Posted April 17, 2008
By tseigler

There’s one job that old rich white men seem to have a monopoly on: president of the United States. This year, the chances are good that this trend might finally be upset, either by a black man or a white lady. Oh, and John McCain is also in the race. So don’t count out the old rich white guys just yet.

I’m thinking that, as nice as Obama is, he wouldn’t be my first choice for a black president. That distinction belongs to the smoothest man to ever fire a blaster at a roomful of stormtroopers. Billy Dee Williams, you have my vote.

The man was Lando, for heaven’s sake. We’re talking about the most soulful character in the entire “Star Wars” universe, and a snappy dresser. Lando might have turned Han over to the Empire, but he recanted, and he managed to help blow up Death Star Version 2.0 in “Return.” So hey, cut the brother some slack.

If anything, Billy Dee needs the work. Acting jobs that require his sexy charisma are few and far between, and most of them are going to Denzel Washington at this point. Imagine the press conferences; the female reporters would be too under his spell to ask questions. Samuel L. Jackson might have brought some attitude to the prequels, but Lando was the original gangster of the true trilogy.

Before you accuse me of suggesting that a has-been actor could run for president, let me remind you that people scoffed when Reagan ran for the same office. Turns out they were right about him being unfit for the job, but that’s not to say that Billy Dee will follow suit. Any man that can get the Millennium Falcon out of a soon-to-explode space station with barely a scratch can handle the economy, the war in Iraq, and Congress, all