The American dream is alive and well, though you wouldn’t know it from watching the network news.

Don Imus's slip of the lip created a media and racial outrage. He immediately acknowledged his mistake and apologized in person to the Rutgers women basketball team members. They accepted his apology with dignity and class. John Sugg is Senior Editor of Creative Loafing, a limited distribution weekly paper based in Atlanta, Georgia. Sugg did not have a slip of the pen or a runaway keyboard when he referred to me and all black Republicans as moronic. Sugg wrote, "Being a black Republican is not only oxymoronic, it's simply plain old-fashioned moronic." In the same article he also referred to me as a "sorry opportunist" and a "token," because I chose to run as a Republican in the Georgia 2004 U.S. Senate primary election.

Former Senator Fred Thompson's recent disclosure that he has a form of cancer called lymphoma has people wondering if he should still run for president. The answer is yes for at least three reasons: 1) His cancer is non aggressive and has been in remission for over two years; 2) He could be the next leader we need for this country; and 3) Cancer is not a death sentence.

Funny how big government has mesmerized us into believing it’s a treat to keep some of our own wages. It’s an illusion they have to protect so they can squeeze out more each year.

Spring is a refreshing time of the year when most of us know how to enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature and her splendor. It is also a good time to remind people of the beauty of this great nation, the United States of America, despite those who work so hard to paint America as ugly.

An old and popular English proverb cautions us that a fool and his money are soon parted. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) is taking us all for fools with some of his recent statements and votes.

A simple change in the antiquated tax code would create an avalanche of universal choice in health care, instead of current proposals that produce universal dependence on government. Namely, the U.S. should eliminate the deductibility discrimination between employers and employees for health insurance premiums.

A topic of conversation at nearly every event I have attended since the presidential rat race began is each political party’s presidential candidates. Invariably, whenever someone mentions one of the current front runners in either party, someone else in the gathering objects because of that particular candidate’s alleged baggage.

Of course, over 200 years of American history has shown us that our elected, appointed and career government employees are not motivated by the goal of solving problems.

Politicians use words to inspire, cajole and convince people that their particular policy prescriptions are without fault and beneficial to both the least among us and the nation as a whole.

Since the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination began, roughly, on Inauguration Day 2005, it is not too early to speculate on who might be the leading candidates for the eventual nominees’ vice presidential pick.

Last week I discussed the testimony delivered February 8 by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson before the Senate Budget Committee on President Bush's fiscal year 2008 budget proposals.

Entitlement is a disease, much like cancer. I fought and won my personal war against cancer, but have thankfully never suffered from entitlement. If there is indeed a divide in our country, as liberals in both political parties are all too willing to espouse and exploit, it may very well be between those Americans who feel entitled to guarantees of health care, retirement income and protections of their self-defined class, and the rest of us who have read the Constitution.

When The Pillsbury Company appointed me president of the then-troubled Godfather’s Pizza chain in 1986, they were not looking for a black president because it was time for the first time in its history to have a black man in charge of a major business unit. They were looking for someone who had successfully demonstrated leadership ability.

The next president of the United States of America may not be what we need. We need a real leader who will bring real solutions to the challenges facing our economic infrastructure and national security.

The American public is about to once again witness the liberals’ total disdain for, and ignorance of, the dynamics of capitalism and our free market economic system.

Control of Congress may give a few political party leaders a fleeting sense of power, but it cannot fill the genuine leadership void that plagues our nation’s capitol.

My eternal optimism for the New Year is with the American people. It is not with a newly controlled Congress or the battered leadership in the White House.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! Go ahead and call the politically correct police, I do not care.

The current announced crop of 2008 Republican presidential contenders is about as inspiring as Saturday’s leftovers for Monday’s lunch.