Baltimore -- and national -- treasure David Simon has done a lot of speaking on the ills that afflict this country and the dark path we're treading. I can't say with authority that his views are sought out more by the foreign press than our own here at home, but it sure seems that way. The Wire, after all, one of the most brilliant series in television history, was repeatedly dissed by the Emmys, while it was devoured by audiences and lauded to the skies in the U.K.
I mentioned Simon in this post and said I would post the video from that event in the coming days. Mea culpa; I haven't. But there are tons of videos of his speeches and interviews on-line; so in the meantime, please enjoy, if that's the word for such deadly serious musings, this one from the Guardian, where he talks about the so-called war on drugs and how it's merely a method of social control. You've heard me say the same thing plenty of times about the "war on terror." As far as I'm concerned, they're two peas in a pod, and the brutality of the first has only made it easier to implement the second.
Anyway, watch the video and see if you also find yourself nodding at every utterance. (Lest you think my worship a bit too unbridled, I will say that I think Simon is dead wrong on the NSA and Glenn Greenwald. But I'll leave those considerations for another day.)
