A Litle Respect for TV

Just finished the third season of THE WIRE and I figure it must be the HILL STREET BLUES of our time, although admittedly I never really watched that breakthrough show. (I only snatched bits of scenes as a wee kid since it aired when I still thought "darn" was a bad word.) From what I remember, they both deal with rampant crime as a cultural issue and focus on the conflicted cops who are told to reduce it simply by making arrests, which they know will never solve the problem. I was blown away by the first season of THE WIRE and mildly entertained by the second. This third though, really got me thinking about a subject that hasn't entered my mind in quite some time: the war on drugs. In THE WIRE, the police lieutenants are being told to reduce crime or lose their jobs, yet they're given no extra manpower or tools. So, one lieutenant decides to create a safe zone for drug dealing to ensure the safety of the rest of his streets. I won't give all of it away, but it reminded me of an issue that when I was growing up was one of the top priorities for our president. Now, you rarely hear about it. I know here in MA we recently voted to decriminalize marijuana possession (now you just pay a fine for up to an ounce), which is definitely heading in the opposite direction. I don't often hear of drug deaths here in Boston or any national news on the subject much at all anymore. Although, I have been reading a bit on the urban civil war in Mexico due to battling drug gangs and just read some latin american leaders are getting pissed and are asking for a change on our policy. I totally agree with them and can't believe a tv show (that wasn't on PBS) is what got me all fired up again about it all. Normally, tv is the medium I'm quickest to write off. But I can't wait for Season 4 and I just started watching MAD MEN, which is making me fascinated about a period I never gave much thought. And I've been sucked into LOST because its mythology is so confounding and potentially awesome. And BATTLESTAR GALACTICA! And 30 ROCK! And THE DAILY SHOW!! Guess I'm gonna have to start showing this ginormous boob tube in my living room a little more respect.