Wyclef Jean: President of Haiti?

[JMHX]

The New York Times reported this morning that rapper Wyclef Jean will run for President of Haiti as part of an electoral coalition. Full story is available here.

I'm not entirely sure what I think about this. Given the history of ostentatious dictators in the Caribbean, bling-flinging would fit right in. And, it's not as if Haiti is going to get much worse than its current, utterly-destroyed state. At the same time, though, is Wyclef Jean really an entire country's best pick for the presidency coming off of an unparalleled humanitarian disaster and the complete destruction of government services?

Well, if he's serious, I vote his Vice President should be The Rock.

[animehater]

Let's just hope he doesn't pocket every aid dollar that country gets and moves the hell out of the country as soon as his term is done to avoid prosecution.

[JMHX]

At 8/4/10 12:54 PM, animehater wrote: Let's just hope he doesn't pocket every aid dollar that country gets and moves the hell out of the country as soon as his term is done to avoid prosecution.

this is probably the worst response to a topic I've ever seen.

[animehater]

At 8/4/10 03:44 PM, JMHX wrote: this is probably the worst response to a topic I've ever seen.

Or maybe it's the most BRILLIANT response to a topic you've ever seen!

[CacheHelper]

I'm not that suprised.

Wyclef has always been known to give back to the community, especially the people in Haiti.

Even if he's a terrible leader, at least he'll try to help those people... which is more then what their current government is doing.

[RydiaLockheart]

Truth be told, he's probably as qualified as Haiti's current and past presidents are. Granted, that's not much, but still. If he's serious about it, though, I see no issue with letting him run. They can't do that much worse.

[Warforger]

As far as I've seen rappers tend to know nothing about politics, hopefully it'll end up nicer.

[orangebomb]

Considering that Haiti has a lot of shitty leaders and is one of the poorest, if not the poorest nation on Earth, I think he would do a lot of good. Although it will most certainly take a whole lot more than Wyclef's money to bring Haiti back to a respectable country in terms of economics, or anything else for that matter.

[Warforger]

At 8/4/10 10:23 PM, orangebomb wrote: if not the poorest nation on Earth

Hell no. I'd say Niger is as it was rated the worst place to live in by the UN, right below Afghanistan, if not that then North Korea.

[aviewaskewed]

At 8/4/10 10:01 AM, JMHX wrote: Well, if he's serious, I vote his Vice President should be The Rock.

I agree. I want Rock in the UN talking about laying the smacketh down on candy asses who don't give Haiti aid. Then he can give the people's elbow or something.

On a serious note, if Wyclef is serious, it might not be a bad idea as I think it would certainly motivate people and put more eyes back on Haiti and perhaps that publicity could lead to more help and turn around for the country. Or it could utterly back fire. But like others have said...hard to imagine anything can make the place much more unliveable then it is now.

[Warforger]

At 8/4/10 11:07 PM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 8/4/10 10:01 AM, JMHX wrote: Well, if he's serious, I vote his Vice President should be The Rock.

I agree. I want Rock in the UN talking about laying the smacketh down on candy asses who don't give Haiti aid. Then he can give the people's elbow or something.

On a serious note, if Wyclef is serious, it might not be a bad idea as I think it would certainly motivate people and put more eyes back on Haiti and perhaps that publicity could lead to more help and turn around for the country. Or it could utterly back fire. But like others have said...hard to imagine anything can make the place much more unliveable then it is now.

No. Aid is the last thing Haiti needs, what Haiti needs is the ability to sustain itself and be able to feed its population better, if the aid is seeds, fertilizer, fishing boats, building material etc. then thats the real aid.

[JMHX]

At 8/5/10 12:08 AM, Warforger wrote:

At 8/4/10 11:07 PM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 8/4/10 10:01 AM, JMHX wrote: Well, if he's serious, I vote his Vice President should be The Rock.

I agree. I want Rock in the UN talking about laying the smacketh down on candy asses who don't give Haiti aid. Then he can give the people's elbow or something.

