Little girl has sign ripped up by anti-Bush protestor

AP ^ | 9/16/2004 | Randy Snyder

[Xaviore]

Three-year-old Sophia Parlock cries while seated on the shoulders of her father, Phil Parlock, after having their Bush-Cheney sign torn up by Kerry-Edwards supporters on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004, at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington, W.Va. Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards (news - web sites) made a brief stop at the airport as he concluded his two-day bus tour to locations in West Virginia and Ohio. (AP Photo/Randy Snyder)

[sinkspur]

It's a free country and all, but the wisdom of taking a three-year old to what would obviously be an opposition political event and especially with the deliberate intent to involve the three-year old should be questioned.

Yep.

[kcvl]

THANK YOU!!!

[Petronski]

It may very well be just coincidental that Parlock's had run-ins on THREE separate occasions at Democrat rallies, and all THREE times got his name and picture in the paper.

I will again submit in a spirit of goodwill that Parlock is politically active and likes to attend events of the other party (Freeping?), and that a pattern of violence against him has developed because the Democrat party doesn't like dissent. Since Parlock is reasonably well-spoken and self-confident, he did not decline to comment to the press.

[sinkspur]

I'm neutral on this story. There are simply too many suspicious circumstances.

[Petronski]

The way IUPAT's been getting Freeped and the way this story has made it to the major media, if the thug wasn't a member I would expect they would have said something by now. It's ridiculous to take some DUmmy's wild speculation as if it has any credibility.

Hear hear!

[kcvl]

Also, I am disappointed with the WV comment. No, not everyone in WV is related.

IGNORE it! Since I am from Arkansas we get this stupid statement all the time. It just shows that some people need to TRAVEL a little more. They don't even know the REAL people who live in these states are NOT any different from the rest of the country. Stereotypes are so easy for ignorant people.

[Petronski]

I'm neutral on this story.

I respect that. We will eventually know the truth, and I think Parlock will be vindicated.

[E Rocc]

I may be wrong,too, but you have to understand that Huntington is a small city with a small town atmosphere and the Parlocks are a fairly well-known family and Phil Parlock is fairly well-known and the airport in question is a TINY TINY airport and if Phil Parlock thought he was going to let his son impersonate a union thug in WV, in broad daylight, with photographers around, he would be stupider even than you already might think he is.

I did a Google on Randy Snyder and he seems to be the top photographer for the main Huntington paper. Unlikely that he'd be in on it, or even get fooled.

-Eric

[not_apathetic_anymore]

She said her dad is upset. He doesn't appear to be upset then, so he must be upset now.

It's interesting how many people can look at one picture and see different things. When I look at the picture I see a lot of emotion on the fathers face I think a combination of anger and pain. I interpret his not responding differently as well - an assessment the situation where he has two children with him and deciding not to escalate the situation.

I also see the younger brother with a clenched fist a difficult reaction to coach.

Your interpretation could be right and mine wrong, time will tell. I just find it interesting that people can look at the same photo and see it so differently.

[timestax]

Don Adams Oreal with union goons

[Dan from Michigan]

I think it's sad that some of the poster here are doubting this based on the word of some leftist web blogger who obviously want to pull off a CYA efford.

I'm familiar with union thug tactics, and I doubt it's a setup. I saw the pics and don't see the resembalance either.

[eyespysomething]

or UGA in GA

[ARCADIA]

Can you share a better copy of that family photo? The image posted on the public site is pretty poor, and a clearer picture of your brothers will help us to put this issue to rest.

[Dan from Michigan]

Edit - poster = posters, Want = wants, efford = effort, resembalance = resemblance

Terrible spelling, even for me.

[MissNomer]

Right on both counts: yes, it is a joke (albeit a bitter one), and yes, this trend would bode ill for society. I can't imagine exploiting my baby girl's heart-wrenchingly adorable "sad face" for political gain, and I certainly hope this gentleman wouldn't either. Goodness knows there are plenty of other real incidents of protester harassment to choose from.

[niki]

Parlock clan is invading FR, hmmm? How many signed in over the last few hours claiming themself a brother or sister of this poor little girl?

Freeper scarpetta contacted the family yesterday and told the mom about FR.

[E Rocc]

This site is Huntington based and there's a lot of critical comments about Phil, from people who were there even. Some seem to know him, but no one is claiming that the thug was actually his son there. It took a lefty blogger from who-knows-where to "find" a connection.

-Eric

[The Californian]

Thank you for the clarification. It has been difficult to get any info on what actually happened.

Congratulations to your dad to raise up civic children. I have also taken all of my children, ages 21 to 3, to policital rallies of all flavors (we are very republican). I am sad that this happened. Hope it doesn't get blown up out of proportion.

Good luck to you and your family. Thanks for the post.

[Spiff]

Big Sis, I want to apologize for some of the nutty things some FReepers here have said. The vast majority here DO support your father and your family. Some, however, seem to have forgotten that what your father did is something WE ourselves like to do. We call it FReeping. Check out my post on another thread for more about this.

[Rutles4Ever]

I WAS WRONG I WAS WRONG I WAS WRONG!


I couldn't be more wrong. I'm on board with the not-staged scenario. I guess the painters union issued an apology onheir official web site...


I WAS WRONG. (And I'm glad to say it)