The Meaning of This Country

The devotees of HBO's series, "The Wire," knew they were in for a good ride that has lasted for four years now, when, in "The Wire's"very first moments, a detective named McNulty is sitting on a stoop talking to a street guy, while watching as the police establish the scene of a murder just committed.  The body of "Snot," a street thug, is lying nearby, after he was shot dead by some of his contemporaries.    The street guy tells McNulty that Snot was known for running off with the money that had accumulated  during crap games.   He would do that every time, and usually the other players would just chase him down and give him a good whipping.  But this time someone apparently decided that a well-aimed bullet would teach a better lesson..

McNulty is amazed, and he asks why the players would always let him into the games when they knew that at some point he would run off with the pot.

"Got to let him play," the street guy answers.  "This is America." 

I am saving this for the moment when at last I am called to appear before a U.S. Senate committee to testify on something, anything at all, so that I can inject it into my answers.

It shows how a lowly street thug in Baltimore can have a better idea of what the U.S. really means, or is supposed to mean, than all those highly placed birds in the top echelons of government who are forever spouting off their empty salutes to patriotism and all the rest of that kind of thing.