Are cyclists a menace?

Andrew Gilligan on the night:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/6724318/Us-Cyclists-arent-a-menace-were-freedom-fighters.html

(A huge number of comments on this story.)

Includes some evidence of cyclist inferiority complex, like ...

I do that because it is dangerous for me to start from traffic lights in the middle of a stream of accelerating traffic.
... as a justification for red-light jumping. Despite the incidents in which forumengers have been involved in this week, this is not 'dangerous'.

And his answer to this relatively minor question ...

I wonder why cyclists, objectively quite a minor road hazard, get so much flak. Perhaps it's because mass cycling in our cities is relatively new. But I think it's also because we're free – and the rest of you are jealous.
... can also be improved upon. Cycling is still something of a minority activity in this country, and minorities are typically discriminated against--simples.

There's probably intended to be Telegraph-style slant on this, and it's not one of the worst things I've read in the Telegraph.