I wonder what, exactly, this says about our country. Is Bernie Madoff getting death threats? Alan Greenspan? Mortgage brokers? Republican leaders?

I was at a party this weekend, and this seemed to be all people wanted to talk about. At first I listened politely, but I finally said, "You know, the people who have screwed up this country would much rather we were angry at this woman than at them. And even if taxpayers paid every dime for these kids for the next 20 years, it wouldn't even be a speck of sand compared to the money these people have cost us - and our grandchildren."

One woman gave me a blank look, then: "Oh. You're right. They keep showing this on TV so we're not thinking about all that other stuff!" Right!

Two Brentwood publicists said they dropped octuplets mom Nadya Suleman as a client Saturday because they have received a slew of death threats.

Suleman, a 33-year-old Whittier resident, was unmarried, unemployed and already had six children using a sperm donor when she gave birth to eight children from the same donor Jan. 26 at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Bellflower.

Joann Killeen, president of Killeen Furtney Group, said she and husband Mike Furtney decided to drop Suleman early Saturday. Soon after the births, the couple began representing Suleman for free, and almost immediately started receiving threatening e-mails and phone calls from people enraged over the octuplets saga, she said.

"They hope I die, they hope my business goes under, they want to rip her uterus out," Killeen said. "They say I should be anesthetized and put down like a dog."

Killeen said she and Suleman felt so threatened that last week they stayed at an undisclosed "secure location" for a few days before returning home. The babies are still being treated at the hospital, Killeen said.