So, President Obama has decreed that a top goal of NASA will be to “engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science . . .” So says NASA administrator Charles Bolden. Isn’t that wonderful? Trace the arc of the Democratic party from JFK to BHO: “We will go to the moon”; “We will help Muslims feel good about their historic contribution to science.” (By the way, is it historic?)

I was thinking that, in the interest of evenhandedness in our Middle East policy, we could reach out to the Jews to make them feel good about their contribution to science — just in case they’re feeling low. Really, you can’t expect them to have made any contribution to science: They are so few in number, and they have been storm-tossed for centuries, driven from one country to another, sometimes murdered en masse . . .

I’m reminded of a story — one that I like a lot. It was told to me by Bernard Lewis, dean of Middle East historians. Golda Meier came to Princeton to give a talk. This was after her premiership. Someone said, “Prime Minister, why is the PLO, which is not even a country, allowed to play a part in UNESCO while Israel is not?” Meir, deadpan, said, “Well, let me see: ‘UNESCO’ stands for ‘United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.’ I guess the Palestinians have more to contribute to education, science, and culture than we do.”

Oh, Golda: The more I read about her — and I’ve been doing that lately, in Yehuda Avner’s memoirs — the more I appreciate her.

Two more comments: Will Muslims, anywhere, ever get sick of Obamite condescension? Are they now? Also, say that, back in the 2008 campaign, you had remarked, “If Obama becomes president, he will demand that NASA devote itself to making Muslims feel good about their contributions to science.” You would have been called the worst and wildest kind of right-winger.

This administration is simply beyond parody. Apologizing to Communist China for Arizona’s immigration laws; directing NASA to address itself to Muslim self-esteem . . . Unbelievable.