Critical Mess

Bicycle advocacy takes the back of the banana seat to Bush-bashing.
"Despite complaints from activists, the cops weren't out of control at Friday's Critical Mass bicycle demonstration. It's impossible to say, of course, how violent this week's demos may become. But there are already claims that a confrontational tone was set by police at Critical Mass. Those claims are untrue.

I saw trouble brewing when bicycle advocacy took the back of the banana seat to anti-Bush sentiment. Some people seemed to be more interested in standing and chanting than riding. That shift in emphasis, compounded by record levels of participation in a time of heightened security, sent the event careening into clashes with police that ended in 264 arrests."