Political Punch

Just a thought. The whole point of America is anyone can be president, even if they are unqualified. The people will decide. I hate the idea that some people think they are more entitled than others to be president. That is why we wind up with so many rich guys in office. If this is a democracy, then the people will decide. Everyone has a favorite and neither candidate is perfect and we all had people we liked in the primaries lose. SO get over it. Arguing over a bad play the ref made that meant your team didn't get into to the playoffs won't change anything. Move forward act like grown ups. Stop all this personality politics and focus on their platforms. Jebus.

I followed your link to the Fox News clip, and I didn't have a problem with it at all (which isn't always true for me and Fox News).

imo they did a good job of explaining what the gesture really meant: support for each other.

I expect there really were older people who had never heard or seen that before, and were questioning if it was something more sinister. Fox News addressed that concern.

For those who remember Fox News and their major role in the Obama/radical madrassa slur, this is quite an improvement.

It's easy to understand why so many Republicans would rather avoid actuality and obsess about Obama as the Anti-Christ, a Muslim, a terrorist, his radical associations, his pastor, MSM conspiracies, etc.

Here's where eight years of "conservative" Republican government have given us:

1) a $5 trillion surplus has turned into a $3 trillion debt (we are now being financed by China).

2) 50 million people without health insurance.

3) a war that has lasted longer than WWW II. It was was sold through lies and distortions and has cost 4,000 young Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis their lives with no end in sight.

4) Osama's still at large and his cronies are reconstituting in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

5) a government so incompetent that it cannot protect its own people from natural disasters or figure out what happened to $1.8 billion in Iraq.

5) $4 per gallon gas with no end in sight.

6) the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the middle class disappearing.

7) the mortgage foreclosure crisis brought on at least partially by the deregulation mania fostered by McCain's economic adivsor Phil Gramm.

8) schools where children learn how to take tests rather than learn.

9) lobbyists and special interests literally writing the legislation which is supposed to regulate them.

I could go on...and on...and on. But let's talk about Michelle and Barrack's "terrorist fist bump" instead!

Tiffany,

"I'm still on the fence."

Just remember that the republican spin on this very typical gesture of affection is that it might be terrorististic... Just like using the cell phone might be terroristic... Just like going to church might be terroristic...

Best of luck in your decision-making process.

This is gonna come as a big surprise to republicans... Blacks are human and we display affection.

I thought it was a very special moment for the Obama's to have shared with the public. My heart melted. Their mutual love and support for each other is something very rarely seen in politicians these days.

Obama 08!

HP Boston,

Yes, Howie is GermPhobia.
I don't know with Obamas .
Maybe want to get attention.

Do not know about the "fist pump", leave that to others.

However, re "believe the only way they can defeat Obama is to demonize him in the most absurd and hysterical ways."

Obama's ephemeral candidacy has been and still is "absurd". so not much of a leap there.

And... his supporters, despite the fact that they are supposed to have "won" something, re main "hysterical" with fear and doubt.

Don't beleieve me, read various blogs. HRC supporters are cool, calm, resolute, remain in their comfort zones while now turning to McCain.

Obama supporters are still bashing, slashing, denigrating, exibitint their extreme anxiety. Certainl no outward signs that they fell like winners!

go figure.

A 'terrorist fist jab'? That was a gesture of affection. Has it been so long since anyone has shown you affection that you misinterpret such gestures as 'terrorist'? How sad.

What's next, giving your hubby a peck on the cheek in public is 'sexual harassment'?

Personally, I find it heartwarming that Barack and Michelle are openly affectionate to each other.

This is partially inaccurate. The terrorist fist pound comment was made when asking if it was one of 3 options. I never got the impression they were ever implying it was or even could be some terrorist symbol, but rather that there were extreme viewpoints as to what the fist pound means (older folks maybe have commented asking if it's a terrorist thing?)

