"You be da man!"

[trof]

"As Steele concluded his remarks, Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann -- the event's moderator -- told Steele he was "da man."

"Michael Steele! You be da man! You be da man," she said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/26/michele-bachmann-tells-mi_n_170426.html

Today I thought about my friend Andy, and how he would have reacted if I'd said this to him.
Andy is a black man, and one of my closest friends.
I can't think of anything I wouldn't do for him and I know he feels the same way about me.

Andy will tell you that he's black.
"I'm not an African American, I'm just an American. But I sure am black. There ain't no doubt about that."
And he chuckles.

We come from very different backgrounds.
Because of the color of my skin, and my family's middle to upper middle class existence, connections, and 'position':eyes:, I've had advantages in education and employment that Andy never even though about, let alone hoped for.
Except for public schools and accommodations, defacto social and neighborhood segregation is still the norm, at least in the south.

I won't get into how we met a few years ago, or how it was we 'bonded'.
Suffice it to say that we did and do.
He's the only one of my male friends who greets me in this manner:
He grasps my right hand and pulls me close, wraps his left arm around me and gives me a few good whacks on the back. I respond the same way. I guess I'm about as straight as they come, but I like Andy's hugs.

So today I tried to imagine saying to Andy "You be da man!"

He would have dropped by for a drink around the cocktail hour, as usual.
:-)
We'd be sitting on deck looking out on the bay.
I think he'd first just look at me for several seconds.
And his facial expression would say "MAN? Did you just SAY that?"
And then he'd shake his head.
And then he'd start to laugh.
And he'd say "What time did you start drinking? I think you're WAY ahead of me."
Because I know, and he knows, it's just something I'd never say, or even think to say.

Like most, if not all repugs, Bachmann doesn't have a clue.
And never will.