Levi Ordered to Pay Up (and Rex Butler is a PDSing Scumbag)

TMZ broke the story that Levi has to pay retroactive child support and interim child support. Court date for determining final child support is in September.

Different news outlets give you different amounts. According to TMZ, it's $1,688 per month retroactive to December 27, which would equal around $20,000, by my calculations. But TMZ says Levi has to pay back nearly $18,000. Levi's lawyer, on the other hand, tells ABC that the back child support is going to come to between 10 and 13 thousand.

Okay.

Anyway, we know that he'll have to pay retroactive and interim child support. The most common figure I've seen is $18,500. Not that it matters; I just found it odd.

This came on the heels of a hearing where the judge set the September date. Bristol was at the hearing. Levi was not. Apparently, his lawyer told him it wasn't important and he didn't have to show up. The judge didn't think that was very cool.

Bristol's lawyer told RadarOnline -

She still has both physical and legal custody of their son although she has been working with Levi so that he can see him on Saturdays. The pair are communicating via text and e-mail and are deciding to put their son first – we are actively working with Levi’s lawyer to get a more regular schedule set-up and we hope to have everything in place before the next court date on September 23, 2010.

The payments amount to around $18,000 and date back to when their son was born and Levi will be paying around $1600 a month in on-going child support payments.

It should take us around two weeks to subpoena his commercial earnings after the judge granted this to us today. Bristol just wants to get on with her life as this point and is determined to raise her son in a positive and loving fashion – all parties are working together at this point.

So, Van Flein says it's around $18,000 too. One of the two lawyers apparently doesn't know how to use a calculator.

What burns my butt is this line Butler told ABC when asked about Bristol's guest appearance on tv:

"We are glad to see that she got some work. This will mean she has some income and will be more independent of her mother, and that's a good thing. And this could change some things between her and Levi."

Um, you are aware, Mr. Butler that Bristol actually has a job? Right? Has for some time now. And you are aware that your client does not have steady employment, at least not to my knowledge?

And you just can't stop yourself from slamming Sarah Palin can you? Just can't help yourself. If there's anyone who's been drawing out the tensions among the parties involved, my money says it's you. I think it's pretty clear who Levi contracted his PDS from.

What a.... well, go nuts.

Tripp's Health Insurance

Todd Palin's Y'upik grandmother

Did you hear? Sarah Palin's grandchild is on government health care. That hypocrite!

Okay, first of all, the operative word is "grandchild." As in, not her primary responsibility.

Where is this all coming from? Some of the latest court documents in the Bristol/Levi custody case found here. It deals mainly with the child support issue. On page 8, we read this:

In addition to his request for accommodations based on his career choice, Mr. Johnston asks the Court to deduct $300 a month of his child support obligation for providing health insurance for Tripp.... There are two reasons why this request should be rejected:

First, Levi has never paid for any health insurance. One cannot seek a deduction for costs or support one has never paid.

Second, this insurance is unnecessary. Tripp is an enrolled tribal member of Curyung Tribal Council within the Bristol Bay Native Association consortium...The majority of Tripp's health care costs are already covered by IHS and the Alaska Native Medical Center, Mr. Johnston has no need to purchase additional health insurance and this deduction should not be allowed.

As you can see, the point of the passage is that Levi hasn't paid for any health insurance, nor does he have to, so a deduction for that is ridiculous.

But beyond that, the larger issue has become the supposed hypocrisy of Sarah Palin because her grandson has government health care. Um, you do know that this is because of Tripp's Native American ancestry, right? Whatever happened to the Left screaming at the top of their lungs about how we bad Whiteys stole the land from the Native Americans?

One of the commentors over at C4P has worked as a doctor with Native American tribes. This is what he had to say:

I worked for Indian Health.

The Indian Health Service is a part of the Public Health service. The commander is the Surgeon General. It is the sixth branch of the military in peace time. In the time of war it becomes part of the Coast Guard. More PHS doctors were killed in VietNam than any other branch of the service.

