We know full well that it doesn't take a "set-up" for the leftist commies to attack. They do it all the time. They are disrespectful jackasses and this kind of behavior (like ripping a sign away from a baby) is disgusting and typical.
...So, apart from any 'DU' complaint that he's, essentially, a Republican and has been raising his children to be such - boo and bad, and hiss . . and etc - they and others, once again, also suggest he's a bad father for putting his childen in harm's way. They say, even if the family, in part, has attended various rallies, or he himself for almost 20 years, and even if these two and maybe only a few others were marked by violence, still it's not reasonable to expose a three-year-old to potential violence if that had been the long past experience.
They further suggest the conspiracy in the similarity of events described. But the answer there is, that's pretty much what might happen each and every time. Just how it works. Signs. Democrat doesn't like signs. Democrats being Democrats - attack the signs and people carrying the signs. For people who say that doesn't happen, there's three incidents already on record, thanks to 'DU'.
And the answer to the former is, I suppose it's going to depend. My opinion is that he did not anticipate violence at the airport. And I suspect if he had, at least the other son would have been close by. And the child was likely his shoulders simply so she could see, not to be a focal point of attention. Others are going to say, he just shouldn't have brought her. And this whole story is, ultimately, simply about Sophia. That's why the picture so revolted people. In this case, the police should have intervened. And apparently police were present. And the eldest sister is also right. People should be able to attend opposition rallies without being assaulted. And those wonderful folks who make it so dangerous are literally shown in that very photo. I would hope critics of Mr. Parlock, who would prefer to make this an issue about Mr. Parlock's parenting skills, rather than the vicious assaults of self-righteous union members, would also keep it in mind.
I would also offer a correction to that at the top. It seems, instead, that the photo of the thug, and the screaming black woman in the background, follows the other photo. They were in the thick of it, and were assaulted - apparently. Then they made their way to the exit, and this guy followed and others jeered. Clearly he had been one of the attackers, seen in the previous photo.
Glen Beck interviewed Phil Parlock in the first hour of his show. Download that here. He had asked in the first half hour for 'the guy' in the photo to call. And he did. But then he got word of these 'DU' conspiracy complaints; via this intermediate website he didn't trust, and yet seemed to trust implicitly. And by hour three, he wanted Phil back on the phone. Ultimately, Beck holds Parlock responsible, as well, adopting the protesters and 'DU' complaint that Parlock is a bad father. And I think Beck is entitled to his opinion. And I can understand it, as noted above. I really can. I don't share his opinion. I think he's wrong. He wants to second guess Parlock. And he felt betrayed. And I don't, and won't do that. I think the union thugs seemed friendly, at first; that they acted just like people. And that is, in fact, the story the family wanted to get out - the crowd turned mean. Read below.
To be honest, and again read below, Parlock seems much like the all-American, 'salt of the earth', types that might still be typical of this country, and which is my belief. Church on Sunday. In this case, Roman Catholic. Big family. But not necessarily a traditionalist. And yet the large Catholic traditionalist families are just like this, as well - willing to speak out, bold, sometimes shy, military service, hard working, just the backbone of America. And Parlock and family seem cut from that mold. Sounds like a man you would be proud to call, friend, and fellow Catholic.
Source: The Glen Beck Show [nationally syndicated]
Date: 17 SEP 2004, hr 1
AUDIO
Beck: Sophia Parlock. She is three years old. She's sitting on his Dad's shoulders and she's got tears streaming down her cheeks because somebody has literally ripped the . . uh . . Bush/Cheney sign . . uh . . out of her hands. . . . Hi, Phil.
Parlock: Good morning. This is truly an honor, Glen. And I . . I am glad that I'm . . we're on the same right side. I would always want to avoid your wrath.
Beck: [laughing] I don't know what wrath you're even talking about, Phil. Thank you, so much. I'm glad to hear that you listen to the program.
Parlock: Indeed. [?]
Beck: Um . . tell me . . tell me the situation. You were in Huntington, at the airport, right?
