Details are a bit sketchy but it appears that the Olympic torch relay may have passed through over or around the City by the Bay yesterday.

City officials not only rerouted but also shorted the relay so that the torch was carried through a warehouse, down a street blocks and blocks away from the Embarcadero where thousands of people had spent hours waiting, and then the flame was spirited away to the airport where there was a hurried farewell ceremony that amounted to somebody saying, "See ya later folks!"

In all, the torch's stay in San Francisco was a two-and-a-half-hour pea-and-shell game that featured anti-China protestors scrambling around like Keystone Kops trying to catch up to the torch.

Spectators without a political axe to grind were understandably upset about manning spots along the torch's intended route and showing up where the farewell ceremony was scheduled to be held only to be stood up.  But what was incredible to hear were public officials, such as the president of city's board of supervisors, say that the mayor's end-around proved  that the mayor ran San Francisco "the way the premier of China runs his country - secrecy, lies, misinformation, lack of transparency and manipulating the populace."

As opposed to what?  Letting a phalanx of police in riot gear run head-on into thousands of protestors?  That would be better government?

For all the aggravation and expense involved with this torch thing, San Franciscans would have been better off just looking up and waving as the plane carrying the torch passed overhead to its next scheduled stop in Argentina.

Photo credit: Paul Sakuma/AP