Ross Douthat on "The Wire"

"The Wire" is the best show in the history of television. I don't even really think it's arguable. The reason? Jacob Weisberg said it best on Slate a few years ago:

The Wire, which has just begun its fourth season on HBO, is surely the best TV show ever broadcast in America. This claim isn't based on my having seen all the possible rivals for the title, but on the premise that no other program has ever done anything remotely like what this one does, namely to portray the social, political, and economic life of an American city with the scope, observational precision, and moral vision of great literature.

I couldn't have put it better. Anyway, on Ross Douthat's blog the other day he commented on an article by Jonah Goldberg at National Review about "The Wire." Douthat says:

In terms of David Simon's personal politics, then, it's pretty clear that his critique of modern American liberalism is coming from a Naomi Klein-style place, or somewhere still more radical, rather than an Edward Banfield-type place. It's a testament to the genius of the show that its depiction of Baltimore (and by extension, America) offers fodder for liberal, conservative, leftist and libertarian readings - much like reality itself! In this sense, The Wire is the rarest and most precious of beasts: A work of art that's intensely political but rarely devolves into agitprop.

I've never really heard this point of view, but I think it's a great one. What makes the show so great is that even though it is a very leftist show, it avoids propaganda at ever step, seeking to tell it's point of view not through didacticism but through the great storytelling and amazing, flesh-out characters.... (If you haven't seen it, go rent it now)