War What Is It Good For?
"What drugs have not destroyed, the war on them has"
David Simon, creator of the searing new HBO series "The Wire," on why even the best cop shows are phony and our anti-drug mania amounts to a permanent war against the underclass
Do you hope, in some way, that your shows might help to reform the institutions they explore?
I'll tell you what, this would be enough for me: The next time the drug czar or Ashcroft or any of these guys stands up and declares, "With a little fine-tuning, with a few more prison cells, and a few more lawyers, a few more cops, a little better armament, and another omnibus crime bill that adds 15 more death-penalty statutes, we can win the war on drugs" -- if a slightly larger percentage of the American population looks at him and goes, "You are so full of shit" ... that would be gratifying.
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