Trampling Free Speech
By Nigel French
I’d been standing in the scorching midday sun for over an hour, under-caffeinated and mildly hung over, when Critical Mass showed up, a welcome relief from the earnestness of the rally speakers. Several times in the course of the week the exuberant cyclists seemed to be in just the right place at the right time—even though they were targeted ruthlessly by the cops and several hundred of their number arrested. It made me proud to be a San Franciscan (the birthplace of Critical Mass), and wish I had a bike with me in New York.