Also- she wasn't really asking if the Obama fist pound was a terrorist thing, but rather if the first bump in general, as a gesture, was 1, 2 , or 3 (she mentioned Pres Bush's fist pound before she even mentioned Obama.)

It was poorly worded, but I don't think this portrayal is even remotely accurate. They had on a body language expert for heaven's sake- clearly showing that it was a light piece in general. But we'd have to fairly conclude she was asking if Bush's first pound (as she mentioned Bush first) was somehow a terrorist signal. Which clearly knocks down the argument that somehow this is a Republican attack on Obama.

I loved the "dap" between Barack and Michelle. It was a really intimate exchange, at least in my opinion. My husband and I do that all the time! (And we're a young white couple.) It's a generational thing, most definitely, because when I accomplish something at work or my husband wins a basketball game, the first thing we do is hug, then we give each other dap. Why? Who knows.

But Fox News trying to label it as terrorist just confirms what I always suspected...Fox is a completely non-credible source of news that seeks to bias it's audience toward a certain perspective. When MSNBC does it, the right decries it as "horrendous", but if Fox does it, it's acceptable?

Ridiculous.

"I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO FOXNEWS TO EXPOSE MORE TRUTH ABOUT OBAMA."

Fortunately, the vote count in November will show the small minority to which you belong.

I thought at the time it was some kind of modified black greeting, definitely planned, to convey what message to whom I do not know, but I found it vaguely silly and off-putting. Kind of like Carole Burnett pulling on her ear at the end of each show.

But "terrorist"?

As far as I know, al Qaeda members are not running around bumping hands then giving the thumbs up sign, and how would Fox News know if they do?

Fired "Hussein" UP!! ,

THERE YA GO....

>>> Fired "Hussein" UP!! | Jun 9, 2008 2:42:14 PM:

YOU'RE N U T S!
definitely blinded
and I'm no "DUDE!

COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY!

I thought it was incredibly juvenile and fake. However, far from terroristic.

questioner,

Apparently you are willing to destroy the Country first and then the Party.

Nice call, dude!

"The Media is lying about how bad the economy is now. Its pretty darn good for most Americans. Most of us got better jobs during the Clinton years and the economy has dipped, but we are fighters and have rode it out and most of us can last 4 more years."

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?????????

Yes, the Clinton years were great.... and we could have used Hillary at the helm in this totally terrible economic climate!

No. Obama is not the leader we need...
ESPECIALLY ECONOMICALLY!.

The DNC is broken.
I will not accept a force-fed nominee.

Country before Party!!!!

cindy in nc,

FYI doll, Obama is a nerd. As are most intellectuals.

I love nerds! They make the BEST Presidents.

Class Clowns and Dunces do not.

The delusional Obama supporters are not going to like the dorky picture of their rock star riding a bike in Chicago last weekend.

I expect by now this photographer has been called a racist and had death threats. And somehow this nerdy picture will be Hillary's fault.

I'd rather see Obama as a nerdy dad than rediculous coverage of fainting fanatical fans cheering when he coughs.

MCCAIN, IF NOT HILLARY. AT LEAST, HE HAS THE EXPERIENCE. WE DON'T WANT A JOB TRAINEE AS PRESIDENT WHO WILL DO TEH JOB ON A TRIAL-AND-ERROR BASIS AND THAT WILL RELY HEAVILY ON ADVISERS, CONGRESS AND SENATE. NO WAY, JOSE.... LET MCCAIN DO THE INITIAL CLEANUP THEN HILLARY WILL TOTALLY CLEANUP THE SAME WAY THE CLINTONS DID AFTER THE BUSH,SR. LET'S WAIT AND SEE BETWEEN NOW AND AUGUST. DNC MAY STILL CHANGE THEIR MIND IF SOMETHING INTOLERABLE NEGATIVE WILL COME UP ON OBAMA...I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO FOXNEWS TO EXPOSE MORE TRUTH ABOUT OBAMA.