Looks like another long, cold night for the hardy group of Occupy Portland protesters chained to a barrel, and each other, in Terry Schrunk Plaza—and probably another long day, too. And maybe even a few days. Maybe.

Stephanie Kenitzer, the spokeswoman for the federal General Services Administration—one of the agencies with jurisdiction over Schrunk—sent me a short-but-sweet statement on the federal government's decision (this time) to not call in the Portland police and clear the park.

GSA will continue working closely with the Federal Protective Service and Portland Police Department to assess the situation on an ongoing basis. The safety and protection of the general public, federal employees and property will be the criteria for evaluating any decisions relating to the enforcement of the park's curfew and the permitting process.

Naturally, I called her back to see what else she might say—and whether this was the federal government's obscure way of saying that, hey, so long as there's not an exodus from Chapman and Lownsdale squares, live and let live. She said the GSA is taking the decision "one day at a time," and again stressed that "health and safety" issues would continually be monitored. All standard stuff, until the guard slipped a bit.

"We want to allow the protest to keep going," she said. "That's the American way."

Sounds good, but let's see what happens come tomorrow morning.