Edd’s MANtra: If He Was President

August 10, 2010Edward Bowsercelebrity dish, Edd's MANtra, in the news, politics0

If I was president, I’d get elected on Friday, assassinated on Saturday, buried on Sunday, then go back to work on Monday – Wycelf Jean, 2004’s “If I Was President”

He could get his wish. Last week Wyclef Jean formally filed papers as a candidate for the 2010 Haitian presidential election.

I’m sure your initial reaction to this news was similar to mine – WHY? This guy couldn’t reunite the Fugees, how is he going to rebuild a country? Lauryn Hill just emerged from the loony bin a couple of weeks ago and I haven’t seen Pras since that Dave Chappelle movie. Man, I haven’t seen Dave Chappelle since that Dave Chappelle movie!

And just because Wyclef can make Shakira rich doesn’t mean he can make Haiti prosperous. Speaking of money, did they ever find out what happened to those misappropriated funds from Clef’s earthquake fund?

I wasn’t the only skeptical one. Academy Award winner and activist Sean Penn didn’t bite his tongue, courtesy of usatoday.com:

“This is somebody who’s going to receive an enormous amount of support from the United States, and I have to say I’m very suspicious of it, simply because he, as an ambassador at large, has been virtually silent. For those of us in Haiti, he has been a non-presence.”

Even Pras (I guess he IS alive somewhere) doesn’t have Clef’s back – he has endorsed “Sweet Micky” Martelli for the office.

“Sweet Micky.” I guess Sweet Daddy Williams was too busy to run.

Anyway, after giving it some thought, perhaps Wyclef isn’t such a ridiculous choice after all. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t vote for him, but having someone as beloved and as (allegedly) enthusiastic as Wyclef in office could bring about an air of change and hope amongst a battered and hopeless people. And he can’t possibly be worse than the revolving door of dictators who have corrupted the land.

As of now, Wyclef is the front-runner. I guess we’ll see what happens in November.

A rapper as president. We’ve come a long way. I guess Rakim was on to something after all.

Do you think Wyclef would make a good president?