The Wire: All Due Respect -- television at its finest

[potwaka]

　waistline/

[nemopunk15]

@Rorystorm24 Not quite. the "Medical" in "Medical Marijuana" is in no way representative of the speech above. The Dutch model for quasi-legal Marijuana sales is a good example of a "paper bag". Vast differences in the 2 systems. You might enjoy the Youtube info on the Federal Medical Marijuana program that is likely much older than you are.

[talktalktalktalktalk]

Taking a bullet for a guy drinking from a bottle?? lolololol

[gauchebag]

bunny colvin, living the high life

[RelentlessBoner]

So basically we should legalize marijuana as long as it's in a blunt or a tobacco pipe and we can't tell exactly what it is? Sounds good to me

[RoryStorm24]

@RelentlessBoner actually, it's similar. It's sort of like calling the 'medical' in 'medical marijuana' a paper bag.

[Madorem]

@RoryStorm24 no his comparison is more accurate

[schluecker]

So, you can drop acid in public as long as you have a paper bag?

[BrutalTurtle]

@schluecker

hurr drugs are cool. you are so edgy.

[schluecker]

@BrutalTurtle hurr wtf are talking about?

[BrutalTurtle]

@schluecker

you are such a fucking idiot. go get high again.

[romeo56]

Just watched this for the first time i had to come on here and watch it again.

[WiseGuy5674]

Well, you'd figure that the clerk in the store would have already put the booze in a bag when the guy paid for it...Thus, the bottle would already be in a bag..and the smart thing to do when standing on a corner, is to leave it in the bag.

[teknoarcanist]

The argument of this segment isn't that heroin should be legalized. It's that they should begin a process of respectful acknowledgment as to its nature, rather than the beating-head-against-wall approach of the War On Drugs. The creation of Hamsterdam suggests, "Agree to stop posturing and compromise, and we might gain some ground." What we see then is the problem being addressed as a health/social issue -- chemical addiction in poverty-stricken areas -- rather than a strictly criminal one.

[teknoarcanist]

@teknoarcanist The heroin trade and addiction, The Wire suggests, result from the failures of the city -- rather than the other way around. A simple, but very profound insight which the show does its best to prove over the course of five seasons.

[CyReNiUsX]

This is such a profound speech especially in the context of harm-minimisation or legalisation of drugs which is what's on his mind.

[gdhuertas07]

I believe that the big problem in this world isn't just that there aren't a lot of Howard Colvins, because, from what I've seen, there are quite a few Howard Colvins in the many different facets of society. The problem is that there aren't a whole lot of people who'll listen, particularly from on high.

[ohen]

The writing in The Wire was so above and beyond anything else on TV. Not even comparable.

[ohen]

In my opinion, Bunny is the most tragic character of The Wire. He was involved in two experiments (Hamsterdam and the corner kids classroom) which, if implemented on a larger scale, could have had a profound influence on the society. Unfortunately, bureaucracy, infatuation with self-preservation (and therefore statistics) prevented him from achieving those things, culminating in Season 5" "Well, I guess Mr. Mayor, there's nothing to be done." I always saw him as the show's conscience.

[wallyworld776]

@ohen You're so damn right. Epic scene. And Bunny was the conscience of the show. He was the guy with great ideas that nobody wanted to hear or sustain.

[roryphelan]

@ohen Excellent comment.

[will434usmc]

One of the best scenes in the history of television !!!!!!!!

[Pignoah]

A great moment, of civic compromise.

[chantellefromtt]

Amazing stuff

[Devilater]

Small wrinkle ass paper bag lol!

[BrooklynNiteGeneral]

Watch Thiz DVD  search on youtube

[Shorushi]

Brilliant writing

[MissDeeCole]

"Arguably one of the greatest moments in the history of American television"

Bahahahaha.

[jmoon219]

Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin is the man! He should have been on more episodes of The Wire than he was.

[vfd999abc]

fucking brilliant writing as usual

[2dazed]

it would work. but in the since of decriminalzation not legalizing all drugs would be smart . Cocaine,Heroin, and Crank all in the open would be a freaking nightmare to legalize. in my opinion..... All Due Respect

[Pepotamo1985]

@2dazed

That's because you don't know anything.

