Southern Californa Occupy protesters had applied for a permit for the Rose Parade, but were not given a permit as a float, but were allowed to walk at the end of the Parade.  According to Jack at Liberty Underground, coverage was timed to end just before they, and the Gaint Squid would have come into view.  Jack reported:

“Southern California Occupy protesters did a magnificent job of planning for months and gaining so much publicity that their participation was the most anticipated of all the floats and marching groups.  In this winter phase of the movement, it is important to let the public know the movement is still alive, and they should be commended for a tremendous effort. But the ruling Forces of Greed would not let the massive national TV audience see that they have been unsuccessful in destroying the movement despite their tear gas and pepper spray, among their greatest fears today.  To control the world, the Empire needs to maintain the USA as primarily a military operation with occupy tentacles stretching over a thousand foreign military bases at any cost to American citizens.  This can only be done if its people are kept as ignorant as possible and without hope.”

And I goddam wanted you to see it.

The Christian Science Monitor wrote about their plans before parade day; here is an excerpt; (other groups having marched in the past are named in the piece):

“Some say the demonstrators, freshly ousted from tent encampments all over the United States, will drag down the image of one of the most cautious and conservative events in the country. They say that people don’t want real-world politics intruding on a day in which families can put aside mundane cares and simply have fun.

“Once you allow a group like OWS [Occupy Wall Street] into an iconic event like this, you risk changing the entire focus of it for everyone. Where does it stop?” asks David Johnson, an Atlanta-based media analyst. “Will it just become a parade of causes – Planned Parenthood, the tea party, presidential campaigns? I think Americans are tired of politics 24/7.”

But others say inclusion of the protesters will be a refreshing advance toward relevance – and thus more serious audiences – for the parade, which they say is otherwise mostly a feel-good marketing campaign for corporations, chambers of commerce, and civic groups.

“This makes the Rose Parade more relevant,” says Barbara O’Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento. “This way, they are at least addressing what many of their viewers are feeling.”

For the protesters, she says, inclusion is nothing short of a coup. “With this move, the OWS movement moves from ‘storming’ to ‘norming’ – moving from agitating on the outside to being on the inside of one of America’s most established norms.”

('Two-headed Snake' by permission of Anthony Freda, www.anthonyfreda.com)

Well; maybe at the back of ‘the inside’, and invisible to teevee viewers, but still: Congratulations Occupy Southern California!  You were magnificent!

Happy Iowa Caucus Day; here is an Occupy Iowa Caucuses slideshow via the NYT.  ;o)

I’d like to thank these folks for their dedication, creativity and hard work for all of us.  We will prevail because there’s no other option. Love one another, and find strength in the community you make with others.

(cross-posted at kgblogz.com)