Originally Posted by roadgator
come on. CM has long since departed from being a statement about anything. at best its just a big messy slow group ride, and at worst its a bunch of self righteous idiots trying to start beef that doesn't advance any cause, and just makes cyclists look bad.
show me a CM that just obeys all the traffic laws, then you can start talking about making statements. but its never gona happen.
if it was a legit hit and run the cyclist would have come forward, and plenty of witnesses would have had corroborating stories. sounds fishy if you ask me.
i think it sounds fishy too.
but you're assuming that a protest or political statement has to be properly executed or it ceases to be a statement at all. that's ridiculous. let's go back to my (obviously problematic) racial civil rights analogy.
just because a number of the protesters are guilty of some crime, does that mean they aren't making a political statement by protesting racial injustice? what if they beat up a white kid in highschool for calling him a racial name? even if the protest itself is poorly executed or problematic in nature, even if the protest is "down with whitey" or "the man is keeping us down", does that make the political statement less valid? is racism suddenly not a problem anymore? does the political meaning of the protest disappear because of the quality or rhetorical angle of the statement?
let's look at it from another view...
if the CM riders weren't riding bikes, but instead in smartcars and protesting all vehicles that got less than 30mpg city epa ratings... would their lane violations and other such disqualifying actions make the message non-political?
don't pretend your logic is flawless... say what you mean. if you mean to say that critical mass is a problematic and unconvincing political statement because they're so unruly and anarchical ... well that's fine... but don't act like this woman wasn't doing something she knew was not going to be well liked. the reporter said she was weaving between bicyclists. if she had simply played the role of the victim she's so expertly perfected now and done what most defensive people would have done... flashers on, slowly slow down and slowly move to the shoulder/curb and slowly stop until the mass had passed and it was safe to drive again... if she had done that i don't think they would have killed her minivan.
but yeah, maybe she's some random victim of a violent and entirely unprovoked act.
'that sounds a lot like blaming the victim!'
you're damn right i am. her actions made her the victim just as much as the attackers actions made them attackers. did she do anything wrong? probably not - but that doesn't mean she did anything right. does she deserve the sympathy she got? hell no.
the solution is simple. fix her car, require CM rides to be organized properly.
oh wait, that's the reality of what will happen. yet CM will continue to be unruly and cars will continue to get busted. unless people start acting differently and more carefully / respectfully, ****'s not going to change.
i really don't think it deserves a sob story. if it were a man who got his car beat up i would have the same view of the situation, i doubt the media would be handling it similarly.