"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.

[Orrex]

1. To be fair, Steele *did* open with 'Where all the white women at?'

[trof]

2. Oh get out!

:rofl:

[LisaM]

3. Hey! No fair!

I could have been trying to drink some water and it would have come out of my nose!

[NOW tense]

9. .

:spray:

[Happyhippychick]

14. DUzy!

[geardaddy]

17. lol

[TahitiNut]

22. That could only mean that Mel Brooks sabotaged the teleprompter.

:evilgrin:

The GOP has shot themselves in the foot and they're holding the other foot hostage.

[EOTE]

4. Holy crap! How incredibly insulting!

It's bad enough this waste of space got re-elected, now she's determined to show her constituents what an awful mistake they made. She's a few steps below worthless. Sickening.

[tangent90]

5. I have a friend like your Andy, a lot like him. You would never guess what he does for a living...

he is a blacksmith. And he would behave in the very same way if I said something like that to him. I'm going out on a limb here to tell you that in late summer we frequently have backyard cookouts with fried chicken and watermelon. Nobody seems to think there's anything nefarious about it. :D

[trof]

15. Andy is a true Jack Of All Trades.

The only thing I've found he doesn't do is put down asphalt.
"You gotta have too much specialized equipment, man. Too expensive."
He's a general contractor, home builder/remodeler, landscaper, heavy equipment operator, electrician, plumber, and has been a long haul trucker with his own rigs. Best guy at getting a concrete slab poured I've ever seen.

He also does debris clean up from natural and man made disasters.
Cleaned up all the downed trees and other debris from our neighborhood after Hurricane Ivan.

If he'd open a restaurant featuring his barbecued ribs he'd make a million.
I've tried to talk him into it.
"Naw, man. I HATE an 8 to 5 job, sittin' in one place all the time. I like to stay busy, but I like to do different stuff."

He does do a LOT of 'different stuff'.
;-)

[burning rain]

21. Southerners, whatever their ethnicity, tend to love that sort of food.

No surprise then if people with origins in the South would hold on to that culinary tradition when they move elsewhere -- a taste of home or one's ancestors' home.

[tangent90]

27. Sure! But I'm not convinced it's necessarily a southern thing, I'm a Yankee born & bred

and so is Al...we just like it! (KFC does pretty well outside the American southland) :D

[Thrill]

6. Is this a joke?

[trof]

11. Bachmann? Well, I guess SHE is. But she said it.

[Thrill]

12. Are they basically laughing at Steele in his face?

[trof]

19. I think they're trying to 'get down to his level'.

You know.
Be homies.
:-)
jeez
:eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Were they blasting Los Lobos over the PA system?

[Orrex]

8. No, but Republicans *do* blast lobos from airplanes

[Flying Dream Blues]

30. DUZY! OMG...

you owe me a keyboard.
:rofl:

edited: freakin' smilie, can't ever get that right

[BurtWorm]

10. You be da man... No, Michelle, you be da idiot. Y'all be da idiots.

(And anyway, it's "You da man"--not "You be da man.")

[terisan]

13. Do you live in the south? nt

[trof]

16. About as 'south' as you can get. Coastal Alabama.

About 15 minutes north of the beaches.
Andy and I are both natives.

[trof]

18. Can I tell you about Andy's wife?

What a neat lady.
She is the very first black, female city councilwoman in our little town.
Just elected last year.
And I was proud to be her treasurer and work on her campaign.

The other 4 councilmen are part of the good ol' boy white establishment, but they have been surprisingly receptive to her.
Maybe there's hope for us, yet?
:-)

[Bluebear]

20. SLUM LOVE, PLAYA!!! (Link >>>>>

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5141858&mesg_id=5141858

[trof]

23. "Gov. Bobby Jindal is doing a friggin' awesome job"

- Michael Steele

'friggin' awesome'???
Aw yeah.
The new RNC homie be DOWN wid dis.
Keep it comin', BRO.
:eyes:

[Ghost in the Machine]

24. Wait til he be rollin' in his hooptie wit his shawty...

.. thuggin' ~n~ buggin' to da Westside Connection..





Bow down.. when I come to your town....




Word.








To your mother...



:hide:

[That Is Quite Enough]

25. Oh wow. Absolutely NONE of them get it. At all.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. Christ on a waffle!

So now Bachmann is gettin' down wit' da homeys. I think the Republicans have concluded that Obama's election means being "black" is cool, and they want to get in on it -- as long as it's a sort of minstrel show, lawn-jockey sort of black like Michael Steele and Alan Keyes. There are few things more laughable than a clueless white conservative using what they think is rapper slang in order to seem tha shiznit. What's next, are we going to see Miz Bachmann flashing gang signs?

[trof]

29. You nailed it. Thanks.

[Urban Prairie]

28. YouTube link to Bachmann's "You Be Da Man!!"

....to Michael Steele, but hard to hear over the clapping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clovrRd-Sg8