Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Circus (again)

Bryant vs. Sheppard. From today's Toronto Star:

"A cadre of cyclists assembled at the spot Tuesday night, blocking traffic and screaming, 'Murder!'"

Yeah. That just helps everyone, doesn't it?

The press at large is doing pretty much the same thing. Christie Blatchford has stopped writing about her dog just long enough to write a not-uninteresting piece about road rage without pointing a finger at Bryant or Sheppard (the Globe's RSS or a clever editor linked-back to a piece by Marcus Gee about cyclists needing to obey rules of the road). Adam Radwanski has decided its a good time to discuss Bryant's Type-A personality traits and his own 'misspent Liberal youth' because, hey, there's no better time, right? Somebody has already taken a swipe at Bryant's Wiki page on behalf of the Shared Highways In Toronto group (think about it).

NOW magazine has offered a thumbnail of the case and a thoughtful (or ghoulish) link to the Dearly Departed Cyclist map for Toronto. The Rabble boards are pumping out exactly what you'd expect, with three comments that pretty much sum up the rest of the street-level speculation about the incident:

" do not keep driving down the street with someone attached to your

"What if that person 'attached' to the vehicle is actually hanging on and punching you?"

"This is the hot button to end all hot buttons for me. I couldn't sleep for wanting to torture the driver last night (as in killing would be too quick).It takes some pretty hard rational thinking for me to control this reaction."

Noise, noise, noise. Did Bryant get special treatment from the cops, or was he just smart and lawyerly enough to keep quiet and agree to a list of conditions? Sheppard had arrest warrants out for him in another province, does that have anything to do with him being hit by a car? Is this incident a good excuse to take a swipe at Miller and McGuinty? (DRDon in the Post couldn't resist).

How about this: Sheppard had friends who think it's a good idea to shut down an intersection. Bryant has pockets deep enough to get a PR firm on his side on very short notice. The rest is on surveillance footage and eyewitness accounts. Nobody knows a thing.

Present company included.


java mama said...

The police insisted this guy-stoned out of his wazoo after a binge of madness and drink-and pumping angry-not be allowed to sleep it off on George Street at a friend's as there was a restraining order in another apt for him.The friends said he should not be riding so intoxicated but they put him on the street.

Let's see how much spin goes back to the police too.

Why didn't bryant call 911?The couple must have been terrified.

Anonymous said...

The whole thing is sad. Our friend on the bike had a long history of substance abuse and 61 arrest warrants out for him in Alberta including a failure to appear in court. He also had several children. All in all, the guy was no angle. However nothing justifies what happened to him. I agree with java mama. Bryant should have called 911 (he probably had a Bluetooth on) and report what was happening. Goof! Let us all hope something good comes of this.

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