Apparently government does need to get bigger to get better.

The Prez told the country last Thursday that what we really need to fight terrorism is a new cabinet post. More bureaucracy is necessary to make sure that what is inevitable will happen anyway (but with a manic flurry of warnings that no one heeds before it does happen). Which isn't that surprising, I guess, but does the Prez have to look like a deer in headlights every time he has to talk on TV? Can't he at least look like he likes his job?

He gets paid way more than me, he should be happy about it.

One thing the Prez and his administration keep pointing out is that nothing could have prevented the terrorist attacks. And, usually tagged on to this is the statement that there will be more attacks someday, and we won't be able to stop all of them. I guess what they're saying is that government is ineffective at a lot of things, but if we give more jobs to the Prez's friends, then maybe things will get better. Or we'll be more informed as to whose fault it is when things do go wrong.

What do the people of the country (or at least those who answer CNN polls) think about this? Well, 72 percent think the new cabinet post is a good idea. Like they can do anything about it. I think the idea of homeland security is nice. It's kind of like how when you go to a theme park and think that the people running the rides are experts at their jobs, so there's nothing to worry about. We figure that the government knows what they're doing by creating another cabinet level post, because they should know if they need one, right? If the entire government was ineffective at stopping the terrorist attacks, then maybe they do need more people to help out.

But do the people think it'll work? Not really. Only 20 percent think that the new post will be "very effective" at stopping future threats to our homeland.

I think homeland is kind of a strange word to use, as if we all came from the same small town and used to eat ice cream together on Sundays. It's a very nice sounding word, very comforting, but compared to the static Department of Justice, this sounds like a lot of spin. Because you'd think if we've got a CIA, FBI, INS, IRS, ATF, armed forces, national guard, border patrol and all those freakin' firefighters, well, maybe we've got this problem covered in as many ways as we can.

Maybe if I really felt threatened, I might feel differently about the whole thing. But, even as my city gets funds to counterattack possible bio-terrorism threats, I just don't feel like I'm going to be a victim of this new, never-ending "war." Albuquerque, which does have close to half a million in the surrounding metropolitan area, does not have a center. We are all spread out like groupies in the back of a tour bus. So maybe you'd take out a building, but there's really nothing that symbolizes the town--unless someone blows up the Chevy On A Stick. Of course, there'd be no civilian casualties from that, just a bunch of pissed off people and a need for more public-funded art.

I'm tired of this ongoing struggle to get over last fall. I think we'd do better to stop commemorating every month as a triumph of will. How did we make it all the way into June of 2002 without completely breaking down as a nation? It's a miracle, huh?

Not really. We all have jobs to do. Places we have to go every day to make sure that the big machine we call America keeps running. I'm part of it, just like virtually every other American. Sure, we don't all get paid the same and maybe some people have more important jobs than others, but it's the collective effort as a whole to keep on keeping on that makes this work.

We can't just stop. There will never be a time when our way of life is significantly changed unless there is a full-scale war within our borders (our homeland!). And if that happens, all bets are off.

Since I don't see that even occurring anytime soon, I propose this: The best homeland security is peace of mind. We don't need more people in Washington warning us of future attacks. We don't need another agency that doesn't talk to the other agencies and chases its tail in circles. We just need a little bit of acceptance (which the Prez seems to be pushing, since he keeps telling us that there's gonna be more attacks whether we like it or not) and arrogance.

We're the fucking United States of America! Come and get us! We're ready for you, you sons of bitches!

If we could all just say this out loud once a day, I think we'd all have more peace of mind. And it wouldn't take giving another buddy of the Prez a full time job of paper shuffling and spin control to do it.

Matt Worley doesn't have a car alarm, house alarm or security cameras set up around the perimeter of his property, but he still feels safe.