UPDATE: Reader W.C. Varones writes: “As a regular attendee of Rose Parades in the 70’s and 80’s, I can tell you that the crazies have always been allowed to walk along after the last float at the end of the parade. It used to be the religious cults… now it’s the irreligious cults.”
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Bruce Godfrey writes: “Are you sure that the octopus created by the #Occupy folk is the same as that created by Nazi propaganda? I don’t see that the connection is in fact made.” It was a common Nazi metaphor.
MORE: Reader Martin Kunert invokes Standard Oil. Yeah, but as we’ve seen from discussions of racism on the right, as long as someone, somewhere, has written a master’s thesis suggesting racist connections to your imagery, you’re guilty.