Parlock - Great DU Work, But Let It Drop...

[KharmaTrain]

24 hours ago, I had no clue who this loser was, or his goofy family. From face value, this guy comes off as another clueless hivedweller who just couldn't miss out on getting in on the fun and making a fool of himself somewhere along the campaign trail.

Yep, didn't take long here to find the guy (thanks to Newsguyatl) and then the busting began. From the first posting around 6pm last night, we know have at least a half-dozen stories of this doofus. He's been outed and busted, and many kudos to the DU'ers here who, once again, have shown the power of both numbers and information in the present and for the future.

Hopefully, someone from the Olberman show will follow up on this story (and some credit to DU would be nice...wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and maybe a snippet on some of our more friendly shows, but let's not make either a celebrity or anything out of this incident and loser.

Now that we know his game...let's not play it further by giving this guy anything more than a good chuckle and hope he goes back to selling trailers in West Virginia and losing both his money and local board races. Now that he's been outed here...hopefully the media will catch up on our work and can this non-story as well.

This morning, I saw a bunch of fat, rich news editors...pompus beyond belief...harping how the media keeps focusing on the "non-issues" of the campaign, and then went into another endless mental masturbation session of parsing and sniping. Let's not give them more stuff to play with.

It's time we focus on issues that this regime has done to harm this country.

Cheers!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. You are right and of course the same was said of the SBVT

Another bunch of clueless hivedwellers.
Lying scumbags too.

[qanda]

2. That would be okay if it wasn't all over the internet

As being something that really happened. I say good on the people who worked their behinds off to research this and boo on those who come to piss on their parade.

[KharmaTrain]

4. No Pissing In Punchbowls Here...Just Priorities

I love watching these stories unfold here on DU...and hats off to those who take the time to do the looking.

That said, if you want a story we should harp on the media, it's the gold star mom who was arrested in New Jersey. We should make noise to have Pickles meet this mom...demand an apology and focus the noise on this regime.

Yep, we've outed another dirty trickster, guess what...there are hundreds more out there. I prefer to stay focused on this regime's irresponsibility, not some brainwashed zombie.

It's over OUR part of the internet...don't get that confused with the media that we're seeing takes and manipulates its own stories based on their own agendas and benefits.

[qanda]

5. I understand what you're saying, but

the perceptions of others is our reality right now. And the image of Democrats stealing a sign from a little girl and making her cry is a powerful image and should not be allowed to stand if untrue. And I think we can do more than one thing at a time-- I'll look forward to your threads on how to help the mom in New Jersey.

[KharmaTrain]

8. Two-Fer...wish I could solve all problems..

I agree that we need to deal with the perceptions, but this one hasn't become part of the media echo machine and my post was in hopes it doesn't.

Of course, if it makes the news, we will look bad...that poor little girl...awww...taken out of context. That's where our "truth squads" and homework may help...but only in a limited way as our ability to affect the media's creation and manipulation of news is minimal. If anything, I sense where our outrages have been rubbed in our faces (CNN's further tilt right after the DU email blitz) and let sleeping dogs lie.

Regarding the New Jersey situation, this is where we need the those creating those perceptions...and we know who they are...to be overwhelemed with stories that are short, sweet and "soundbiteable". DNC and other groups bringing out this Gold Star mom and others...embracing them and allowing them to speak will put pressure on this regime to respond...and I personally would love to put Pickles under the gun...since it was her event this mom was shut out of and why? Let's put Mrs. Stepford on the record about this war...even get her to answer if she would send her daughter to Iraq. Also to focus on how this "leader" never attends the funerals of those who've been killed in his greed...I think you know where this can go.

Also, we need to support the Jersey Girls...having them on board is an incredible asset.

Cheers!

[King Coal]

18. I ain't drinking the KoolAid. Sorry.

[johnfunk]

32. Darn right about peeing in the punchbowl -- instead...

... we should be making it clear that people like Parlock ARE the turds in the political punchbowl -- and the press is the credulous punch.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Sorry, but I disagree.

This clown, a FreePea, coordinated this incident to discredit our candidates, our party and our supporters. This is nothing less than character assassination writ large. He has shown a propensity for doing this across 3 election cycles, and has recruited his children into his campaign of faux victimhood. He even has a newspaper and photographer in cahoots with him.

This is sick shit of the highest order.

No, it is high time that the truth of Mr. Parlock and his family receive its moment in the sun. I say bring it out and let it cast a light on many of the other disruptors and staged incidents that occur.