Parlock: We were [unintelligible] at the airport. And we went up to the-to the Edwards . . uh . . well, we thought it was going to be a rally. He ended up not speaking, but . . We were there. And we were there, clearly, to support the President. We like to always let the other side know that the Bush supporters are always there, always in the background, always vigilant.
[intervening]
As the Senator was going towards his plane . . um . . I had taken some signs in. And we . . I gave a sign to my son, Alex, who is in the picture . . [who looks] ready to take on that union thug.
Beck: So that is that guy, in the green hat? That is the thug?
Parlock: Yes, that is the g-guy. Well, we . . they . . we had-we had several signs taken from . . the painter's union guys . . and . . The painter's union guys took a couple of sign off of us. [in sing-song voice] Um . . Some women and old ladies did it, too. I mean. [end sing-song]. But you can see, really, in that picture he has a piece of the sign in his hand and he's dropping it onto the ground. And I can confirm that.
No, we were absolutely, positively polite. Merely tried to hold up a sign. We were circled by . . by twenty people with huge signs. I don't know why we're such a threat.
Beck: . . . You had your daughter holding the sign . . ?
Parlock: We were jointly holding the sign because we had . . I had taken in several signs. And they were all ripped out of our hands. So I gave it to Sophia to put up. And I held-I held up there with her. And I mean, they just ripped and tore, and almost knocked her off my shoulder. They were very eager to get the signs.
Beck: . . . How's she doing today?
Parlock: She . . she . . she's better today. . . . She started to get scared and started crying. The picture was taken on our way out. And they were still trying to get the remnants of the sign off of her.
Beck: As she was crying?
Parlock: Yes. Yes. You can see the jeering in the background.
. . .
Something that is interesting. My daughter said, as we had gotten out and were walking away, she said - those people changed, they got mean. Honestly, Glen, beforehand they said, What a nice little girl you are. What a nice family you have. And then all of a sudden, I should be ashamed and embarrassed for bringing my children to such a thing and doing such a horrible act as raising a . .
Beck: Such a horrible thing? [laughing]
Parlock: They said I was an unfit father.
Beck: Are ya . . you have many ki . . you have two kids?
Parlock: I have, well, no, I have ten.
Beck: Shut up! [chuckling]
Parlock: Yes, I have three. I have three in college. The two oldest ones are in the National Guard. My third son . . my third child . . my second son, is signing up for the National Guard either tomorrow or the next week.
Beck: . . . Catholic or Mormon?
Parlock: Uh . . uh . . Catholic. We're not Orthodox. My wife was raised Roman Catholic. But that's none of anybody else's business what we do. We chose to have that many children. We said, whatever God gives us. And He has.
Beck: God bless you. That's great. . . .
Parlock: . . . Sophia bragged all day, Friday, because she said - I hugged President Bush, and he said, Thank You. Now what a contrast! We waited four hours in line to see the President when he was here, in Huntington. And she had a chance to hug him. And President Bush paused and said, thank you, to her.
Beck: . . . You can't tell me that you believe John Edwards or John Kerry would do anything but hug your daughter. . . .
Parlock: They would be nice. But I'm saying President Bush paused and said, thank you, to a three year old girl for giving him a hug. That's the difference.
I listen to Beck, on occasion. I will continue to do so. But contrary to what he said, suddenly Beck seemed to feel as if he'd been betrayed. He took it all personally. His reputation was on the line. He lost sight of the story, and the events as has been described to him. If only he could have remembered his words from hour 1, and stayed with that. He had it right, the first time.
As for his opinion of blogs, perhaps he hasn't been following the Rathergate story. Virtually all the hard news on that came from weblogs and sites like The Free Republic. It's not that easy to say it's only conservative blogs. The test in judging these isn't that they are always right, or always liberal, or always conservative, but rather that they are often right, and responsible. Those involved in Rathergate fit that bill. And yet his feeling of betrayal is literally based on an untested liberal weblog which he claimed can't have any merit or value. And in this case, maybe so. And yet, he seems to say one thing and think another, as mentioned above.
Myself, I'd BE PROUD to call Phil Parlock, and his whole family, friends.