Greetings! Iran is winning the battle of Hormuz opines the reliably conservative editorial board of the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Wall Street Journal....JD Vance appeared Friday night on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” to tout his religious conversion memoir “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” (Here’s a four-minute clip).  Props to Vance for having the guts to parachute behind enemy lines to appear on “Real Time” and ABC's liberal yakfest “The View.”  Still, he lost me in his word salad response to Maher’s suggestion that he and fellow MAGA leaders stop blaming election defeats to Democrats on rigged voter fraud and accepting only GOP victories as fair and square. It was a shameful non-answer and an obvious attempt to pander to his boss’s election lies...Speaking of Bill Maher: Last night, Maher received the prestigious Mark Twain Award for American Humor at the Trump Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.  The event, featuring other comics including Louis C.K. and Jay Leno, will  stream on Netflix beginning July 21. (Kennedy Center)....Word of the day: Kakistocracy. The archaic word pops up in the seventh graph of this NY Times column by David Wallace-Wells skewering MAGA 2.0. Dating back to the 17th century, kakistocracy is a term for a regime run by the most corrupt, least qualified individuals.  Any government come to mind?

Best Presidential Biographies: As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I asked Bob Frye, a committed U.S. history buff and a pal since our college days, to recommend essential biographies of American presidents. Bob is uniquely qualified for the assignment since several years ago he set out to read the biographies of every U.S. president (he’s nearing completion of his goal). The tomes  he’s selected  reflect the extraordinary character, judgment and leadership qualities of the men who sat in the Oval Office. Here are Bob’s picks with his comments:

Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow (2010) — A definitive portrait of Washington’s discipline, restraint, Republican leadership, and refusal to convert presidential authority into a kingship.

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham (2008) — A Pulitzer Prize-winning study of Jackson’s democratic appeal, forceful personality, disruptive politics, and controversial legacy. His inaugural ball was the closest event in history to a UFC fight at the White House.

Lincoln, by David Herbert Donald (1995) — A humane full-life biography of Lincoln’s intelligence, patience, melancholy, and moral seriousness. Alternative Lincoln pick: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abe Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (2005) – A fascinating study of Lincoln’s wartime political genius.

No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (1994) — A rich account of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, their wartime leadership, treatment with allies, and management of home-front resolve.

Truman, by David McCullough (1992) — A Pulitzer Prize-winning portrait of Truman’s plainspoken character, Cold War judgment, and nuclear-age decisions.  At the conclusion of his time in office, Truman drove himself home to Independence, MO, a penniless man.