What goes around comes around. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Okay, I'm out of clichés here.

On a very related note, I got this in the email.

-----------

Dear friends, family, fellow citizens,

As many of you know, the New York City police have been continually harassing the monthly Critical Mass bike riders ever since the 2004 Republican National Convention. In that time, over 300 bicyclists have been arrested.

In the last couple of months, the trials for those who have chosen to fight the charges have finally been going to court.

On January 10th, the decision was passed down in the case of those who were arrested on January 28, 2005, which includes me and 7 other cyclists. The results were very encouraging. Although we were found guilty of one count of disorderly conduct, Judge Gerald Harris ruled that the "parading without a permit" law is unconstitutional, and the parading charges were thrown out.

The importance of this ruling can not be overstated. The police have long used the anti-parading law to arrest and prosecute protesters across the country. If Judge Harris's ruling is upheld, it would deny the police and those who seek to suppress free speech a means of achieving their ends.

However, the fight is not over. Predictably, the city has decided to appeal the judge's ruling. And if we don't now fight the appeal, the ruling will automatically be overturned, and all of our efforts will have been for naught.

In order to fight the appeal, we desperately need more funds. To those of you who have donated to our cause in the past, we are deeply grateful. But we still need help.

***Fighting the appeal will cost $6000, and we need to raise this money by February 8th, which is fast approaching.***

For this reason, our solicitation is very urgent. Any help you can provide is very much appreciated. The best way to donate is through the Freewheels Bicycle Defense Fund, an organization expressly committed to helping those who have been arrested riding their bikes:

http://bicycledefensefund.org/donate.html

Apart from monetary donations for the appeal, we are also looking for letters of support for our sentencing on February 14. These should be pleas for leniency, pointing out the good character of those arrested, the lack of danger they pose to the city, the fact that they are actually First Amendment heros, etc. These should be addressed to City Criminal Court Judge Gerald Harris, and sent to our esteemed lawyer Gideon Oliver at the following address:

Gideon Orion Oliver, Esq. Oliver & Oliver Attorneys at Law 200 East 10th Street #917 New York, New York 10003-7702

Lastly, *please forward* this solicitation to anyone you think takes an interest in free speech, transportation and environmental issues, and rights of the citizen. We need as much help as we can get. Thank you very much for your support.

Overdramatic analogies?!!?

This is Gothamist - the home of fantasy.

A few days ago the commenters were talking about steroid enraged cops drunkenly prowling the city.

Some of us just read this site so we can say to our friends, "do you believe what some people in New York think?!?"

Getting videotaped in a public place is a long way from 1984. Maybe you should read the book before making overdramatic analogies?