I've always liked the saying, "I love my country, but I fear my government." How true is that for us Americans, especially lately?

Look at this. And we can't even get it right at home either. It's sick the extent people will go in the name of making everything seem like it's peachy keen.

Denying serious problems do not make them less apparent, nor protect people from the unpleasantness (okay, maybe it does protect some dimwits) or make the government look better, or whatever the motivation is; in fact, denial insults every American, especially those who have "low food security" or loved ones dying every day in that l'il skirmish we started in Iraq, and makes us look like idiots to the rest of the world. It also does nothing to get on any right track to solving these problems.

I do not need to explain why I say things. - That's the interesting thing about being the President. - Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation.

-- George W. Bush

Sad thing is, most won't, or can't, care or demand an explanation. Too busy working ourselves to death in order to pay off our massive houses, cars, and debts to realize the significance. Who has time to feel bad about HUNGER or CHAOS, much less be outraged or have empathy?

An in-law who will remain unnamed once said after my husband and I had a particularly heated political discussion with her husband that she couldn't understand how anyone can pay attention to all these political issues. All she can think about is what she's going to wear that day. Yep. At least she was honest.

Another in-law reamed me for working for the Global Fund for Women, saying he thought it was bullshit that we gave grants to women's groups in other countries when he had been working hard his whole life to be his own boss and never asked for a "handout." He said he'd love to change places with these women, in order to get "free money."

I would love to see him trade places with a woman working in a brothel in Thailand, and see him work it with that so-called handout to attempt to organize his fellow workers so that they didn't have to worry about being beaten when they request that their customers use a condom. Oooh, or maybe he would rather get a bigger grant to support a girl's school in Afghanistan -- I'm sure risking his life every day so girls can learn how to read and write is a lot less stressful and much less important than installing satellite dishes. He deserves a vacation -- and woo-hoo, don't forget all that free money! Dumbass.

I love my country, but I fear my government, and my in-laws.

But, going out on the positive -- a partially wind-powered skyscraper, eh? Hoo boy, it may turn out to be super ugly, but just like the comfort shoes of the 1960's came before the beauty of Cydwoq and Dansko, we've got to start somewhere to do something good for our collective health.