By serving with the PHS and IHS as a volunteer enlistee, I am an honorably discharged veteran. During the Iranian hostage crisis, I was put on standby to be shipped out to the Middle East.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) provides care for the Native Americans through their treaties. Health care was offered in exchange for giving up their lands. There is nothing socialized about this. The tribes bought their health care by giving up their lands.

One hundred years later, the white people are paying for health care that costs more than they ever expected. The Natives peoples are seeing oil and gas removed that they never knew existed.

Socialism is a redistribution of wealth. This is not socialism.

I believe the only member of the Palin Family who is not an enrolled Native American is Sarah Palin herself. This is an interracial couple, no matter what the left wants to say.

Part of being enrolled may vary from tribe to tribe. I had a patient who was part Hoh Tribe. She ran a general store on the reservation for 40 years and was good to the people. They asked her to be enrolled.

O/T and then there was the electrician who ran wiring out to the outhouse for his wife. They built a statue for him because he was the first person to wire a head for the reservation.

So just what is the Native American heritage of the Palin children? This article tells the story:

Todd Palin's 87-year-old Yup'ik grandmother, grew up living between two worlds. Her father was a Dutchman, Glass Eye Billy Bartman, a sled dog freighter in the Bristol Bay region and caretaker of the Alaska Packers saltry on the Igushik River."

Her mother was full-blooded Yup'ik, growing up in a sod-roofed barabara in the now-abandoned village of Tuklung, somewhere on the tundra between Dillingham and Togiak...

Lena Andree is one-half Yup'ik, and Todd Palin is one-eighth.

The Palin children are Native, too -- one-sixteenth, eligible for Indian health benefits under federal law, as lineal descendants of Native enrollees under the 1970 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act....

Well, there ya go. Health care in exchange for land, oil, etc.... A barter, if you will. And kind of a lopsided one, at that.

It just cracks me up that those on the Left, the supposed arbiters of social justice, are against this.

Some say that Sarah Palin wasn't kind to the Native tribes as Governor. I'm not going to get into a long-winded argument about that because I haven't researched it, but are you telling me that Tripp Palin should be denied the benefits of his ancestry because of something his grandmother did?

Blood is thicker than water.

On a sidenote, also highlighted in the court documents is the obvious fact that Bristol has only thus far asked for interim child support. In other words, support retroactive from this last year in which Levi has hardly paid anything, plus support until the court makes a final decision on the amount for the future.

The interim request is based on Levi's income in 2009. Those horrible subpoenas that Bristol's lawyer is issuing are to discover what Levi has made in the past to better figure out what the child support should be in the future.

This is how cases work. She demands an amount, you try to get less, she tries to find out your income, etc... And hopefully, the end result is a fair outcome for all parties. It's a back and forth. So quit whining.

And by the way, the burden of changing child support payments due to revised income lies on Levi's shoulders, not Bristol's. If he gets a job that only pays $25,000 a year, it's up to him to file papers for a modification of his child support payments.

So Levi, man up and quit crying about how much Bristol is asking for. Your ex-honey is raising your kid, not to mention, she has a job. And quit sending your pathetic sister out to whine for you. No wonder Bristol dumped your butt. You have some major growing up to do.

The Latest from Levi

Well, the Johnstons went on ET last night. Go to the ET website and scroll down for story and (if you can stomach it) video. It's Tripp's first birthday party video at the Johnston's house. I didn't watch it with the sound up, because, quite frankly, I didn't want to retch. The video looks like it's almost an exact copy of the Palin's birthday party. Cake, sink, and all. I thought the Palins weren't letting Levi see Tripp. Huh.

Listen, I absolutely hate that Levi turned scumbag. But I am forever and always a believer in redemption. And while I have vented on Levi from time to time, there is no doubt in my mind that he loves his son. How could you not love your son? I also assume that he will get joint custody. For one thing, Alaska law favors it. For another, I hold out hope that Levi will grow up. It's a slim hope, but it's still there. And if he does grow up, he should be a part of Tripp's life. Well, to be fair he would be part of his life whether he got joint custody or not, but you know what I mean. Emotions run high in these kinds of situations, and invariably, both sides think that they're right.

