Yo, I am a huge fan of the HBO series The Wire, I feel a void in my life now that The Wire has ended. During an interveiw early in the primary season, Barack Obama said his favorite TV show was The Wire and his favorite character on the show was Omar Little.
As people that watched The Wire know, the show dealt with a lot of problems we face as a nation. From drugs, violence, education and corrupt politics, Barack could learn a few things from the show. I came across this post over at Daily Kos where a blogger laid out the things Barack could learn from watching the Wire, a show which paints a bleak picture of the decaying city of Baltimore:
Foreign Policy
If Obama was watching The Wire carefully, he could learn a lot about foreign
policy from two of the major characters from the first three seasons, Avon
Barksdale and his cohort, Stringer Bell. While Avon was always willing to go
to war for territory and fight over pride, Stringer was more pragmatic,
realizing that war was bad for business. Like Obama, Stringer was willing to
negotiate with his enemies, including Proposition Joe and Marlo Stansfield.
Rather than war with other drug dealers over territory, Stringer built an
alliance of huslters from both the east and west side to share a common
package and economic interest.
Obama could take Stringer's role and avoid wars unless they are absolutely
necessary, negotiate with countries previously hostile to the US and build
alliances with other countries. He should not however be shady and
conniving, the characteristics which led to Stringer's death.
Drugs
Addiction and distribution of drugs have played a big role in all 5 seasons
of The Wire. If anything is clear from The Wire, it is that the War on Drugs
is a failed war, that only keeps the cycle of addiction, poverty and
violence going. For many, the War on Drugs, is a war on black neighborhoods.
In the Wire, we see that incarceration of drug dealers has little effect, as
there always is a new one to take his place. Obama could learn a lot about
how to deal with drugs from Bunny Colvin's Hamsterdamn experiment. Rather
than brutality and incarceration, treatment and counseling were used in an
area where drug dealers were free to sell drugs. With drugs less of a
priority, police were able to stop violent crime, burglaries and rape.
If Obama was paying attention to Season 3, he will put more money into
treatment, and less emphasis on incarceration. While the American War on
Drugs has focused primarily on the black community, millions of white
Americans have become addicted to prescription pills and methamphetamine.
While surveys have shown that white people use drugs at the same rate of
black people, blacks are incarcerated five times as much for drug crimes.
Education
Season 4 of The Wire highlighted the educational crisis in urban areas.
Through the eyes of four poor black children and a white teacher. In Season
4 we see the failure of No Child Left behind, as teachers are forced to
teach to tests rather than using their own skills and knowledge. We also see
the apathetic teachers and the overcrowded classrooms and the social
problems that lead to dysfunctional students.
Season 4 also makes it clear that students in urban areas who aren't
involved in the educational process get educated on the street to become
drug dealers. John McCain called education the Civil Rights Movement of the
21st century, probably the ony thing he said during the campaign that I
agreed with. Education in urban areas is not a black problem but an American
problem, a problem all Americans must unite to solve.
Politics
Clearly Obama paid close attention to Mayor Tommy Carcetti's campaign
against Mayor Royce. Both Obama and Carcetti were good looking, with
excellent debate and oratory skills. Just like Tommy Carcetti woke up white
in a city that wasn't, Barack Obama woke up black in a county that wasn't.
Carcetti managed to overcome his race problem by splitting the black vote
between Royce and Gray just like Obama managed to split some of the white
vote between Edwards and Clinton in the primary. Carcetti kept a cool head
while his opponents tried to connect him to unsavory characters and reached
out to people outside of his base to develop a strong coalition.
Obama must also learn from Tommy Carcetti's brief term as Mayor. Carcetti
found himself in a budget deficit as Mayor and unable to complete his
campaign promises. He also realized that he would have to eat "bowls of
shit" from several interest groups in Baltimore. Obama must also confront
this problem in dealing with the military, Wall street and religious
leaders. With a failing economy, he must be both pragmatic and idealistic in
his decisions on what to cut, what to keep and what to expand.
Obama must also be like Carcetti and build alliances with his opponents who
did not support him in the election, such as Carcetti's alliance with
council president, Narise Campbell. He must also crack down on corruption in
politics, whether it be from the Clay Davis's of the world or the Tom
Delays.
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