OF THE
TIMES
Pasadena Police have been treating the Rose Parade like a terrorist target since 9/11, and have annually employed a program they dub "Parade Watch." A police document from 2002 discusses the program and some of its tactics. Discussing the vehicle searches, Pasadena PD published, "One of the simplest responses would have been to post 'No Parking' signs along the cross streets of the route, however, such a response was inconsistent with the goals and the tradition of the Rose Parade."DEC. 29 THRU JAN. 1
FOR SECURITY PURPOSES ALL VEHICLES PARKED IN THIS AREA ARE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION AND SEARCH BY PASADENA PD. NON-COMPLIANCE MAY RESULT IN CITATION AND TOW AT OWNER'S EXPENSE.
John Zachary, the artist, told me the acquittal in July of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot the 17-year-old African-American in 2012, struck him as a worthy subject for Christmas comment.Zachary described that when looking for pictures of Trayvon "one of the teenager lying dead on the pavement particularly tore at him. 'What if Jesus was lying there bleeding to death? I was kind of thinking of that,' Zachary said."
For one thing, the backdrop to the Christmas story is the slaughter by King Herod of all infants in Bethlehem, a barbarous attempt to kill the Messiah.