Be on the lookout for ‘terrorist fist jabs’

June 7, 2008

Just back from a two-week vacation, my friend Kevin Drum can’t help but notice what reporters consider the big news from the campaign trail: “[A]pparently the real news from the past couple of weeks is that Barack and Michelle Obama bumped their fists together at a campaign event. That’s news that produces video you can use! And use. And use. But I’ve only seen it three or four times since I turned the TV back on, so I hope we get another week or two of coverage of this momentous event.”

Yep, following up on an item from Thursday, the fist bump heard ’round the world is still a subject of considerable interest. If you’re just joining us, at their rally in Minnesota on Tuesday night, Barack and Michelle Obama shared a brief fist-pound (or “dap,” as the kids call it) in the midst of their celebration. It was a cute, affectionate exchange — which the media seems utterly fascinated by.

For some, the moment offers some insight into the closeness between the would-be First Couple. For others, it’s a generational moment (we probably shouldn’t expect John and Cindy to exchange a similar greeting any time soon), which speaks to the Obamas’ youth and vitality.

And for some, it’s reminiscent of terrorists: “Teasing a segment on the ‘gesture everyone seems to interpret differently,’ Fox News’ E.D. Hill said: ‘A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab?’

This, of course, comes a few days after a conservative at Human Events complained of Michelle Obama’s “‘Hezbollah’ style fist-jabbing.”

At this point, the general election campaign is only going to be five months long. The right obviously has to pick up the pace, squeezing as much stupidity as they can into a limited time frame.

The segment on Fox News was especially mind numbing, featuring a FNC on-air personality questioning whether the fist-bump related to terrorism talking to Janine Driver, a “body language expert.”

HILL: A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently. We’ll show you some interesting body communication and find out what it really says. […]

HILL: First, the president of America chest bumps an Air Force graduate. Next, Michelle and Barack Obama fist bump or fist pound — people call it all sorts of things — but what happened to the old pat on the back? A handshake? A hug? Today’s body language and what we can glean from it. Janine Driver is a body language expert and joins us now. Janine, thanks for being back with us.

DRIVER: Hi, E.D. Nice to be here.

HILL: OK, tell me about this whole thing. Let’s start with the Barack and Michelle Obama, because that’s what most people are writing about — this fist thump. Is that sort of a signal that young people get?

DRIVER: I’m sure it is, without a doubt. And it’s a connection that they have together. It’s something just personal between the two of them, like “I’m proud of you.” You know, my husband and I, if we’re walking down the street and he’s proud of me, we have our own little method. He squeezes my hand three times, which means, “I love you,” and I squeeze his four times, saying, “I love you, too.” It’s something intimate between them, but I’m sure young people in this country are going to kind of like them kind of representing a little bit.

HILL: Uh-huh. Has our communication style changed as a culture in America?

DRIVER: Oh —

HILL: Will we have more of this nonverbal communication?

DRIVER: Absolutely, E.D. I mean, just even look in business women — we’re wearing suits today, pants suits. The generation from my mother’s mother’s era versus today — it’s always evolving and always changing, and that’s just part of what we see. Obama — it is kind of a hip gesture that they’re making there with that little fist bump, and it’s just a connection. It’s something personal between them. You know, the mistake that a lot of body language experts make, E.D., is they say, “OK, arms are crossed, so it means you’re bored and disinterested.”

HILL: Uh-huh.

DRIVER: They pigeonhole one gesture into a certain meaning. That’s not — that’s not — that’s unscientific. It’s unscientific. The best thing to say is, “Obama, is there any reason why you guys did that? What did it mean?” And he’ll tell you —

HILL: Uh-huh.

DRIVER: — because we know what we’re doing and what it means to others.

Will this end up getting as much scrutiny as Al Gore kissing Tipper at the 2000 convention? Stay tuned.

Does this mean that because they fist bump or dap that major league baseball players are all Hezbollah luving turrerists? I think that would be surprising to them as many of them are pretty right wing and many are also born again Christians.

