It's been a while since I've found a good mystery, but try this one on for size: What's the one subject you should never bring up in polite society in the United States? The one subject which will instantly polarize a room and causing screaming, over-the-top displays of histrionics?
The 2008 presidential election? Hillary versus Obama? Abortion? Global warming? Nope. Try asking whether bicycles and car should share the road. A post two days ago in Columbus Underground has generated over a hundred comments from both sides of this cultural divide (this on a community board where a handful of comments is the norm). Similar online food fights on this same subject have been documented around the country. So I'm wondering why no politician has stepped forward to leverage this insane hatred into a new political movement. I can see it now. Soon, identifying yourself as a pro-cyclist will be the surest way to show your liberal credentials, while conservatives will prostrate themselves before the voters of the pro-car circuit.
