In reality, most people that are cyclists are not dicks, at least where I am. Most people go out of their way to avoid pedestrians. There are some people that are 'dick cyclists,' but I see them act like dicks towards cards, pedestrians, and other cyclists alike. It has nothing to do with a position of power, and more to do with a general attitude.

The problem between car drivers and bike riders, is that there are a lot of drivers that view the position of the person in the car as the 'normal' position, and the position of the cyclist as the 'abnormal' position.

Take the article that the OP is in response to. It is written along the lines of:

  I drive a car, and do not drive bicycle. I therefore
  have little vested interest in infrastructure relating
  to bicycles and a strong vested interest in infrastructure
  related to cars. Therefore I see infrastructure related
  to bicycles as 'stealing' time/space/resources away
  from the infrastructure related to cars.