First a stupid scarf on a mediocre TV cook. Now Michelle’s gesture of genuine affection for her husband. It just reaffirms that RWers fear things they don’t know (which seems to be everything) and don’t watch a lot of baseball (how unAmerican!)

  • Dear CB:

    Last evening, our daughter’s date tried to fist-bump me so I decked him. Now, my daughter isn’t speaking to me and my wife made me sleep outside with the dog. Should I be concerned that my wife and daughter are terrorist sympathizers or does this kid have a “thing” for me?

    — Confused in the Doghouse

  • I’m guessing this is partly the reason Fox’s viewing demographic is so old. If you were writing a novel, and wanted to use this dialog, the only way to make readers suspend disbelief would be to have Hill and Driver arrive in a time machine from an earlier era.

  • Actually Michelle and Barrack aren’t that young. I suspect their daughters roll their eyes when their parents do that tap.

    Things aren’t young and hip for long.

  • Dear Confused…

    I wouldn’t worry about your daughter’s date. Once your wife properly adjusts your happy pills, you will be, once again, welcome in the house, and the knowing nods you receive will be further confirmation of your reintegration into your family unit.

    p.s. Consider getting the dog neutered.

  • and don’t be fooled, even by lily-white, underage, blonde-haired, blue-eyed pixies — they, too, may be sleeper terrorists, sent here by al Queda to commit heinous acts.

    i mean, just this week i saw a photo from the US Olympic trials where American women’s gymnastics hopeful Shawn Johnson – all, what, 4’9″ of her – came off the mat from a winning floor exercise and tapped a fist with her coach (who looked Asian to me! another clue!) [I tried to find the photo now to link, but of course I cannot. you’ll have to trust me.]

    she may aspire to wear red, white and blue, but its all a ruse i tell ya! the “dap” (surely Arabic for “sign of jihadist unity”) gives her away! Sent her to Gitmo before its too late!

  • Fox viewers are the most ignorant people on earth.

    Let me tell you about my trip to Kentucky. On second thought, let me not.

    Dumb rednecks who still believe the Dumb Redneck in Chief and his personal propaganda network.

  • For those here who follow the race for US Senate from Minnesota, the DFL convention just endorsed Franken on the first ballot.

    This had recently come into some doubt because of significant scrutiny of some very sexually explicit satire pieces he wrote or performed earlier in his comedy career.

    He directly apologized in his speech, saying:

    “It kills me that things I said and wrote sent a message … that they can’t count on me to be a champion for women, for all Minnesotans,” Franken said. “I’m sorry for that. Because that’s not who I am.”

  • Danp said: If you were writing a novel, and wanted to use this dialog, the only way to make readers suspend disbelief would be to have Hill and Driver arrive in a time machine from an earlier era.

    That’s so true. It looked like a scene Jon Waters might include in Hairspray 3.

  • I’m 60, white, and a moderate Republican who recently was chatting with a somewhat younger fellow I never met before while we filled our gas tanks. As we finished, he extended his fist, I bumped it and we smiled and parted. It was a sign of mutual respect, bridging our obvious differences.

  • Someone needs to work up a video collage of various athletes doing the dap…
    Finish with Michelle and Barack doing it…
    Then cut to the talking Fox head labeling it a terrorist fist jab.

    That ought to go over well with the masses…

  • “Paranoia strikes deep, into your mind it will creep” – 60s song lyric. It sounds like the uptight, stiff right-wingers are feeling a little paranoid and left out of the new coming Obama/Democratic/youth/Internets sweep. Ancient old John McCain’s theme should be: “Paranoia you can believe in…” Faux Noise is leading its ditto-lemmings over a cliff…

  • How stupid can this get????

    Would the media like a different gesture to analyze? I’ve got one for them that even the least cool media geezers may recognize.

  • OMG. Fox keeps ascending to new heights of inanity. I hope Stephen Colbert picks up on the “terroist fist jab” thing. It is highly amusing, and anyone who could pose that description (as well as call what the Obamas shared a “fist pound”) with a straight face has got to be insane or terminally amoral. Either way, they are due a serious beating with the satire stick.

