever deliver peace, security, plenty, fulfillment, and love?

Just when I was about to leave the tree exhausted by all of the liberal platitudes, I came across a few that wished for “riches,” “liberty,” and “happiness.”

A few capitalists had been at the tree after all. Maybe even a few conservatives. I’m sure Yoko will edit those out. (There is one that says, “The Beatles were awesome.” Yup, until Yoko arrived. Band-killer!)

Two final scraps of paper catch my eye:

“I wish my daughter-in-law wasn’t such a creep and that I would finally get to see my grandchildren.” Funny and sad at the same time.

And the last: “I wish love and peace and understanding for Monica.”

Thanks, Anonymous Well-Wisher. Not sure if you meant that message for me, but in case you did, here’s my message back to you: I have love and peace in abundance, and I strive for greater understanding every day. I hope for peace for our country too, but I also know that the nature and intentions of our enemies prevent us from relying on it.

Give peace a chance? You bet. But if it fails, you’d better be prepared to defend yourself. Or else the only peace will find will be six feet under.

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