You're thinking of legalization within the context and constraints of the CURRENT situation. You need to start thinking bigger, think about how governments could regulate drug intake and sale whilst they're still legal.

[dlr1241]

pickmanfox I understand your sentiment however discretion is an intregal part of law enforcement.

[leviathan1987]

his theory doesn't work simply because drugs =/= alcohol... you can't even make the comparison

[Pepotamo1985]

Yeah, because alcohol is even more addictive than heroin and there are more alcohol related deaths per year than all illegal drugs combined.

And then you bring smoking into the equation, which is something which is senselessly addictive and is killing you with each toke.

[leviathan1987]

Um... what? There is absolutely no way in hell alcohol is more addictive than heroin. No offence, but that's a pretty moronic thing to say. I can tell you've lived a pretty sheltered life.

As for those "statistics" you're quoting - there's more alcohol related deaths per year because it's legal. Heroin abuse is restricted to the ghetto. Alcohol abuse is nationwide. There is a reason heroin is illegal: it is extremely chemically addictive and it gives some very nasty side effects.

[elpfd]

@leviathan1987 "There is a reason heroin is illegal: it is extremely chemically addictive and it gives some very nasty side effects" I can think of another product that is both extremely addictive and has nasty side effects: tobacco. Yet it is completely legal. Your hypocrisy sickens me.

[leviathan1987]

Comparing the harmful effects of tobacco to those of heroin is laughable. Your idiocy sickens me.

[elpfd]

Are you retarded? Tobacco kills almost 14,000 people a day.

[leviathan1987]

And that's your argument for the legalisation of heroin?

I'm not saying tobacco is good. I know tobacco is lethal, and that's why I'm personally against smoking.

It is YOU who is trying to claim heroin is harmless. I'm the one informing you it is far from it.

[elpfd]

Where did I ever claim that heroin is harmless? The point is that there are plenty of harmful, dangerous things that are totally legal. Tobacco, alcohol, fast food, and so on. These things kill far, far more people each year than all illicit drugs combined. The argument that "drugs are dangerous!" does not hold up as a reason for making them illegal.

[leviathan1987]

Wait... so... now you're saying heroin should NOT be legalised? And that you agree with me when I say the theory of a "paper bag" for the sale of heroin is a bad idea?

I'm confused, what are you trying to argue again?

[Pepotamo1985]

Funny thing is, pureheroin has absolutely no adverse, dehabilitating side effects whatsoever - it's just very, very addictive. If someone is addicted, they need only take a tiny hit every day to satisfy their addiction, and can function as perfectly normal human beings.

[Pepotamo1985]

Oh, and I'm afraid heroin in its unadulterated form IS harmless pal. It's possibly to OD on pure heroin, but then again it's possible to OD on sugar.

Funnily enough, the only reason why using heroin would ever be replete with health risks and danger is because on the black market it gets cut with abrasive, deadly chemicals all the time...it's illegalisation is what fucks people up.

[Pepotamo1985]

You don't know what you're talking about!

Alcohol is, I grant you, less addictive than heroin (I got nicotine and alcohol mixed up - it was late), but it is far more damaging. As I said earlier, heroin in its pure form has no "nasty side effects" whatsoever. Heroin, because it's relegated illegal, is generally more rat poison than opium.

And don't fucking generalise and claim drugs are a ghetto phenomenon - again, you need to get out more.

Your move fuckface.

[leviathan1987]

Uh, how many rich folk do you know that use heroin?... And I don't like how this debate has degenerated into childish name-calling. If that's what it's going to come to, go ahead and claim your victory.

I have to say though, I never thought I'd ever, EVER meet anyone who thought heroin should be legalized. My faith in humanity has suffered quite a blow after this little exchange.

Oh, and I notice you're from a middle-class, countryside part of Essex. I never would've guessed.

[Pepotamo1985]

Try London moron.

