SAN FRAN FAKERY: "This is a dark day — an extremely dark day — in the history of the San Francisco Police Department." So intoned Heather Fong, San Francisco chief of police, at a news conference after learning that a few of her officers had produced a series of videos that supposedly ridiculed minorities and degraded women. Appearing with Fong, Mayor Gavin Newsom declared that the video caper "is shameful. It is offensive, it is sexist. It is homophobic, it is racist, and we're going to make sure it ends.'' The story captured bold page-one headlines at the unerringly politically correct San Francisco Chronicle. As the tale unfolded, it became clear that the supposedly offensive videos were in fact little more than an exercise in frat-boy humor, and that some of the officers who produced and acted in the videos were themselves minorities. It was soon disclosed that prior to the news conference Newsom (famous for mocking the rule of law during the gay-marriage imbroglio) had met with his political advisors to "get ahead of the story." Officers were suspended and an investigation begun — naturally, in that order. Weeks later, it's clear that the official response ("Oh! the horror!") amounts to little more than an extreme case study in political correctness. The suspended police officers are now back at work. Gavin Newsom got the media coverage he needed to boost his personal ratings among San Francisco's left-wing elite. No apologies from the mayor for his ready, fire, aim demagoguery. Business as usual in what is arguably the most deranged metropolitan culture in the United States.