New Mayor of Reykjavik Demands That All Cabinet Members See 'The Wire'

Iceland suffered a huge financial meltdown in 2008 (like much of the world!). They invested all of their money in banks and places outside of their country, lost that money, and went completely bankrupt in the process. Maybe they needed a pick-me-up because the new mayor of the capital of Iceland is not some boring financial guru, or a legal guru, or a person that, um, knows things. They elected a former Icelandic TV actor and comic Jon Gnarr.

Last month, in the depressed aftermath of the country’s financial collapse, the Best Party emerged as the biggest winner in Reykjavik’s elections, with 34.7 percent of the vote, and Mr. Gnarr — who also promised a classroom of kindergartners he would build a Disneyland at the airport — is now the fourth mayor in four years of a city that is home to more than a third of the island’s 320,000 people.

In his acceptance speech he tried to calm the fears of the other 65.3 percent. “No one has to be afraid of the Best Party,” he said, “because it is the best party. If it wasn’t, it would be called the Worst Party or the Bad Party. We would never work with a party like that.”

 On Gnarr's very real, not-a-joke political docket:

• Free towels at city swimming pools
• A "drug-free Parliament by 2020"
• Screening all potential coalition partners based on whether they've seen all five seasons of The Wire or not
• Making Reykjavik a more electric car-friendly (okay, fair).

Forget South Carolina Senate candidate Alvin Greene! Someone should nominiate Jon Gnarr for MAN OF THE YEAR:

Via NYT