On a serious note, if Wyclef is serious, it might not be a bad idea as I think it would certainly motivate people and put more eyes back on Haiti and perhaps that publicity could lead to more help and turn around for the country. Or it could utterly back fire. But like others have said...hard to imagine anything can make the place much more unliveable then it is now.

No. Aid is the last thing Haiti needs, what Haiti needs is the ability to sustain itself and be able to feed its population better, if the aid is seeds, fertilizer, fishing boats, building material etc. then thats the real aid.

Here's the problem with that -- if you look at something like the Marhsall Plan, which did a lot of what you're saying (bringing in raw supply for industry, restarting destroyed business), that wouldn't much work in Haiti. The kind of aid you're supporting presupposes industry in Haiti that, by and large, wasn't there even before the natural disaster. We're not just augmenting Haitian industry with things like seeds and fishing boats, we're building an entirely new series of industries.

[JohnnyWang]

At 8/4/10 12:54 PM, animehater wrote: Let's just hope he doesn't pocket every aid dollar that country gets and moves the hell out of the country as soon as his term is done to avoid prosecution.

I'd think that actually being a ppblic figure would actually lower the risk.

Now, I've heard of celebrity candidates for all levels of elections; city counsils and mayors, senators, MP's, MEP's, but this is the first time I've heard of a serious bid for a celebrity to run for president of a country.

I'm not entirely sure how qualified Wyclef might be, but with a good team of advisors, hell, weirder things work.

[AapoJoki]

lol, I didn't remember this was Wyclef's song.

[Dawnslayer]

At 8/5/10 01:44 PM, JohnnyWang wrote: Now, I've heard of celebrity candidates for all levels of elections; city counsils and mayors, senators, MP's, MEP's, but this is the first time I've heard of a serious bid for a celebrity to run for president of a country.

Prepare to be educated.

[Odio]

Dohohoho

This is the best idea since sticking children into iron maidens.

When will people learn that fame won't make you into a great leader?

[SloppyMoe606]

At 8/7/10 01:39 AM, RobotTaco wrote: Dohohoho

This is the best idea since sticking children into iron maidens.

When will people learn that fame won't make you into a great leader?

Imagine if Lindsey Lohan was our president.

[Odio]

At 8/7/10 02:26 AM, SloppyMoe606 wrote:

At 8/7/10 01:39 AM, RobotTaco wrote: Dohohoho

This is the best idea since sticking children into iron maidens.

When will people learn that fame won't make you into a great leader?

Imagine if Lindsey Lohan was our president.

I'd get me some hot presidential pussay.

Too bad I don't have a penis. :(

[HibiscusKazeneko]

Wow. Just. Wow.
I wonder if he's going to include Cookie Monster in his presidential campaign...

[orangebomb]

At 8/7/10 02:26 AM, SloppyMoe606 wrote:

At 8/7/10 01:39 AM, RobotTaco wrote: Dohohoho

This is the best idea since sticking children into iron maidens.

When will people learn that fame won't make you into a great leader?

Imagine if Lindsey Lohan was our president.

There would be beer cans scattered across the front lawn, and everyone in her cabinet would either be a Paris Hilton wannabe or a drunk. Happy thought, eh?

[Tony-DarkGrave]

I doubt he will do anything for Haiti I can tell you from experience (I have been to Haiti) he won't do CRAP, I have been there twice a few years before the earthquake and I can probably tell you this is a improvement. and knowing rappers which don't know anything about politics I doubt it would matter, for god sake hes a drop out.

[JMHX]

At 8/8/10 05:15 PM, Tony-DarkGrave wrote: I doubt he will do anything for Haiti I can tell you from experience (I have been to Haiti) he won't do CRAP, I have been there twice a few years before the earthquake and I can probably tell you this is a improvement. and knowing rappers which don't know anything about politics I doubt it would matter, for god sake hes a drop out.

Having been there twice, you're practically a native in the subtleties of Haitian culture and politics.

[tmiller2]

I think he will be more suited being an ambassador and then showing his interesting in politics, and more importantly, helping the country from there.

At the moment, he still has the image of a 'hip hop artist', which is pure ammunition for his oponents. Pras speakng out against him als didn't help!