You simply do not know anything about what you're opining about, do some research outside the pages of the Daily Mail (or whichever irrational right wing tabloid hate rag you read). For the record, I've met several people who work high-powered, extremely well paying jobs at various levels of society (high flying city workers in particular) who not only can function perfectly well despite their addiction and they suffer no adverse health or social effects at all.

[PurpleGiraffePG]

@Pepotamo1985 Hate to bring the sopranos into a video about the wire but, Christopher Moltisanti anyone?

[leviathan1987]

I'll bet those "illegal drug related deaths" don't consider everything that goes along with it... all the murders caused by the gang warfare that the sale of illegal drugs is a catalyst for. That particular death count easily goes into the tens of thousands alone.

[Pepotamo1985]

Exactly, this leviathan prick clearly thinks he's well in the know and wants to speak authoritatively on this subject, but he's so narrow minded he can't wrap his brain around basic principles!

[cs00024]

So damn powerful, so profound...what else can you say..its the wire

[ratchettcitynigga]

This speech never gets old......

[Dendu77]

The Wire as a series and this speech in particular is the best argument against drug prohibition ever made.

[AlexRhian]

Possibly my /favourite/ speech in the whole of The Wire/Television at large. Thank you for uploading it here so I can link people to it.

[Seamooo7]

Cant believe this show still has'nt got the recognition it deserves...cant seperate it from The Sopranos in terms of best tv show ever...

[cs00024]

i love the sopranos, but IMO it doesnt touch The Wire

[GeorgeHowell]

Shiiiiiit

[sailshonan]

Want to get reid of a bad law? Enforce it strictly...

[nacoran]

This is a good compromise for the police, but it is a lousy one for the citizen. It is the back door to tyranny. Instead of getting the law repealed the police and the public come to an understanding that the law won't be enforced, but the law stays on the books, giving the police a pretext to arrest people they can't prove other charges against. If there is a bad law it needs to be repealed, not ignored.

[secretadmirer8769]

thank you for this response. I often think the EXACT same thing about laws staying on the books. It allows thousands of officers to selectively enforce laws and unreasonable searches whenever they feel like it.

[Renegen1]

Policemen don't have the power to repeal laws. I would argue that the paper bag analogy means to put the community ahead of the dumb and vicious politicians that want to control through laws.

Arresting the drug dealers and throwing them in the jail for 2 jail didn't make Baltimore safer, did it? The police were wasting their resources and were not helping anyone because of bad laws.

[nacoran]

@Renegen1 I know police don't have the power to repeal laws, but by enforcing laws unevenly they solve one problem but leave the bull in the teashop. In politics, one of the best ways to achieve a political objective is to divide and conquer. If you only enforce a law unevenly you can arrest a black man for vagrancy or someone you know has a record for an open container. Meanwhile, another person who isn't a minority, or has lived a saintly life, can stand on the corner with an open bottle.

[Yehbytheway]

Politicians they stop people from doing small fry shit and then do fuck all about people killing each other.

It's what the wire shows us to great effect.

How daft we have become.

[gezelligtexas]

Hamsterdam!

This show ruined TV for me. Everything I watch now just looks like shit.

Colvin was my favorite character on the show too.

[somedisco]

totally agree w your introductory comment. utterly super scene.

[dlr1241]

This analogy regarding the beer bottle was spot on. It is a prelude to the broken windows theory. You have to have common sense, if some kid is chucking a beer being stupid you stop him, if a man who is covered with concrete, spackle or grime from a hard days labor is enjoying a cold one on a hot day, discretion may be in order. The people in the community will respect you for it, my two cents.

[pickmanfox]

So it's one law for the old and another for the young? One law for the good, hardworking and respectable and another for the bad, the layabouts, and those you hold in contempt?

I'm sorry, I was raised to believe in the rule of law, in equality before the law. That if a law is good enough for one of us then it's good enough for all of us; and if it's unjust to one of us, it's unjust to all of us.

[Nightowl358]

Hamsterdam was a good idea.

