Proforma Torch

Part of me is laughing, part of me is fuming.

They've rerouted the Olympic torch through the middle of the city. The only people getting and eyeful of the continual changing of the relay runners are the press, oncoming traffic, and the phalanxes of armed police.

There are no protesters, because there is no audience.

Why is this funny? Because it's laughable that SF's mayor is more interested in getting the relay through the city than he is in providing the actual relay that people expected. Form over substance -- how typical.

Infuriating though, is the amount of money being spent on police. Those officers are not volunteering their time. This is a very expensive photo op for what is essentially a meaningless gesture. Times are tough all over and it's ridiculous how much money is being spent on crowd control, and participant protection all for a media circus. That money never would have been earmarked for violence dissipation in neighborhoods that are being hit hard by increasing lawlessness.

NB: the passing of the torch was introduced by Adolf Hitler for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin Germany.