Python & Twitter

I'm working on developing a Python Twitter application, but I've hit a snag. The Twitter API requires an a secret key for your application, but I don't know how (or if) I can keep this key secret.

Ideas?

I had planned it to be a user application rather than server-side, but I might change my method a bit.

Does that mean that most Twitter desktop applications use their own servers for authentication or just not care if someone gets their consumer key?