The (and, in all seriousness, we really do hate to say this, because he is, after all, our city's mayor) downward spiral of Gavin Newsom continues. Phil Bronstein goes for broke today when he ripped Newsom a new one. Rightfully so. See, in what was supposed to be an interview with FOX affiliate KTVU, Newsom demanded that the interviewer stick to the subject of Muni, the city's public transit system he rarely, if ever, rides. Bronstein says:

The latest news of self-inflicted wounds: A friend of mine connected to KTVU tells me Gavin had wanted to go on Channel 2 this morning to talk about MUNI, but only on the condition he not be asked about anything else. Even George Bush subjected himself to Helen Thomas' pounding once in a while as part of the often contentious press-politician compact.

The station wisely declined the mayor's silly demand. Who's the loser? Once more, Gavin holds himself hostage.

This comes on the heels of Newsom's disastrous interview with CBS 5's Hank Plante, a $500 million SF budget snafu, and Willie Brown explaining to Newsom, "You have no idea what it is to really have the press go after you ... Wait until they really catch you."

Gulp.

Still, we feel for the guy, our mayor of San Francisco, our fresh-faced leader. Will he be able to pullout of this free fall? We sure hope so.