[lildwayne21]

It was a great idea. Shit

[TheBSG]

I think a missing point is that if one of the corner boys ever gets in trouble, the paper bag doesn't stop police from arresting them for a crime or for causing problems, but it does stop them from wasting time when there's no problems.

[SOLOcan]

Why hello there Senator Davis

[yawnn112]

He's saying that the brown paper bag allows people on the corner to hang out and drink without disrespecting the police overtly, and it allows police to deal with police work that might actually make a change in the community.

He felt bad that one of his men was sent out to make a hand to hand that would not have made much of a difference as far as getting drugs off of the street and he got shot behind it. He wanted to change things, which is how Hamsterdam came about. A huge paper bag.

[GozerTheGozerian]

@yawnn112 That is one of the most profound comments I've read on Youtube, and you've summed up Bunny's speech perfectly.

Just one thing to note about "real" police work": It has been proven that cracking down on seemingly trivial quality-of-life stuff has a ripple effect in reducing overall crime. NYC is a perfect example, when Giuliani got rid of squeegee men, cleaned up Times Square, etc. By returning pride to neighborhoods, the atmosphere becomes much less welcoming to criminals.

[johnnyk427]

@GozerTheGozerian 'Broken Windows',yep. Although some say that the crime drop was due to New York legalizing abortions 18 years prior. (ie Freakonomics)

[GozerTheGozerian]

@johnnyk427 If the proponents of that theory thought it through, what they're really saying is that crime fell because there are fewer African Americans in New York City. A few months ago there were news reports that 50% of all abortions in NYC are performed on black fetuses, and two thirds of black babies are aborted. Two fucking thirds!

So they're saying crime dropped because almost 70% of black children are aborted. Personally, I'd steer clear of that and just go with the Guiliani theory.

[johnnyk427]

@GozerTheGozerian The theory makes sense to me - less unwanted people (of any race) is going to have a dramatic effect. And if we're talking statistics, most of the crimes were committed by the poor minorities (ie blacks), so while its certainly not a pleasant thing to confront, the statistics do tell tales. Who are the ones committing crimes? Minorities. Who are the ones getting abortions? Also minorities.

[phys1c5]

Simply beautiful.

[WadeBlazingame34]

Remove the brackets and spaces below to see David Simon's recent Interview with Bill Moyers...

pbs [.] org [/] moyers [/] journal [/] 04172009[/] profile [.] html

[tomo823]

Thanks soo much. David Simon is THE man. Homicide and The Wire are 2 of my favorite shows of all time. Homicide= Cops & Corner=Addiction & The Wire=The City in all its totallity !!

[brandonstewart1220]

this episode was supposedly betrayed bumpy johnson, the dude who fishburne played in "HOODLUM"

[TheMisguidedOne]

great show

[yawnn112]

Scenes like this one are the reasons why I can't ever watch another "cop" show the same way again. No other show gets it quite like The Wire did.

[jete121991]

The Wire makes COPS look like shit.

[jete121991]

The Wire makes COPS look like shit. I mean the show.

[sniggity]

That's because they are shit.

[PEinHK]

The cops aren't shit, the suits who write the ridiculous rules for them to enforce are. That was kind of the point of the whole show.

[cooksr08]

they should have did one more season

[tergygirl]

Colvin was the standout character in s3 and i hated the way he left.The most interesting character since Frank Sobotka.Two very good actors.Not got s4 yet but cant wait.Each series just gets better and so do the cast.

[scarryterry]

Yeah, he's my favorite character of season 3. I won't spoil season 4 for you, but he does have a prominent role in that season too.

[tergygirl]

Xllnt.Glad to know he returns.

[jontray87]

Bunnie Colvin and Stringer Bell both fell because they were tryin to reform something that wouldnt allow reformation, even if their intentions were the opposite. Stringer tryna change the drug game, and colvin wit "policing" and the school thing. they going up against a fuccin machine

[Sneezlebob]

Colvins reform for drugs worked the people upstairs shut it down

[hdtwoodsman]

Colvin may have been my favorite character. I believe he was the greater influence on Carver, but I believe Carver followed Daniels path.