But Levi will also have to pay child support. Sucks, I know. My dad never made more than 20-25 thousand dollars a year while I was growing up. He logged for a couple years and only made around 10,000. He has three kids from a previous marriage, and he had to pay child support on all three of them. The judge looked right at my mom and me (I was a baby) and told my dad that he didn't care if we had a roof over our heads, the first kids got paid for first.

Is it always fair? Probably not. But it's life. Suck it up.

And I believe that child support is based on income, hence the high amount demanded by Bristol so far. That's what you get for posing nude in magazines.

Underbelly Day - Anklebiters and the Supreme Douchebag

First up, Andree:
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Superior Court Judge Patrick McKay ruled on Friday that former Gov. Sarah Palin did not violate state law by using private e-mails to conduct state business.

The lawsuit filed by longtime Palin critic Andree McLeod questioned whether Palin attempted to get around the public records law through broad exemptions or private e-mail accounts. McLeod claimed the governor used private e-mail accounts to keep the records out of the public archive on purpose....Palin’s staff maintained her use of the account was perfectly legal....

Assistant Attorney General Michael Mitchell told McKay that state officials should be able to decide what is or isn't subject to public disclosure. In urging the case be tossed last month, Mitchell said that if the use of Yahoo or other non-state accounts are to be banned for state business, the Legislature, not a court, should say so.

On Friday, McKay agreed. "The Legislature is free to take up the matter," McKay wrote, "but as the statutes are currently written, private e-mail accounts may be used to conduct state business, subject to the same laws and regulations related to preservation as e-mails originating from state servers."
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Celtic Diva is screaming at the top of her lungs about executive privilege and this ruling, etc....

Calm down and try to have a rational thought, for once. The judge ruled according to the law. If you have a problem with how the state does e-mail and executive privilege, lean on the legislature to change the law. The judge can't invent law based on her opinion or yours.

I don't know what they think they'll find. She's not Governor anymore, so it's not like it makes a difference anyway. This is just a mindless attempt to get any dirt possible to destroy Palin. Period.

Personally, I'd love to see all of Palin's emails. They fascinate me. I guess we can thank them for a couple of peeks into the way Sarah does business anyway.

And now we turn to the Douchebag General, the one, and (thank goodness) the only, Levi Johnston.


From pudgy and clueless to, well, insert your favorite phrase. Didn't take long, did it?

Before I proceed, a disclaimer: I do not know Levi. He may be a perfectly nice person. I don't know the situation, all I know is what I've seen. All I can do is draw conclusions based on the information in front of me. And now, we begin....

You know what was telling for me? When Levi went on CBS and said that he didn't understand why the Palins were so upset with him about the Vanity Fair article and other things. He seemed genuinely bewildered. After all, it was just little stuff. Just little stuff. The Palins are huge celebrities now, why shouldn't he get a piece of that pie? Why should the Palins be mad that he make a few bucks off of trashing them a little bit?

It was just little stuff.

I saw that and I thought, "Wow. This kid honestly doesn't get it. He's got to be either young and stupid, or the most selfish human being on the planet. He's nineteen years old, and he has no concept that the universe is bigger than he is."

Levi, hate to break it to ya, but in the 2008 election there were more important things on the line than whether or not you got to keep your mullet.

And what is the ever-dredged-up excuse for the "trash for cash"? "She drug me to the RNC, so she deserves what she gets."

You must be joking. What a flimsy excuse to trash your child's family. Before reporters knew Levi's last name, they were calling every likely baby daddy in the phone book named "Levi" to see if it was you. As if your life would have been easier had you skipped the RNC.

But let's not let logic get in the way of PDS, shall we? After all, nothing is your fault. Nothing is due to the fact that sometimes life just sucks. No. It's all the fault of that horrible Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin forced you to knock up her daughter. Sarah Palin forced your mother to deal drugs. Sarah Palin forced your father to leave home. Sarah Palin forced you to lose your job. Sarah Palin forced the media to camp out on your front lawn. Sarah Palin forced you and Bristol to fight and break up. Sarah Palin is the cause of every problem you've ever had and ever will have.

