Back in 2012, President Obama, already on record as being a fan of The Wire, was asked by ESPN to name his favorite character on the show, to which he replied “It’s got to be Omar, right? I mean, that guy is unbelievable, right?” Fast forward to 2015, and we find Mr. Obama hosting David Simon (the creator of The Wire) at the White House, and having a frank conversation about the TV show and the war on drugs, and what lessons we’ve learned along the way. Of course, the conversation doesn’t end without Omar getting a mention … or without us getting to see Obama as TV host. A sign of what’s to come after 2016?
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It is fine to discuss adjustments to drug enforcement policy in the US, but it would be better to discuss the factors that lead to the criminal culture in the first place. For one thing, Obama and his colleagues on the left ignore the unbelievable decline on virtually every statistical measure in the black community after the so-called “War on Poverty” began in the 1960s. In 1965, three quarters of black children were born to a married mother; the exact opposite is true now. And while Obama sends his own children to private schools, he dooms other minority children to languish in poorly performing public schools, rather than upset a core Democratic Party constituency (the teachers’ unions) and provide these children with similar educational choices. I find it very difficult to take this man’s self-professed compassion seriously.