The Anchoress

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Oh, these tolerant, tolerant folks…shining beacons of noble, enlightened, compassionate and concerned humanity, who live to tell the rest of the world how tolerant they are, and to label everyone else intolerant “fascists.” Those “free-spirited” imps!

They don’t have a problem terrorizing you or your children if they don’t like what you’re driving.

It was supposed to be a birthday night out for the kids in San Francisco, but instead turned into a Critical Mass horror show — complete with a pummeled car, a smashed rear window and little children screaming in terror.

The sergeant suggested that Ferrando write a letter to the mayor. Estimated damage to the car: $5,300.

Write a letter to the mayor? My ass, write a letter to the mayor - if these people were throwing their bikes through my car windows while my kids were inside, I’d be saying, “all bets are off, honey” and driving through them - they’d move it or lose it. I’d drive slowly and let them all follow me right to the police station. And I’d have my husband taking pictures of these lovely, enlightened perpetual adolescents with the cell phone camera, oh, yes.

Unbelievable. This family needs to get on television and tell their story. I wonder if Rosie - she’s compassionate and kid-oriented, and stuff, right - I wonder if she’d bring them on to The View and denounce the terrorist tactics of these…what are they, environmentalists? Gasoline-hating elitists? “Terrorists” works for me.

At the very least, the City of San Francisco (you know, they keep sending Nancy Pelosi to DC) needs to pay for the damages to this family’s car, and issue an apology. After all, it’s the City of San Francisco that decided - apparently - that these bicyclists need answer to no-one. The City has encouraged this lawlessness. I’m not an advocate of frivolous civil proceedings, but in this case, I think a lawsuit for negligence on the part of the City might be the very thing. It might be the only way to get the City to take these “free-spirited” riders in hand, so to speak.

That’s at the very least.

And if any of these cyclists who participated in this melee had a bit of maturity or decency resting within their enlightened bosoms, perhaps they would come together (masked and anonymous, of course) and publicly apologize, too…and pass the hat around to compensate this family for terror they had to endure due to the excesses of these “free spirits.”

What the “free spirits” did was terrorism. And they’re very lucky that their victims did not have firearms handy, because things could have become very deadly, very quickly. I suggest they keep that in mind the next time they think they’re entitled - by virtue, apparently, of their tolerant goodness and loveable free-spiritedness - to terrify children and their parents and destroy private property.

What asshats!. I’m sure someone, somewhere in the blogosphere, is defending them, though.

UPDATE: Ah, in the SF Chronicle, we read:

Bicyclists who witnessed the event countered that Ferrando had accelerated recklessly through a crowd of riders, hitting one and knocking him from his bike, then attempted to flee the scene before riders surrounded the vehicle. They complained that police didn’t charge her with a crime.

The “alleged victim” (as noted in the Gate piece) was unhurt, and was able to ride his bike home.

Given the historical attitudes of these extremist “Critical Mass-ers” I’m inclined to think that if the driver did inadvertently tap a rider while trying to lawfully drive her vehicle through a (non-permitted) bikerswarm, they’d be calling her “reckless.” Clearly, she did stop driving at the tap hence allowing these riders to then attack her vehicle and terrorize her children.

If she did tap a rider, and stopped her car, the next logical event would have been for other riders to stand back and allow the driver and the “alleged victim rider” to sort out their issues. Instead, the driver was not permitted to make the logical move, because she and her family were swarmed by bikers who have gotten into the habit of believing that believe rules don’t apply to them. Seems to me that mindset is what set off this chain of events…the mindset that the normal procedure did not need to be followed, because one side believed themselves quite above the law or normal discourse.

Seems to me if the woman had “recklessly accelerated” through these bikers, they’d have given their names and insisted on charging her - if she had truly been the aggressor, if she had been “reckless” they’d be insisting on it still. Instead, all the bikers went home and someone sniffed, “The driver started a chain of violence that escalated. Both sides are to blame.”

Which is exactly what a bully will say when he realizes he pummeled someone without justification and wishes it all would go away.

Meanwhile, Ed Driscoll suggests that other enlightened, tolerant environmental purist types might want to put their money where their big mouths are and stop making movies (just think how shutting down those klieg lights will save the planet!), stop using film, just stop destroying our planet in the name of art and finance!

Wouldn’t banning movie production be a way to save resources? Films involve miles of celluloid, a petroleum-based resource. Plus the fuel involved in transporting the celebrities, crew, and equipment. They involve thousands of watts of electricity for their lighting. Imagine what the lights themselves are doing to the ozone. Then more reels of celluloid when the finished product is shipped to theaters. What about the chemicals involved in processing the film? Then all of the DVDs, which are made of plastic.

Then there are the forests cut down to produce magazines to promote them, such as Vanity Fair. And what about the obesity issues caused by theater concession stands? Is the popcorn grown organically? Is the CO2 in the Coke machines harming the atmosphere?

A good idea. I barely go to movies these days. Perhaps I will stop altogether, for Mother Earth. I mean, all religions like sacrifice, don’t they? I’ll sacrifice Hollywood.

Some other free-spirited enlightened folks vandalizing stuff here and here, but at least no one had to shield a kid.

Also writing on this:
Bookworm remembers worrying about meeting up with these folks while pregnant, and wonders if some of these riders might be found at this sort of rally.
Hot Air
Ed, again
Michelle Malkin