The text editing shortcuts are straight from readline http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/php/chet/readline/rltop.html emacs bindings, which bash and many other programs use. readline supports both vi and emacs bindings.

I am a dyed in the wool vim enthusiast, but when it comes to command line bindings, emacs' bindings are more convenient.

Yup, but you can also put Bash in a vi mode. Some else will to chip in with the exact incantation, since I'm on my phone now.