"you can't fight city hall"

In the words of Lance Storm, if I could be serious for a moment ...

I was reading this article by Brian Meyer in today's Buffalo News, and I can't help but be bewildered about why the deputy mayor thinks he would have a better idea of building security than the people who work in building security. Well, if you do think that Casey's just a control freak and a political animal, then it would explain a lot, but those are only allegations. We don't want to smear anybody with an unfair reputation here at Mild-Mannered Blog headquarters. I did, however, take that story in concert with the announcement this week that Mayor Byron Brown wants to assert more control over which public workers are talking to the press.

The sense I get from the Brown administration is that they really want to make the city a better place to live, at least compared to Masiello, who was governing by the seat of his pants. The negotiating stance with the Seneca Casino and the intent apply more pressure to the city's gangs are but two of the examples of his strength here. However, I also see a strong desire (perhaps driven by Steve Casey, Brown's right hand man) to clamp down the controls of the city so the Brown administration, or those that subscribe to it, will be in power for a very, very long time. That contradiction (genuine intent to help, but also making sure you're around for a while) is what fascinates and annoys me about American politics.

In a related matter, all this does is make me love HBO's "The Wire" even more. I'm a big advocate of this program, and I really think if "New Buffalo" is serious about transforming this great city, they really, really need to watch this show. Season one was a long-form televised crime novel about the police department's investigation into drug dealers in Baltimore’s lower-income areas, but since then, it has incorporated unions, city politics and the school system into the show, basically showing how every institution has an impact on each other and how we live. It's become a show about the dark underbelly of the American dream, the places nobody likes to think or talk about. It's a show about people who work within, rebel against and are crushed by "the system." The brilliance of the show is that it shows how everybody is taught that battling "the system," be it in city hall or a street corner, results in losing. That's not a cheery thought, I know, but it also shows that just because we're taught "You can't fight city hall," doesn't mean we have to believe it or live that way. I've covered local municipalities for almost a decade now, and I'm constantly amazed on how accurate "The Wire" feels. At times, it's incredibly shocking, and provokes the kind of anger you get from watching "When the Levees Broke" or "Flipped." Season four just started, and there's a lot of press about how it's the best show on television. That's a lot of hype to live up to, and I'm obviously hyping this a lot right now. I will say this about "The Wire," though: There is not a more challenging and complex television program right now that so accurately captures what it's like to be living in America, right here, right now. In fact, nothing even comes close.