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Re: FWD: Critical Manners
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Paul Dorn
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Apr 16, 2007 09:43 PDT
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Yes, I saw this. Sixteen riders, not the biggest event in SF that day,
but big news coverage. Go figger.
In the view of many SF cyclists, me included, the whole hoo-ha over
Critical Mass was whipped up to put the SFBC and bicyclists in general
on the defensive. The Bike Coalition had been gaining momentum for its
high profile Healthy Saturdays campaign. See:
http://www.sfbike.org/?ggp http://www.goldengatepark.org/wp/?page_id=9
The campaign had won some surprising support (for instance, Alice B.
Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, normally supportive of status quo.) and
appeared to have a veto proof majority at Board of Supervisors. If you
listen to Jon Winston on TheFredcast, it appears that Chronicle
columnists Matier & Ross were sniffing around for CM trouble, even
before the actual incident. They, and the Chronicle, are notorious for
carrying water for Newsom and the old-line establishment.
Thankfully, the mayor brokered a Healthy Saturdays compromise,
announced on Saturday. Clearly, the mayor knew he was losing and didn't
want Healthy Saturdays to be a campaign issue in his re-election. See:
http://tinyurl.com/3e2a69
So I expect the whole bicyclist malfeasance focus to diminish in San
Francisco, as the media moves on to carry water for the mayor against
his other opponents. The pressure should ease. The smashed van window
was inexcusable. But there was likely more property damage by motorists
occurring on this morning's rush hour commute in San Francisco--like
every morning--and Chronicle columnists won't be dispatched to cover
it.
I've discussed the whole mess on my bike commute tips blog, and will
leave it there.
Cheers,
Paul
Paul Dorn
San Francisco, CA, USA
Gas prices making you sick? Bike commute!
http://www.runmuki.com/commute
Feed my blog:
http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/
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