Administration officials recently responded to questions about its oversight of BP's oil spill cleanup efforts with some pretty strong words about keeping their “boot on the throat of BP.” When pressed about why he used the “boot” metaphor, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said it meant they will “ensure that the responsible party is doing everything that it can and should do,” and suggested it was similar to the expression, “hold your feet to the fire.”

Fox News was not satisfied with that explanation. This morning, Steve Doocy held a panel discussion with Judith Miller, Ken Blackwell, and Joe Trippi to talk about whether Gibbs had “gone a little over the line” with the “boot” metaphor and to discuss why he used it. Somehow, they managed to tie it to the Obama administration's alleged “cautious” use of the word “terror,” speculate that it demonstrates their anti-business stance, and get in a completely unrelated “Katrina” jab:

First, let's ask the obvious question: why would Fox News invite three people who are presumably not even remotely involved in the spill efforts to discuss why the administration isn't “talking this tough on terror?”

Second, seriously? Gibbs is “compensating for his previous rhetorical hesitation” on terror? Administration officials are being harsh on BP because “they see business as the enemy?” Another Katrina comparison? (This, by the way, is coming from someone whose network allowed Michael Brown, i.e., man in charge of FEMA's Katrina efforts, to say Obama let the spill spread so he'd have an “excuse” to shut down drilling.)

Doocy said the spill is “being called an almost unprecedented ecological disaster.” I wonder how the panel would have responded if Gibbs had invited BP officials over for tea?