[UrDoinItWrong]

I just watched this scene and knew that someone would have it on here. Awesome speech, great TV.

[NecrosisOfLight]

Now I miss The Wire.

I need to stop watching these.

[UrDoinItWrong]

I miss it too. :( OOOOOOMAAAAAAARRRRrrrrrrr.....­.

[murphicus]

A great reply to the "Zero Tolerance" mentality - those words make people feel so great at a "gut" level and are used like a political baseball bat - like "You are either with us or for the terrorists" - words that make people feel good - but can't be enforced without creating an "Us vs Them" society - with a few innocent people cast aside as collateral damage. A bomb or two that just happen to miss the mark. So it goes.

[Spacmanspiff]

what is the paper bag for drugs then?

[shigepierogi]

the paper bag for drugs is "hamsterdam", certain areas in the city where they legalized drugs for most of the third season

[Spacmanspiff]

ok. i don't watch the show.

[shigepierogi]

you should!

[oneeye9426]

Get The Wire on DVD Seasons 1-5 It will be the best money you ever spent!

[illflip]

powerful speech

[huskercane]

This is the moment where Carver got it, he understood what it meant to be police.

This may be the finest 2 minutes of meaningful, socially relivant TV in the last 10 yrs

[robertmurray7782]

Absolutely. Do you think Colvin or Daniels was the greater influence on Carver? I think the progression of Carver throughout the series is very underrated acting. Was great to watch.

[huskercane]

Colvin was his mentor, I believe. There's the scene later in season 3 where he tells him... "You got your numbers, you got your stats, you're a decent supervisor, but you ain't shit when it comes to policin'"

[Voxtrot7]

I completely agree. This short 2 minute monologue from a television show has more insight and socially relevant commentary then nearly all the political posturing and lecturing about the drug war in the last 30+ years.

[CyReNiUsX]

It's amazing for sure.

[grrranger175]

if you liked this clip you should read simon's the corner. its goes a lot more in-depth on these issues

[Fuckawitz]

Yeah. I just read the corner. It's so good. It's a very hard and gritty but very rewarding and educational.

[pjm5057]

Excellent!

[pjm5057]

asdfghjkl;

[antihostile]

"Well then, I guess there's nothing to be done."

[pennsy2007]

The Bunny Colvin character was the finest character on televsion

[snipet19]

my favorite scene with colvin was in the last episode of season 4 when he went to jessup to talk to wee-bey about namond. the way he related to bey in that scene was perfect!

[Nangor]

the wire is the best ive seen on tv yet

[snipet19]

absolutely. no other show comes close.

[bmore808]

awesome post! could u please also post the clip in season 3 when colvin speaks to carver about "policing"? i luved that speech as well!

[warrenb1]

well stated...

[reillyacet]

shahid0566 (3 months ago) Marked as spam

Say what you want, but Colvin's Amsterdam experiment worked.

NOT ONLY WOULD IT WORK, IT'S ABOUT TIME WE STOP WASTING TAX DOLLARS ON TRYING TO STOP SOMETHING WE CANNOT. DOING THIS WILL LEAD TO SAFER COMMUNITIES AND REDUCTION IN DISEASE AS WELL AS DEATH.

[bouse23]

the wire is brilliant its one of the best shows on tv the charachters like mcnulty the police chief carcetti the boxing coach and the ex junkie are so brilliant i even sent an email to tg4 who show it here in ireland thanking them

[bapyou]

Does anyone have these clips posted in order? I'd like to watch them in order. It seems all of the posted clips of the Wire have been posted in a pretty random way. Can someone number them? Maybe something like Season One - Episode 1, etc. Is this possible?

[shahid0566]

Say what you want, but Colvin's Amsterdam experiment worked.

[tafari127]

I had actually forgotten this scene. Right up there with when he tells Rawls he didn't legalize drugs, he chose to ignore them. Great character and great actor.

[utubesucks2003]

he's got it.

[snipet19]

good post. this was a huge turning point in season 3 cuz of the hamsterdam decision. i've noticed from both season 3 and 4 that colvin is really good at giving speeches.