    And didn’t I feel enlightened to learn that the “expert” had little hand signals with her hubby? THAT was the icing on this whole fascinating cake.

  • TuiMel, I thought it was quite excessive that they squeezed their hands so many times. And why did she have to squeeze his hand FOUR times?! I mean, talk about the subjugation. Honestly, don’t they know it’s one short and one long squeeze (and a blow job in a pear tree)?

    What a joke of a “news” station.

    And the joke is on US.

  • Over on the NY Times site is a brief video of a chess enthusiast from the rap group Wu Tang Clan being interviewed by the NY Times chess writer while playing a game of chess. At the end of the game they laugh and tap fists.

    Rejoice folks! If this silly crap is the best Fox “news” and the Republicans can do they are in big trouble.

  • And #17-I deal with the public in my work and my fellow employees all tap fists with one another in lieu of shaking hands.

  • How come nobody is deconstructing, reconstrucing, and interpreting Bush’s belly bump with that young military guy? And that follows the WELL-KNOWN picture of Dubya HOLDING HANDS with that Saudi prince? And that drooling look of adoration he gives when Dick Cheney speaks? Why isn’t anybody outraged that The Leader of The Free World is obviously a CLOSET HOE MOE SECK SHOOL???

  • Pasting an old response to this issue…cuz I’m lazy.
    ________________

    I assumed Barack was trying to punch his wife – you know, as a means of expressing alpha male dominance, and she was just blocking the punch reflexively. You know how THOSE PEOPLE are…

    Whoa! Folks, I’m sorry, I…for a moment there, I thought I was Geraldine Ferraro. I don’t know how that happened. I’m fine now, really.

    Anyway, I’m not surprised something so nothing is getting such press. Obama’s so good at NOT giving the media stupid inconsequential bullshit to overanalyze, they’re forced to take whatever they can get, otherwise they might have to (gasp!) discuss issues.

    So yeah, a dap? No big deal. But if they then proceeded to “blow it up?” TOTAL al queda high sign. Watch for it…and beware…

  • What really bugs me is that nobody is being outraged at his patting her butt. Talk about demeaning and condescending! Typically terrorist behaviour when it comes to women! The first time my husband tried that he got his hand smacked, but good. As had the patron in numerous joints I waitressed in in my younger days (I guess that’s why they were so numerous).

  • calvin didn’t realize that all the men that he played golf with at his gated golf community in very conservative SW Florida were terrorists. Just about all of them fist bump after a good shot. Gee, now I’m going to have to give that up and go back to kissing them.

  • I just saw Da-Tara’s jockey,Alan garcia, give A terrorist fist jab to another guy in the winner’s circle at the Belmont.

    Also, Garcia speaks american with Hezbollah-like accent.

    Who should I phone to make my report?

  • The first time my husband tried that he got his hand smacked, but good. As had the patron in numerous joints I waitressed in in my younger days (I guess that’s why they were so numerous).

    the number of joints you worked in or the number of patrons patting your butt? 😉

  • Fox News:

    “These darn kids and their ‘rock and roll’ music. What’s that all about Fred. You think it will catch on?”

    “I think these ‘hipsters’ are just a passing phase, Mike.”

    “What’s with this ‘hipster lingo’ though? Words like ‘cool’ and ‘bop’ and ‘groovy.’ What’s that all about?”

    “They think if you’re ‘all reet’ that you’re really ‘jake.’ It’s pretty much the same as being ‘copacetic.'”

    “And the ‘twist.’ Will they still be doing the twist in 20 years? Or is that just something to annoy their parents?”

    “Could I be ‘funky’ if I learned this new lingo? I’d like to be ‘funky.'”

    “Yes, absolutely. It’s just a matter of being ‘with it’ and having a ‘psychedelic’ attitude. Plus a paisley shirt.”

    “Strawberry Alarm Clock kinda thing?”

    “Absolutley.”

    “Aw reet Fred.”

    “23 skidoo.”

