Sarah Palin fires back at Levi Johnston, Says Johnston’s claims are malicious

Levi Johnston’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame Depends on Amount of Dirt He Can Dish on Sarah Palin

Sarah, Todd, and Trig Palin

It’s been almost a year since Sarah Palin lost the election to Barack Obama. Even so, the press and media continues its fascination with the ex-Governor of Alaska by putting on the “stand”, “star witness” for the Palin “prosecution”, 19-yr-old Levi Johnston.

Of course, Palin didn’t actually run against Obama, but you’d think, judging by the attention garnered in the media and the continual Presidential pop quizzes given Palin that were never given to Obama, that it was Palin, and not, you know, what’s his name, McCain, who was on the top ticket. In fact, I’ve actually read comments on other sites where the person who wrote the comment actually believed Palin was running for President and not Vice-President. Think on this: how many former VP candidates has the press continued to hound almost a full year after the election? Indeed, how many people can actually name the second banana in past Presidential elections of the party who lost the election?

When Palin’s name was finally announced, droves of intrepid “reporters” flocked, en masse to tiny Wasilla, Alaska. Their intention: get the “dirt” on Palin. Luckily for those who still “fear” Palin, there’s an individual who can supply not only the “dirty” goods on Sarah, but claims he’s got even more “dirt” in store for future use. The individual: Levi Johnston, 19, “budding media star”, father of Palin’s daughter Bristol’s baby, and chief witness for the media in the “case” against Sarah Palin.

Had, as Johnston claimed, Sarah Palin referred to her Downs Syndrome baby Trig as “retarded”? Not once, according to Johnston, but repeatedly?

Johnston on The Tyra Banks Show

According to the New york Daily News, Palin has “fired back” at Johnston, calling his accusations “mean-spirited”, “malicious”, and “untrue”. Johnston made the initial accusation during a spread in Vanity Fair in early October. Johnston then repeated the charge during an interview on CBS’s Early Show on Wednesday.

From the Daily News:

Johnston got under Palin’s skin again on CBS’ “Early Show” Wednesday, where he repeated a charge he made in a recent Vanity Fair interview that Palin often referred to Trig as being “retarded.”

Although he gave no details, he also suggested Palin has done worse, saying he knows things that could get her “in trouble and could hurt her.

“You know, I mean, if I really wanted to hurt her, I could very easily. But there’s – I’m not gonna do it,” he said.

According to the Daily News, Palin fired back:

“Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies. Those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention.”

Palin was also upset at CBS for supplying Johnston a “forum” to “propagate lies”.

In the case of the media prosecution of Sarah Palin the sole witness is Levi Johnston. So far, it’s been a case of “hearsay” supplied by Johnston. There’s been no cooberating evidence other than “testimony” given by Johnston. In order to ascertain the “truth”, Johnston’s veracity should be considered as to whether he is a “trustworthy” source for evidence that Palin spoke in derogatory terms about her son Trig. Veracity based upon based upon statements and claims made by Johnston in the past.

“Now Levi Johnston, does it with protection. Wonderful pistachios. Get crackin.”
Wonderful Pistachios commerical

One way to ascertain a person’s character is the way they view their own children. In Levi’s case, the following commercial, starring Johnston, is a future eye-opener for his son Tripp, born out of wedlock with Bristol Palin. Tripp was born in December, 2008. The commercial aired earlier this month. It’s apparent that Johnston has little regard that, one day, his son will see this commercial. A commercial that uses Tripp as an “inside joke”. A “joke” which relates to, and denigrates, Tripp’s existence.

On April 8, 2009, Johnston appeared on the CBS Early Show. During the interview, Johnston stated that he had lived with the Palin family. He also stated that he wasn’t “trying to cash in” on the “Palin name”.

From People.com:

“We’re not trying to cash in on their name, you know. I’m just trying to get my side of the story out there. Letting people know who I am. Not what the magazines say I am.”

According to an April 20, 2009, People article, Johnston stated that if Palin were to run for President in 2012, she’d have Johnston’s “vote”.

On May 30, MSBNC published an article on an upcoming interview with Johnston in Gentleman’s Quarterly. In the article, Johnston posed “shirtless” with baby Tripp. Johnston claimed that the Palins were making it difficult for Johnston to see his son and that Todd Palin had offered to buy a car for Bristol if she broke off the relationship with Johnston.

By July, Johnston was in New York City with his new “bodyguard/publicist/agent” set up by the Johnston family attorney, Rex Butler, and an interview with New York Magazine.

In the article, NYG stated that, by then, Johnston had already traveled to LA a “few times” for “talent meetings”. Mr. “I’m not going to cash in Sarah Palin’s fame” Johnston was set to appear on The Tyra Banks Show, Extra, the CBS Early Show, and Inside Edition. According to Johnston’s agent, Tank, Johnston was “shopping” a future book deal, a “leading role in a movie” and a “soon to be announced” television “project”. Johnston stated that the Palin’s had relented in letting him “see his son” and that he “claimed” he “didn’t enjoy seeing” pictures of himself:

“I even have a hard time looking at a magazine and seeing myself,” he says, sounding sincere. (“I love seeing myself,” Tank mutters.) But when asked how, then, he handled being onstage at the RNC with that serene, gum-chomping smile, Levi just grins. “I can put on a show.”