I assure you that many other situations are just as staged and choreographed. We live in The Season of Ratfuck. We have never seen anything like this before.

[KoKo]

6. Removed by poster....just found the info about Parlock...(n/t)

[unfrigginreal]

7. Drop showing how the Pukes manipulate the media?

I think not.

[KharmaTrain]

10. And Who Will Show It In Our Light?

Think Faux will go out of their way to print Parlock's past political activities or that he pulled the same stunt in the past? Nope...just how a bunch of "Liberal" thugs beat up a little girl supporting the 'pResident' (no longer worthy of full quotes) and it then will be spread around...a picture in the NY Post and so on.

Those who speak second get shouted down and lost in this war of noise. Whose shouting for us? We don't need to show the media how hypocritical they are...DU is loaded with this every day.

Point taken, time to move along. Nothing to gain or win here.

[LisaL]

9. Oh yea, sure, just let it drop.

And that is after all the whine yesterday how we all are such horrible people for making a 3 year old cry. Get a clue!

[tjdee]

11. Mommy posts are so irritating.

This happens from time to time, this whole "Let's drop (X)" thing.

When DUers get sick of it, it'll drop on its own... somehow I don't think that Joe Q. Public is like "WHOA all the Democrats are loony kooks who don't know the issues because I read on a message board all these posts about (X)!"

I always wonder why people feel the need to write posts like this, like we need to be herded toward 'intelligent' posts.
DU has a healthy mix of threads, which personally, I find entirely appropriate.
on edit: but obviously people have the right to voice their opinion that we're spending too much time on something...oh I don't know, LOL....

[KharmaTrain]

12. Mommy Posts?

Hmmm...my outdoor plumbing says different.

And what "intelligent" posts are you refering to?

Fortunately I haven't seen the picture of this girl on my TV or newspapers today...and that's how I'd like to keep it.

There's precious time to waste on getting "panties in a wad" about busting this Freeper or that Rove operative. It didn't work in the slimeboat mess, why do you think it will work now?

Yep, making a lot of noise about it will get that "Whoa" response...just what some would love to capture and use as examples of how "petty" Democrats are.

Again...I prefer focus on other issues...now what are the ones you suggest to discuss? I'd far prefer that.

[tjdee]

14. Yeah, that post was a knee jerker...

I tried to soften it at the end, LOL!
I didn't mean to wig out all over your post.
Just ignore the crazy lady, I've not had my coffee yet.

[KharmaTrain]

15. I Think We All Need To Take Deep Breaths On Here

...before one pushes the "Send" key. LOL

No offense here and no need to soften your feelings either.

My gist...sorry, the bane of 75wpm fingers and an even faster mind...is we need to conserve both energy and resources to stay on real issues people feel if we're going to get the results we all hope for in November. Distractions at this late date no longer serve that goal.

Here's some coffee...
:donut:


- Cheers! -

[tjdee]

17. Aah thanks....

Pressing post is soooo easy LOL...

[Southsideirish]

44. Very insightful - I wondered what this was all about. Why should

we drop it just when we are beginning to get to the bottom of their sly and revolting media manipulations?

Who would possibly be against that? Hmmmmmm.....

[LoZoccolo]

13. We'd love to talk about issues; they're pushing shit like this.

And once we knock it down, then we can get back to issues.

[HootieMcBoob]

24. exactly

all of this stuff needs to be responded to rapidly. It has to be knocked down and it has to be debunked.

[quaoar]

16. So what if Parlock is a Republican operative

So what if he went there and tipped off a photographer, hoping that some Democrat would confront him. Does that mean Democrats have to live up to his expectations?

He goes there and decides he's going to prove Democrats are mean to children. And, sure enough, someone plays along.

Now, if the guy who tore the sign out of the girl's hand was also a Republican operative -- that would be Rove-esque and y'all would be right and I would be wrong.

How much better a picture would it have made if the sign ripper had handed the little girl a lollipop instead?

[qanda]

19. The person who ripped up the sign appears to be his son..

Why do you keep going on and on and on and on and on and on and on about this?

[quaoar]

21. I haven't seen that it was his son

Is there a link to that somewhere?

If it is, indeed, Parlock's son, then y'all are right. And I will no longer go on and on and on and on and on.

Fair enough?

[qanda]

22. LOL

That's fair, and there are at least five threads debunking this story with any information you may seek.

[yardwork]

26. Check out this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x829092

and note that Parlock is planning to appear on a lot of TV shows.

