Wednesday night there was an American Idol special on titled "American Idol Gives Back". The basic premis was your typical telethon...raise as much money as we can in the time we're aloted. This particular telethon happened to be raising money for the African countries. It was a two hour long show, but within ten minutes of the start time, Chandler and I had already opened up a dialogue.
Now, I must admit, I was quite incoherent for most of the "little things" that were said. (I wasn't even 24 hours post-op.) Anyway, his basic message was clear enough that even I got it! "If somebody would just admit how much trouble we're in as a nation, then maybe I would feel more comfortable donating to things like this."
Although I didn't really have much to say for the duration of the live conversation, I do now, and I'm going to. So, without further ado...
HE MAKES A VERY, VERY, VERY GOOD POINT! Let's be real for a second! WE live in a nation which will start receiving economic stimulus payments this summer because of the recession we're in. Will those economic stimulus payments do what they're suppose to do, which is put money back into the economy? Want my best guess? My best guess is NO! Why? Well, because I would bet that about 95% of those payments are gonna go to paying bills, getting out of debt, ect.
WE live in a nation where each time you turn on the nightly news, the top story has something to do with Iraq and/or the war...more specifically dead soldiers. To make matters worse, I just heard the other day that Bush is withholding troop withdrawals indefinitely. This will leave 140,000 troops over there...more than when the war started what seems ages ago! That's 140,000 PEOPLE putting their lives on the line on a daily basis, and for what???? In my opinion, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Way to go, Bush!
WE live in a nation where hundreds of thousands of kids go to bed each night with an empty tummy. It shatters my heart to see the never ending lines outside my local food shelf! At this point, the cost of food is so high, that even food shelves are struggling to stay afloat. If they go under completely, then what? A society slowly becomes emaciated? That's heading in the right direction. NOT!
WE live in a nation where hundreds of thousands of kids don't have a "forever family", and may NEVER know what that is! 
They may never know what a warm hug feels like! 
They may never know what "I love you" sounds like! They may never be able to say, "I'm going home", and do it with a smile and a warm heart!
If you're still reading this, can you honestly tell me that we shouldn't be fixing ourselves BEFORE we start trying to fix other nations? If you can, and you're able to sleep tonight, I only have one bit of friendly (or not so friendly, depending on how your brain works) advice: GO LIVE IN ONE OF THOSE OTHER NATIONS! If you truly feel that fixing everyone else's problems should be a higher priority than fixing our own, in my NOT SO HUMBLE OPINION, you're in denial, and there is NO HELP for the DISABILITY of DENIAL!