Just got off the phone with Phil Parlock, who is amused by desperate liberal rumor-mongering that the man wearing an IUPAT t-shirt and holding a piece of his little girl's Bush/Cheney sign is his own son.

"That's ridiculous. This is a small town," Parlock told me from his home in Huntington, W. Virginia. "Everyone would recognize him."

Parlock and his daughter were surrounded by a group of about five or six nasty pro-Kerry folks, two or three of whom wore IUPAT shirts. He received a voice mail from the president of the IUPAT, whose apology (as noted below) is here. Am waiting for a call back from IUPAT president James Williams.

IUPAT members, by the way, were involved in a previous sign-tearing incident involving Parlock and his family, according to Parlock.

Meanwhile, Parlock's toddler is fine.

It's pathetic that lefty bloggers would smear Parlock and his children so quickly without bothering to check. Ra^thergate must be really getting to them.

Update: Captain Ed remains skeptical:

[T]he family history of victimization at Democratic rallies looks awfully suspicious, as does bringing a 3-year-old to an oppo rally.

Good running commentary at Dislogue, including links to a Glenn Beck interview with Phil Parlock.

I talked with the press person for the IUPAT, who says its local shop in Huntington is currently conducting an investigation of the individuals involved. We will be keeping in touch. The union deserves praise for its strongly-worded statement condemning any act of violence/disruption committed in its name.

And let me state for the record: If the union or I or anyone else finds out that this was staged, I will be the loudest to condemn Parlock and will send an apology and a dozen roses to Attaturk at Rising Hegemon.