Last month, the residents of Reykjavik, Iceland, elected a new mayor: 43-year-old comedian Jon Gnarr heads up the “Best Party” and ran on a platform promising “Free towels at public swimming pools,” a “drug-free Parliament by 2020,” and other more and less ridiculous things. Having received only a plurality, not a majority, of the vote, Gnarr needed to form a coalition to govern. Proving there is wisdom behind his jokes, he had one criteria for partners: He “ruled out any party whose members had not seen all five seasons of The Wire.” Unfortunately, Gnarr seems to have internalized the lessons of the show all too well, quickly demonstrating the difficulties of maintaining one’s principles while in public office by teaming up with center-left Social Democrats “despite Mr. Gnarr’s suspicion that party leaders had assigned an underling to watch The Wire and take notes.” [NYT]