On July 9, Johnston held a “news conference” with AP reporters where Johnston spoke about why Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska. Note how the AP reporters treated Johnston, and how Johnston described Palin as a “great lady”. Johnston also spoke about “money” that people had been offering “us”.

In October, Johnston appeared in a Vanity Fair spread. In the article, Johnston “spilled” the beans on “life” with the Palins. Johnston claimed he had “lived” with the Palins for two months after the election and that the “kids” had to do all the “cooking” and “cleaning”. The period after the election meant that, by then the public was fully aware of Bristol’s pregnancy. During this period, the Palins had nothing to “gain” politically by letting Johnston stay at their home. Some could construe that the Palins behaved quite graciously in allowing the father of their teenage daughter’s baby to reside in their home even though he and Bristol weren’t married. Some, except for Johnston, who later used it as an excuse to “bash” the Palins.

Johnston claimed that Sarah Palin wanted to keep Bristol’s pregnancy a “secret”, and that, after the baby was born, the Palins wanted to adopt Tripp. Despite Johnston’s claim the Palins wanted to keep Bristol’s pregnancy a secret, the fact is, Bristol’s pregnancy was announced “days” after McCain announced Palin was his running mate. The Palins released this statement:

“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.”

“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”

Deviously clever, designed to hide their “true” intent, or a statement that not only praises their daughter for making the “right decision” to keep her baby while stating the father, Johnston, would have the Palin’s “love and support”?

The Palins “backed up” the statement by letting Johnston move into the Palin home after the election until the baby was born. So far, the Palin’s have yet to adopt baby Tripp.

Johnston claimed that Sarah Palin often called Trig, born with Downs Syndrome, “retarded”. Johnson reiterated the claim on the CBS Early Show on October 28.

On October 26, Huffington Post reported that Johnston, who “hated” to see a photo of himself, had agreed to pose for full-frontal nude photos for Playgirl’s November issue, in “time for the holidays”.

It’s interesting to note that Johnston’s claim, that Sarah Palin called her Down Syndrome baby “retarded” during the period Johnston was living in the Palin home, Johnston never mentioned this during the series of interviews he held with the AP, the Tyra Banks Show, Inside Edition, Extra, Gentleman’s Quarterly, and the first CBS Early Show interview. It wasn’t until the October Vanity Fair article that the accusation was made, when Palin was gearing up to release her memoir, “Going Rogue“, and when Palin had received a $1.25 million advance. In early July, during the AP “news conference”, Johnston had what some could construe as a Freudian slip, when, speaking about Palin and “money” she stood to make, Johnston stated “money that people had been offering us”. By early July, Palin had signed the book deal with HarpersCollins. This was reported in a May 12, LA Times article.

On May 25, the New York Times wrote an interesting piece on Johnston making the observation that Johnston “appears determined to cash in”. That Johnston, unemployed since January, had acquired “handlers” and that one of the handlers was Johnston’s mother’s attorney, Rex Butler, who was handling Johnston’s mother’s “trial on narcotics charges”. That Butler believed Johnston’s story was “worth millions” and that because of a “book deal”, Levi Johnston “didn’t want to give it all away right now”. “It” meaning juicy gossip and “dirty” details about the Palins. Butler also stated that Johnston was “worth quite a bit of money”.

It’s quite clear that if Johnston’s story didn’t include juicy tabloid tidbits about Sarah Palin, that the amount of “money” Johnston stood to make would be significantly lower, while Johnston would be less “appealing” as a guest on shows such as CBS’ Early Show, or, interviews with Vanity Fair. It’s also apparent that Johnston’s “versions” of events have taken on a darker “aspect” as his momentary spot in the limelight has begun to dim.

On August 19, Johnston’s mother plead guilty to one count of attempting to deliver a controlled narcotic, Oxycontin. She’s expected to be sentenced in November to a five year sentence in prison with a two year suspension. She could have received a twenty year sentence. There’s no word yet on who will pay her attorney’s fees, the same attorney who is handling her son, Levi’s, new “career”, and who believes Levi has the potential to “earn millions” with a memoir. A memoir that would be about Sarah Palin, and which would potentially earn “more” if it contained salacious “details” about Johnston’s “life” with the Palins.

As for a “book” written by Johnston, the Times found that executives at major publishing houses hadn’t heard from Johnston’s representatives.

It’s worth noting that Johnston, a former hockey player and high school dropout, is 19. That Johnston became a “hot” commodity after he split with Bristol Palin and that his handlers consist of his mother’s attorney and his agent cum bodyguard/publicist, Tank. That his attorney believes Johnston is worth “millions”. It’s also apparent that Johnston’s worth is predicated upon on how much “dirt” he can “spill” on the Palins, in particular, Sarah.
As long as Sarah remains popular, and a political threat, then Johnston remains a useful tool for those who “fear” Sarah Palin. As a useful tool, Johnston has to continue to supply “salacious” details and “dirt” or else his usefulness, along with his “budding” career, will come to an abrupt end because, sadly, “hunky” young brainless men are dime a dozen in Hollywood.

By LBG

Image - Sarah, Todd, and Baby Trig Palin
Image – Levi Johnston