  • see what, @26,

    The number of joints; since I used to get fired after the first slap, the patrons never learnt their lessons…

  • Meanwhile, food and energy prices continue to soar, truckers don’t seem to be keeping store shelves well-stocked anymore…but hey! Let’s talk about something REALLY trivial!

  • I just hope he doen’s scratch his face in public again. I would be such a scandal!!!

  • When I was an undergrad at a Colorado college back in the mid-1970s, some friends and I used to greet each other with an extended dap. It took minutes to complete, depending upon the amount of beer consumed. It was about half a dance, come to think of it, and so elaborate that in our dotage we have forgotten many of its subtleties. I guess none of us can expect to run for president anytime soon. But there’s always the top job at New Life Church.

  • Faux News says: “Janine Driver, a body language expert”. Who is Janine Driver, a “body language expert”? And what is a so-called “body language expert”?

    From Ms. Driver’s bio on her site:

    “As a former stand up comedian […] Janine Driver […] is among the funniest and most powerful sales & marketing speakers in the business world. […]”

    Right. She’s not a psychologist or a sociologist or a criminologist or a doctor (of anything), and she doesn’t list any educational accomplishments. We’ve got “comedian”, “marketing” (no business degrees to speak of?) and “sales”. So she’s an “expert analyst” based on …?

    “For over a decade, Janine trained thousands of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers to decipher fact from fiction.”

    Ah, okay, she’s “trained” cops how to tell “fact from fiction”. Um, isn’t that supposed to be what the courts decide? And is there any information from those she’s trained to say whether or not her “training” actually was of any use? For example, any study of any sort that shows that the arrest to conviction rate was any higher after the training?

    Oh forgot, Faux News, that paragon of truthiness tells us it’s so. My bad.

    “Today Janine teaches her top-secret rapport-building, interviewing, and people-reading skills to the business community.”

    Oh this is really great, you too can get TOP SECRET stuff! All you have to do is… pay for it? And then like THOUSANDS of others in the law enforcement biz, not to forget the larger business community, as well as just about anyone who has an internet connection, you too can have this TOP SECRET info.

    Right. Does it come with a dozen ginsu knives?

    “Janine’s hard-earned expertise and fascinating work/life stories have been highlighted on FOX News Weekend Live, CBS Sunday Morning Show, Hard Copy, Geraldo and E!”

    Hard Copy, Geraldo and E!, of course! I get all my hard news from them.

    Look, she’s obviously really good at PR and at selling herself, and she’s a highly successful business person. But in this context, so what? If Faux News is touting her supposed psychological insights, especially preceded by “terrorist fist” whatever… it’s just another PR slot for her company to yet more Goopers to make more money off the rubes at the expense of the Democratic party.

    …sigh…

  • How stupid can this get????

    Just wait…

    It will get faaaar stupider.

  • These people are completely out of bullets.
    If they think they can move anyone with their ‘terrorist fist jabs’
    we may as well just inaugurate OB right now.

    ReThug Assholes – bringing spitballs to a nuclear war.

  • Dear Confused. You should deck your daughter, make your wife sleep with the dog and go dancing with your daughter’s boyfriend.

  • What Fox is really trying to say is “That’s what black people do”. They will focus and frame this whole campaign around Obama being a black man representing a special interest group (black people) first. Instead of just being a man, an American representing all of us who just happens to be black.

    Thank god that for most of us we see him as a man first (it just doesn’t matter what color he is), an American citizen. McCain and Fox and the rest of that republican neocon gang are doing everything they can to create a big back door for racism.

    Why would anyone need to have that hand bump explained to them or feel the need to try to read something else into it.

    Are we soon to hear about the “al qaeda smile”, or the hezbollah hair do. This is the only kind of reporting these Fox personalities are qualified to do…hair cuts, lapel pins, cleavage, laughs and endless trivia. Simply mindless.

  • oh god terrorist fist bump?? bahahaha! if you think obama is nothing less then our greatest hope your an UnAmerican! Be an american and support america ( obama)!

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