When it comes to the American dream, no one has a corner on the market. All of us have an equal chance to share in that dream.

It takes a lot of strength to let go.

We need to remember that politics is all about people, not programs. We shouldn't want to take the humanness out of the political arena.

Most of all, however, critics of black conservatives say we've forgotten where we came from. I may forget a federal budget number or, God forbid, to set the alarm clock for my weekly 6 a.m. flight to Washington, but I know exactly where I came from.

Consider in Washington, around the country today we are talking about balanced budgets, paying down our national debt, getting the economy going, defending ourselves, activist judges. Newt Gingrich did all those things when he was speaker. We got tax relief. We got balanced budgets. We got, you know, job creation. We paid down our national debt.

The American dream does not happen by asking Americans to accept what's immoral and wrong in the name of tolerance.

To say America can have strong leadership without strong character is to say we can get water without the wet.