[KharmaTrain]

23. Looks Like It's Moving Outside DU...

Atrios is on it and I'm sure other blogs will echo this as they did Walt Starr's stuff about Bunnypant's "medals", but I sense if the media does pick up on it, it will be of the image, not the entire scenario.

This doofus and his crackpot family shouldn't get 15 minutes of media fame, and they will if this story becomes some hot topic. I'd prefer, if we need to spent our time and resources, on a topic, something more relevant and pro-active...such as what happened to the Gold Star mom...not giving the media a reason to bring out their cameras and let this humanoid waste and his brainwashed family get any "face time".

Now, if this story is picked up by the right wing media...front page on NY Post or Moonie Times, then it's time to roll out the info on this dude. Now let's edit all we've gathered and more on...

[yardwork]

29. It just ran in the Moonie Times....and the guy is planning more events

[unfrigginreal]

20. The guy that ripped the sign up was the little girl's brother

sorry if that doesn't fit the fairytale being reported in the press and repeated by a few around here.

[LTR]

25. But every time we try to get back to the issues...

the RW tries to go off-topic.

With the Guard memo thing, there's not as much about what really happened with Bush in the guard, but it's trying to be steered toward Dan Rather character assassination. Just like they attacked Michael Moore instead of attacking what was actually in the movie (I recall seeing only one article that actually tried debunking what was IN the movie, and it is still floating around on many RW sites).

And now this is being spun as some evil Democrats who attacked a little girl, which is a huge, steaming pile of elephant shit.

Perfect examples of 'weapons of mass distraction'.

The best thing in all of this is that the real story has unfolded ridiculously fast. In less than a day, the whole thing has been proven to be a real, proveable hoax. And now the bloggers are running with it (saw it on three of them so far). The next step is the mainstream infotainment media (if they have the guts to run with it, though I think Olberman and Stewart will make mention of it).

It's to DU's credit that the whole controversy was swatted away so quickly, and I do hope that we can get back to the issues. It's just so hard to do when we spend most of the time countering RW nonsense and filibusters.

[KharmaTrain]

27. We Play Into Their Hands With This Stuff

Rat, appreciate your perspective here and the way this guy was found and busted here on DU is a joy to behold.

That said, we both know this is the type of thing the wingnuts would love to run with, and one they know they can manipulate to do the exact distraction you refer to.

I can see this story being peddled to the medium and smaller markets...pictures on the front page of the Masillon, OH Times (if it exists???) or on a TV station (Sinclair anyone?) in West Virginia...and this goon getting airtime as some "grieved father". Why advance this ball at all?

All I'm saying is now that we've got the goods on this loser, we keep it handy in case its needed. If someone moves to give this goon any creedence, then let's slam him, but let's not play the "they're not playing fair" game.

[w4rma]

28. Look. Big media doesn't want to talk about issues. Just go with the flow.

And when something like this happens, let us defend ourselves until we're ready to get back to buisness (which, btw, we are doing simultaniously).

[QC]

30. Is the guy really a trailer salesman?

How ironic!

[The Great Escape]

31. He's A Real Estate Agent...It Was Just Another West VA Slam....

of course forgetting the fact that the rally was filled with WEST VIRGINIAN's there to support the Kerry/Edwards ticket. Guess we only have to take credit for the Freepers.

[QC]

34. That's what I figured.

And then people wonder where working people get that peculiar notion that liberals/Democrats look down upon them.

[Onlooker]

33. No, let's not drop it

The Republican campaign runs on two parallels planes: scandal and issues. The Democrats are now doing this too. While Kerry and his true surrogates speak to the issues, we create "chatter" that keeps the right-wing a little more on the defensive. People are getting used to it, and I don't think they hold either Kerry or Bush responsible for it.

[LisaL]

35. I am amazed at posts like that.

The freepers are there crying how this picture is just so awful and that they are just so upset at what horrible Kerry supporters did to this little girl. The picture is all over the Internet. Now, there could be a possibility that the father and his son staged the whole thing, but we should just let it drop?
:wtf:

[troublemaker]

36. Is this post a parody?

There may be some things we ought to drop, but this sure as hell isn't one of them.

Here's the angle:

The Bush campaign had a Bush supporter dress up as a Kerry supporter and attack a three year old girl. Who would volunteer his own daughter to be terrorized as part of a Republican smear? The father in those pictures intentionally had another man attack his daughter to make her cry just so he could parade her for pictures! He needs to be arrested and she needs to be rescued by authorities before this gets any further out of hand.

[VOX]

37. No. No more sitting back while the right wing pulls this kind of crap.

I guess that the Swift Boat lies should have gone uncontested, too.

