As promised -- when we find people defending Newsom, we diligently write 'em up in the column we call.... Who's Defending Newsom Now! Who's swinging for the mayor?

--The mayor himself!: Before heading out to Switzerland this week, Gavin sat down with the gay-focused Bay Area Reporter (picture features a blue tie) for a chat about what's going on with him. Beyond the now-standard complaint that the Chronicle is out to get him, Gavin also lashed out at non-walker/gum chewer Ross Mirkarimi for acting like he's the only person who cares about the murder rate in this town, complained about the chickens, defended Chief of Police Heather Fong, and conceded that he was "disappointed" with Bevan Dufty about the foot patrol vote but assured the reporter that the whole thing about them being angry with each other was "overblown."

And finally, Gavin says he doesn't read blogs, but did jokingly admit that he saw some pictures of Kimberly Guilfoyle with Matt Gonzalez. "I am like 'Geez.' So I do read that to see are they dating or something?" We're going to use this opportunity to give you a YouTube clip of the indie rock band Matt & Kim now.

The Examiner editorial page!: The Examiner's editorial today says it's totally fine for Gavin to go to Davos and not the U.S. Conference of Mayors in DC, because those conferences only help rich cities, Gavin doesn't need to lobby for federal funding because he should be on good terms with Nancy Pelosi already, and even though Davos is uncool, it encourages Gavin to think of creative things like citywide wi-fi. Plus, how cool that he paid for the trip himself!

You know, now we can't tell if this editorial is defending Gavin Newsom or not. No, wait, it does -- it encourages him to bring "My Mayor Went To Switzerland And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt" swag for the Board when he gets back. He can drop those off for them on the third Tuesday of next month, right?

Picture by SFist Jackson.