The Wire is one of those shows John Amato told me to watch forever ago and I still haven't, but I'm planning to. He was right about Justified, and I'm betting he's right about this one too. Obama thinks it's awesome. So there's one area of agreement Amato and Obama have, at least.
Criminal justice reform may be the only area of agreement between Democrats and Republicans,too.
President Barack Obama recently sat down with the creator of one of his favorite television shows, "The Wire." And in addition to praising the five-season HBO series -- which he called one of the greatest pieces of art in the past couple of decades -- the two talked about criminal justice reform as well.
A video of the conversation between Obama and David Simon was shown at the Bipartisan Criminal Justice Summit in Washington on Thursday, which brought together organizations and speakers from both sides of the aisle who are supportive of criminal justice reform. It was shared with reporters later in the afternoon.
“There is an increasing realization on the left, but also on the right, politically, that what we’re doing is counterproductive. Either from a libertarian perspective, the way we treat non-violent drug crimes is problematic, and from a fiscal perspective, it’s breaking the bank, that you end up spending so much more on prison than you would with these kids being in school or even going to college, that it’s counterproductive,” Obama said during his conversation with Simon. “We’re all responsible for at least finding a solution to this.”
Watch the president geek out over "The Wire" above.