The Parlock story may seem like small-scale stuff, but it is emblematic of the kind of coordinated, disruptive right-wing activism that we're up against.

If we let this slide, then we let everything else like it slide.

And we lose.

[Bongo Prophet]

39. Right! The best way to fight Rovian tactics

is to expose them before they get traction.
Good play, Rezmutt and others.
We come by our skepticism honestly, because we have seen their tactics before.
A direct line from Nixon on...

[fishnfla]

38. Even Dan Rather expresses concern for accuracy

Every media outlet which ran this story or printed the photo is obligated to retract it if it was a fraudulent set up.

Its that simple

[fishnfla]

40. Question For you IMRadioactive:

This guy is now being associated with the shooting at the GOP HQ (he was there edit: allegedly). This is against the law I'm pretty sure, and if someone in this beehive is also using a weapon for politics, would you still want to drop it?

[KharmaTrain]

41. Felonies Are Another Deal...Allegedly

You know that was a loaded question...but OK, I bite...

Now ALLEGEDLY...and I haven't had a chance to catch up on the latest, thus my initial posting may require editing. Thus said...I draw a line at something we can and can't use.

Playing a game where we hope the media will finally come to its senses and see how Rovian tricks are being played is like pissing into a hurricane. We can detail, video, laminate, fold, spindle & mutilate all their tactics, but the media echo chamber isn't one we can either control or rely upon.

People endlessly hope the media...and specifically the cable media...will be fair and honest and bring up items like this to demonstrate how the GOOP plays its tricks. Hell, we had a lot of the Rove network exposed when we had that rat Ben Ginsburg running from the daylight. Then what does the media do? Make him an "authority". Forget about any fair play here on any tricks that are play against Kerry...or for any equal treatment of any story short of this guy being caught on tape like that Virginia Congressman.

Honestly, this guy could be a major felon...the GOOP is loaded with 'em...and the media will just look at the little girl and that's what the story will remain focused on. Thus we don't win...adn the louder we bitch, the more we make a "celebrity" of this asshole. Ignore him and his antics will stay in the local papers and an iritant on a small level.

[grasswire]

42. if I were a local reporter....

...I'd be following three angles on this guy:

1. Have there been any incidents of racial harassment in the town where he was involved?

2. Has the little girl been in the ER more than once?

3. Does the guy live above his means?

[uncle ray]

49. and ballistics tests

but that would be up to the police. how likely does it seem that his son could be the shooter? if the bullet is linked to a gun owned by the family, wow. as the freepers would say, "this is HUGH!"

[LisaL]

43. The only problem is

this guy already is a "celebrity".
:eyes:

[Pirate Smile]

45. The guy is doing RW radio today. The RW would be going crazy with

this story no matter what "we" did. Thank God, the jerk has been discredited.

[gasperc]

47. discredited-and that's the point the sooner the better

no time to waste let this guy harp on for days about how his little girl was made to cry at a DEM event. If we have the evidence to dis-credit let's do it and do it now, before he becomes a news vaccum and the response is a ninth page correction afterthought!!!!!

We want people to remember the jerk that tried tricking a malable public not the "nice guy who's little girl was made to cry at a DEM event"

Imagine if we used stronger zeal against the SBVT's sooner and harder?? Sure, Franken was talking about it the next day on AAR, the Kerry camp released a few press releases but the real good stuff wasn't in the NYtimes till the following week and so forth.

[KharmaTrain]

46. I Still Haven't Seen It On CNNservative...

Not that it might not roll...Today Inside the GOOP...also known as Inside Politics is coming up. If it makes it there, then it's assured to make this goon a celebrity by Hardball and InSannity & Strawman tonight.

Right now, seems like it's bubbling under.

Trust me, I'd love to see this whole thing exposed and this dude ridiculed...problem is we don't have a media that we can rely on doing this.

[Walt Starr]

48. If he's using a weapon for political purposes

then he's a terrorist and needs to be shipped off to Gitmo.

[buycitgo]

50. a.......men

what a waste of time.....stories like this come and go, to no effect

if you're going to spend time contacting media outlets, why not do it on somehting that makes a difference, maybe, like Cheney's speeking out AGAINST sanctions for terrorist nations.....Conason was talking about that today, saying the mainstream media WILL NOT cover this, even with dem pressure, which they aren't applying much, given the fact that I don't see any mention of it here today

get WITH it!

I'm deleting all those threads involving Parlock, as well as all poll threads, AND the memo garbage.

jeez

[DemBones DemBones]

51. Playing ostrich never won an election. eom