Personal About Politics: The Fist Bump Heard 'Round the World; Keith Olbermann, and Senate Republicans Block Windfall Taxes on Big Oil

It was an intimate, cute gesture between a husband and wife to show each other support, but Fox News tried to turn it into something sinister.

The whole world saw Michelle Obama give her husband Barack a cute little fist bump with a thumbs up just before announcing he would be the Democratic nominee. They were sharing an intimate moment on a world stage. Celebrating. You could see in their eyes and in their smiles, that it was a very caring gesture between two people who no longer have any privacy.

The way Fox News tried to turn that innocent gesture into something threatening, just shows how low they will stoop, and how concerned they are about Obama being the nominee.

I'm sure you have all seen the video of Fox News' America's Pulse host, E.D. Hill saying on the lead of her June 6 program, "A fist bump? A Pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently."

A terrorist fist jab? How do you interpret that little intimate gesture as something having to do with terrorism? It is appalling and pathetic, not to mention offensive.


What about Bush chest bumping with a Naval Academy graduate? Maybe that was a terrorist chest bump.

Today, June 10, Hill tried to make a lame apology, hardly recognizable as such, by claiming that "while people thought she was suggesting the Obamas were doing a 'terrorist fist jab,' she was really just reporting how it 'had been characterized in the media'."

Oh really? Funny thing, she's the only 'media' that called it a 'terrorist fist jab'. Weasel out of that.
 

There was a commentary in the LA Times Saturday that I found interesting and a bit disturbing. Former Times Television Critic Howard Rosenberg wrote a guest commentary about TV news.

He said, "The leer, the smug histrionics, the relentless needling, the shameless self-puffery, the accusatory rants…"

Sounds like Rush Limbaugh (radio) or Bill O'Reilly, right? Nope. He's talking about Keith Olbermann, and is lamenting the future of TV news because of his show Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Is he joking? Apparently not. Olbermann hasn't been on nearly as long as Limbaugh on radio and O'Reilly on TV, and at least he has a sense of humor. I think it's refreshing to finally have a foil to the bullies that have been dominating the airwaves for the last several years.

Talk about smug and self-puffery! That would be Limbaugh. And O'Rielly rants, screams over his guests, swears and has temper tantrums on a regular basis.

I'll take Olbermann's tongue-in-cheek commentary and humor over screaming meanies any day.

This just came across the AP wire:

WASHINGTON - Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt Tuesday to slap them with a windfall profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming.

GOP senators shoved aside the Democratic proposal, arguing that punishing Big Oil won't do a thing to lower the $4-a-gallon-price of gasoline that is sending economic waves across the country. High prices at the pump are threatening everything from summer vacations to Meals on Wheels deliveries to the elderly.

The Democratic energy package would have imposed a 25 percent tax on any "unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies, which together made $36 billion during the first three months of the year. It also would have given the government more power to address oil market speculation, opened the way for antitrust actions against countries belonging to the OPEC oil cartel, and made energy price gouging a federal crime.

"Americans are furious about what's going on," declared Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. He said they want Congress to do something about oil company profits and the "orgy of speculation" on oil markets.

But Republican leaders said the Democrats' plan would do harm rather than good — and they kept the legislation from being brought up for debate and amendments."

"This was politics at its worst," complained Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "This was a refusal to debate the biggest problem confronting the American people. ... That takes nerve."

In addition to the proposed windfall profits tax, the Democrats' bill also would have rescinded tax breaks that are expected to save the oil companies $17 billion over the next 10 years. The money would have been used to provide tax incentives for producers of wind, solar and other alternative energy sources as well as for energy conservation. (AP)


And you were excited about your tax rebate check.



Cheri Cabot – Political Correspondent

Cheri's column, "Personal About Politics", published weekly, will reflect on how the life of a 58 year-old, middle class woman is affected by politics, policy and the current state of the nation - a look at the personal aspects of politics. The articles will be posted to Politics.gather.com as part of Gather Essentials.

Cheri is a single, freelance writer living in Southern California.  She has two grown children, one in Iowa and one at Columbia University, and is the proud grandmother of two. Cheri is also a purveyor of fine coffee, warm chatter and dry wit.

You can find all of Cheri's columns on Personal About Politics at www.ccabot.gather.com.