Here's what I thought you'd like to hear about today:

1. Kerry - Is he still around?
2. Making Politics out of a Political Event - I'm shocked!
3. Klobuchar Wants to Change the Constitution - What is it about the Title "Commander-in-Chief" You Don't Understand?
4. It's The Economy Stupid - At Least it Used to Be

Listen to clips of John Kerry with Chris Wallace, Charlie Rangel with Bill O'Reilly, George Bush on the Military Commisions Act, Klobuchar debate Kennedy, Larry Kudlow with Hugh Hewitt, and Donald Trump with Neil Cavuto all commenting on the politics of the week.

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Kerry - Is he still around?

It's amazing that this guy was a few tens of thousand votes from getting elected President of the United States. I'm going to play two of his recent appearances. The first is a speech he gave at the annual New Hampshire Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Manchester, NH. The indespensible C-SPAN had the video.

Jim Addison at Wizbang Politics had this to add to the discussion:

Kerry says he deserves another chance at White House.

You just can't make this stuff up.

John Kerry thinks he should get the nomination if he wants it - claiming he hasn't decided that yet - because "Americans give people a second chance."

That's "people," Senator, not necessarily "politicians."

Jonah Goldberg commented further on The Corner on National Review Online:

For the record, since yesterday's post about John Kerry [not having a chance on 2008], I have received a dozen or so emails from liberals saying "you're right" to one extent or another. I've received exactly zero emails from anybody saying they think either A) John Kerry can be president or B) that Kerry would be their first choice for 2008.

So, to recap: John Kerry is a human toothache and he will never, ever, ever be president of the United States. Period. I'm Jonah Goldberg and I approved this message.

Here is the first few minutes of the speech. See if you don't agree with Mr. Goldberg's assessment.

Play clip.

No, the North Korean nuclear program was not frozen under Clinton. You sir, are the liar here. As Kim Priestap at Wizbang noticed, and the Arms Control Association published in May of 2003,

Armitage has provided the earliest estimate of the program's origin, testifying February 4 that the U.S. government noticed "some anomalies in [North Korean] procurement patterns" starting in 1994. Similarly, Secretary of State Colin Powell stated during a March 26 hearing before the House Appropriations Committee that North Korea started the program to enrich uranium "before the ink was dry" on the 1994 Agreed Framework.

It's simply irresistible for Kerry dissemble about George Bush. It's in his genes. But the truth is that Kim Jong Il was cheating from the first two years of the Clinton Administration through all the Bush Administration until today. The only solution that anyone has come up with is the six-party talks, where countries in the East Asian neighborhood can work with together with the U.S. to get North Korea to give up their nuclear program and join the family of nations. Using, you know, Diplomacy.

Kerry was on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace last weekend to bloviate on how bad George Bush is for the country. As Red State.com noticed, he was in rare form. As Mark Kilmer on RedState said:

WALLACE AND JOHN KERRY, REPORTING FOR DUTY. Wallace's next guest was an irrelevant has-been, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

In this section he recommends that Bush stop talking with North Korea in six party talks, and proceed directly to one-on-one discussions. Wallace plays gotcha with some of Kerry's words.

Play clip.

This canard about talking to your enemies is very popular in Democratic circles. I can think of many reasons to talk to your enemies, and we have often done so in the past, as Kerry correctly identifies. But it only makes sense if you have something they want and they have something you want, as we did with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Our discussions then were dependent on the concepts of trust and verification. We simply can't trust serial liars like North Korea. Why make a bargain with another party if you are certain they will not live up to their side of the agreement? It makes much more sense to negotiate with the Chinese, with whom we have leverage, and have them negotiate with North Korea, with whom they have leverage, than to try to go it alone as Kerry is advocating. He's a fool, and good riddance.

Making Politics out of a Political Event - I'm shocked!

President Bush signed The Military Commissions Act Of 2006 this week at the White House, and used the occasion to make some remarks about the two major provisions of the legislation. The key aspects are the interrogation of enemy combatants and the details of their trial procedures. He explains why the act is so important, and makes a small political dig at the fact that 90% of the Democrats in Congress voted against the Act.

Play clip.

Naturally, some on the democatic side who opposed the legislation have been talking about why they did so. Perhaps the most wigged out member of Congress, Charlie Rangel, appeared on The O'Reilly Factor this week to defend his opposition. He was able to raise the rankles of Bill in this segment. Listen to this edited excerpt provided by HotAir.

As a famous member of congress, and the potential future chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, you have to know you are in trouble when Bill O'Reilly out-lawyers you on national TV. Or should I say "So-called" member of congress. Perhaps.

Play clip.

Klobuchar Wants to Change the Constitution - What is it about the title "Commander-in-Chief" You Don't Understand?

RedState.com has a regular review of the Sunday morning talk shows every week. Mark Kilmer does a yeoman's job. This weekend on Meet the Press he watched the debate between the two candidates for Senate from Minnesota.

KENNEDY VS. KLOBUCHAR ON MTP. Republican Congressman Mark Kennedy sat next to his opponent, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party. They're running for the U.S. Senate, and Russert talked to them about... Iraq.

Listen to this exchange where first Kennedy talks about his opponent, then Klobuchar responds to a question from Tim Russert. She wants the military to take over leadership for the war effort from the President, apparently. I guess she wants to demote him from Commander in Chief to something a little less important. Don't miss the reference to Jim Baker. Please.

Play clip.

Keep this idiot out of the Senate, please.

It's The Economy Stupid - At Least it Used to Be

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit wonders what happened to the idea of the Clinton 1992 campaign, "It's the Economy, Stupid".

ANOTHER RECORD HIGH FOR THE DOW yesterday: "Recent company comments and government data have underscored the notion that the U.S. economy is stronger than expected, heading into the end of the year, and that companies will post another quarter of double-digit earnings growth."

So, is it the economy, stupid? This election will be a test.

And Bart Halls says it didn't get much on NPR:

A yawn. Didn't even mention it. "Dow Jones industrials closed up about 20 points." Nothing to see here. Move along.

I recall back in late '99 and early '00 they were crowing about it every single time. Then again, there was a Democrat in the White House. That sort of self-deception is one reason the left are repeatedly disappointed by their electoral results.

Larry Kudlow has similar sentiments on the Hugh Hewitt Show earlier this week.

Play clip.

I don't know why they don't talk about it more either. We can't wait for the mainstream media to do the talking for us. Well, actually, President Bush does talk about the economy. It doesn't get to the press very often, but he does talk about it. Here is a short clip from his announcement that the deficit was reduced by half three years ahead of schedule.

Play clip.

Now if we can just get the people on the TV political talk shows to talk about the economy. Well Neil Cavuto does, here with Donald Trump on Fox, as found by the Media Blog on National Review Online. It's something other than the next page scandal, or Nancy Pelosi's plan for the first hundred hours of her speakership. It's all in the story. A little bit better every day is no story. A crash, now that's a story.

Play clip.

Thank you Donald. Now go get a haircut. That's it for now podcatchers.