Aside from the recent trans- formations of Hillary Clinton and Bruce Jenner into their respective new selves, the thing that progres- sives seem most fired up about these days is the transformation of Barack Obama into our "first Jewish presi- dent." This all stems from a recent interview during which Obama said, "I think I am the closest thing to a Jew that has ever sat in this office." Well, as Al Gore said, "the science is settled" so if Obama thinks it, it must be true.

Jeffrey Goldberg, a journalist for The Atlantic, says that Obama is the first Jewish president because many of his mentors, teachers, and advisers have been Jewish. But, when Obama-as-first-something is suggested in other non-racial con- texts, progressives angrily deny it. He grew up in Muslim In- donesia and had Muslim teachers. Does that make him our first Mus- lim president? Two of his most im- portant mentors, in his own words, were Frank Marshall Davis and Jer- emiah Wright. Davis was a com- munist. Does that make Obama our first communist president? Jeremiah "God damn America!" Wright is rabidly anti-American. Does that make Obama our first anti-American president? Of course, any such sug- gestions give liberals the vapors. So why do the supposed Jewish influ- ences matter?

Moreover, why is it suddenly so important that Obama be per- ceived as Jewish. As a prominent Democratic ex-Secretary of State might say, "What difference, at this point, does it make?"

Obama's supporters have pointedly asked which president has been "more Jewish" than he, thinking that that's a "gotcha!" But, as no president has been Jewish, ask- ing which one was "more" Jewish is meaningless. And here's more pro- gressive logic: Jews were oppressed. Blacks were oppressed. Obama is black. Therefore Obama is more Jewish than any other president. Uh-huh, that works.

Still another of the proofs of Obama's Jewishness is that he's like a Jewish mother because he practices "tough love" on Israel. For example, he has insisted that Israel abandon the settlements on what left-wing folks continue to misrepresent as "occupied" land; that is, land which Israel rightfully took after it's stun- ning victory in the 1967 war. That's like saying that the entire American southwest is really just occupied land because we took it from Mexico after our own rather stunning victory in 1848. But losing land is often a con- sequence of losing wars. Too bad.

And, Mr. Tough Love also wants Israel to return to those 1967 boundaries. Not an immediate prob- lem as none of the surrounding Arab countries except Syria is as hostile as in 1967 and Syria isn't in a position to be very aggressive at the moment. But the long-term consequences of returning to those narrow, restricted borders should be obvious to anyone who can read a map. They would be disastrous.

This whole first Jewish presi- dent nonsense probably is a reac- tion to a recent poll which showed a 28 point drop in Jewish support for Obama; support that traditionally is critical to Democratic success. But it could also be just another distrac- tion to avoid discussing this admin- istration's many failures. Obama has been a reverse King Midas as every- thing he has touched has turned to horse manure. Obamacare is a disas- ter, our economy is contracting, our foreign policy … well, we don't have one. But, hey, Obama is our most Jewish president and how 'bout that Caitlyn Jenner? Whatever "first Jewish presi- dent" means, what's important is what has happened to the US-Israeli relationship. It has tanked under Obama. He insulted and snubbed Is- raeli Prime Minister Netanyahu early on. He actively worked to defeat Netanyahu's re-election bid. He de- layed necessary resupply of military equipment to the Israelis during last year's intense fighting with Hamas in Gaza. And, most importantly, he is "negotiating" with Iranian barbarians in a way which guarantees that Iran, which has pledged to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, will get nuclear weapons.

First Jewish president? Oy vey!