This Bud's for who?

We are a complex people.

When Dub-ya was President the most common affirmation of him among his supporters (back when his favorable numbers were high) was that he just seemed like a normal guy, someone you would like to sit down and have a beer with. Kind of odd since President Bush quit drinking alcoholic beverages in 1987. And he hasn't been a regular guy since the day he was born with that silver spoon in his mouth (and/or nose.)

As I type I have one eye on the television. The news channels are showing live video of President Obama drinking beer on the White House lawn with Sergeant Crowley and Professor Gates. There is no audio. Just four guys, including Joe Biden, sitting around a table, drinking beer attempting a bit of reconciliation. Not exactly the South African model of Mandela or Tutu. Sort of the American version.

There have been considerable column inches, video tape, and digits dedicated to this story today. President Obama cannot seem to stay away from controversy. When he declared Bud to be his beer of choice there was an audible gasp of disdain from beer snobs, especially in the northeast corridor. And the choice of beers by all of the participants has been analyzed and psychoanalyzed. I think there were last minute changes. Stay tuned.

But President Obama has rarely been described as a regular beer drinking guy. Remember the arugula eating elitist accusations leveled at him last October? Thank God that whole Reverend Wright thing came along or that story might have grown legs, adorned with riding britches.

President Obama is not a "regular guy" He is much smarter than most of us. That makes me so happy.

But there is a part of him that seems like a "regular guy" and I find it refreshing, even though it might make me cringe.

Anybody that knows anything knew that when the President said that Sergeant Crowley acted "stupidly" when he arrested Professor Gates in his own home, he made a mistake.

Not that he was necessarily wrong. It's just that the President is not supposed to say things like that.

But, I don't know if you noticed, President Obama is an African-American man. And the ugly truth is African-American men are not viewed as "regular guys" by a lot of us, especially when they are in the wrong neighborhood (mostly white) or struggling to get in a locked door. I can hear many of you mentally declaring your denial, but I'm pretty sure I'm right about this.

I was walking through downtown Birmingham late at night not long ago. All I could hear was my heels hitting the sidewalk. The only other person I could see was an African-American man walking toward me on the sidewalk. I felt the hair on my neck bristle. Maybe I'm the only prejudiced person in America, but I doubt it.

"Have a blessed day," he said quietly as we met and passed.

I don't think President Obama will ever achieve Joe Biden's talent for impulsively saying the wrong thing.

But I'm glad he did this time. He is human. He was authentic. He did not take measure of the consequences of this statement that more than likely represented a lifetime of frustrations, even for the President of the United States. He spoke one important sentence for African-American men that had never been spoken by one with power.

Maybe it wasn't good politics. But it was real. And that's the kind of guy I would like to buy a beer.

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