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The Wire: The parable of the bowls of shit.

Jon B · 328.3K views · 2011-02-23 · 2:16

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Overview

A clip from The Wire (season 4, episode 7) in which a former mayor tells Tommy Carcetti about having to "eat shit" from each constituency during his term. It is a parable about the unpleasant compromises of political leadership.

On Hacker News

Cited as a parable that leaders must absorb criticism and do the unpleasant work nobody else will.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2012–2019

Topics

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What people said

Sharlin · 2019-01 · Joke / meme

I don't understand her endgame either. Or how she can handle the stress. Her predecessor basically ordered the biggest bowl of shit [1] in the recent history and then bailed out. Now May's job is to eat it all. Masochistic. [1] [VIDEO]

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randycupertino · 2017-03 · Reference

The whole thing reminds me of when Tommy Carcetti becoming mayor scene from the Wire. The old outgoing mayor is giving him some advice and he basically explains that when you're mayor you have to smile and eat shit from everybody- the unions, the lobbyists, the press, the teachers, the churches... and smile and act gracious while you're doing it. [VIDEO] Travis should have just smiled and eaten this guys shit, because that's just part of being CEO. "Thank you for your feedback, we'll look into it. Keep up the good work and thanks for the ride!"

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cs702 · 2012-06 · Reference

This article reminds me a bit of 'the parable of the silver bowls:' [VIDEO] -- regardless of the size of the organization, its leaders are the ones who must deal with the stuff no one else can or wants to tackle.

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Sources

Video by Jon B, played through YouTube.

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