Joe, Noah, and Tucker

But first: I think we’re gonna win Ohio.

Yes, aided by the disgraced former president’s endorsement, JD Vance won almost a third of Republican primary voters (leaving, by my math, more than two-thirds who preferred someone else).

(And, yes, five years ago Vance, a “never-Trumper,” called Trump “noxious, reprehensible, and an idiot.”)

But Tim Ryan is so good . . . and so right for the Ohio electorate . . . and for the women of Ohio who might not be happy with the prospect of Mitch McConnell controlling their reproductive decisions . . . that my money’s on him.

Indeed, we could flip not only that Ohio seat but also Republican seats in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida.

Republicans have 20 seats to defend this November; Democrats, 14.

Our House majority, as everyone knows, will be tougher to defend, let alone expand — but it is absolutely doable.

Join your local chapter of the League of Women Voters!  Join Field Team 6!  Join Vote Forward!  Fund the Party!

And now:

Imagine being able to attend the black-tie Washington Correspondents’ Dinner without having to fail — yet again — at following YouTube’s instructions on how to tie one.  (I know: it’s just like tying your shoes, but on your neck.)

Not that I’ve ever been invited to that dinner, but C-SPAN allows me to attend in short pants.

Here is President Biden opening for Trevor Noah.  The press, he says, is NOT the enemy of the people.

And here is the tail end of Trevor Noah’s remarks. You can of course back it up to watch from the beginning — some of it cringingly tough on people in the room.  But the fact that he could be so tough free from fear was his ultimate point; how the press uses that freedom was his challenge. Watch.

What I liked best about the evening was the way the President could genuinely laugh at himself.  As democratic leaders around the world and most people in this country know — even Lindsey Graham — this is a fundamentally decent, decent man.  “As good a man as God ever created.”

Tucker Carlson, on the other hand . . . not so much.

He was the subject of 20,000 words Sunday, described here.  One of the on-line segments — mostly graphics and video clips — charts his evolution.

(Once, walking a step or two behind him on the way to the Democratic National Convention years ago, before he had become so famous and frightening, I saw he had dropped his press credentials.  He didn’t notice; kept walking.  I picked them up, contemplated mischief, thought better of it, tapped him on the shoulder, and got a big thank you.  Back then, he just seemed like a doofus.  Now, he is a clear and present danger.)