Never mind that Sarah Palin had five kids of her own to deal with, a grandchild, a state to run, anklebiters to shake off, a debt running up daily, etc.... Yeah. Pretty sure putting Levi's life back together was the last thing on her mind.

Oh, and for those who say Sarah used Levi - what on earth do you think you're doing? Do you think you're helping the kid? Do you think pandering to the boy and giving him excuses to ruin his life is going to help him?

You don't care one cent about Levi. You just want him to do your dirty work. You're just foaming at the mouth in anticipation of what you construe to be him bringing the Palins down. Once he's served his purpose, you'll leave him in the gutter that you've dragged him to.

As for Levi's big secrets, I say, spill 'em. Come on, Levi. Don't give me this, "Sarah hates my guts and would shoot me if I knocked on her door, but I'd never hurt her" garbage. You say you've got dirt, let's see it. Write that book. Lay it all out. A good hunter doesn't wound his prey and then leave it to suffer until it dies. A real hunter finishes off his kill. You've already stuck the knife in Sarah's back, you might as well give it a good twist. Come on, Levi, turn that sucker. Wiggle it around, make sure you hit all the main arteries. You say you've got the info to destroy her? Do it. If you're gonna go scum, might as well go full scum. No more halfies. If Sarah really is the monster you make her out to be, you'll be doing the country a service. If she's the sick mental patient some claim she is, you'll be doing her kids a service. Come on, Douchebag - spill it.

Wassa matter? The Palin-haters await. You are their last great hope - the last little sliver of frost left from that iceberg. Your followers are hungry for some Palin-meat. Don't let them starve to death.

What? Why are you just standing there? Don't tell me that on top of everything else you're a coward too.

Pathetic.

You know what it reminds me of? Elijah and the prophets of Baal. "Just cut yourselves a little more. Just shout a little louder. Maybe he's on vacation. Maybe he's taking a nap. Surely if you just beg another hour or two, he'll wake up and consume your sacrifice."

I'm sure Levi loves his son. How can you not love your son? But Levi was vulnerable after breaking up with Bristol and Sarah simply had her hands too full to make sure his life was in order along with everything else she had to deal with at the time. And who stepped in to fill that gap? Let's just say a couple of people who made sure to channel Levi's troubles and the bitterness that had to be there right in Sarah Palin's direction.

"You know why all this is happening, don't ya kid? Sarah Palin dragged you to that Convention."

Not that the Palin family is guiltless. After Levi's first interview or so, I actually was against the knee-jerk reaction many had against Levi. In that first round, I don't think Levi was trying to be a scumbag. He was just a dumb kid. But after a year of constant attacks, he got lumped into the enemy camp. This allowed Rex and Tank to say, "See? Sarah really doesn't care about you. She called you a liar," etc.... And the rest is history.

Levi doesn't seem to really know anything. "I don't know, my lawyer knows. I don't know, my lawyer knows. My lawyer told me." Levi, Tripp is not your lawyer's son. Does your lawyer go to the bathroom for you too?

You've still got a chance to fix this. You're still young. There's still plenty of time. But you have to make up your mind. Are you going to continue to listen to those who give you an excuse to duck your responsibilities, or are you going to man up, no matter how difficult that may be?

I'm not saying it will be easy. Child support is no picnic and dealing with a family that probably isn't too thrilled with you right now isn't fun either. But you do what you have to do.

Life sucks, sometimes. Your life kinda sucks. But your decisions are your own. You think the Palin family hasn't gone through h*** this last year? You're not the only one who's got problems, you know. I know it's convenient to blame it all on one person, but it won't fly forever.

If you continue down this path of being played for a fool, you will live to regret it. And it won't be anything that anyone else does to you; it will be your realization of what you've done to yourself.

Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying,

I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us?

And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.*

*And no, I'm not saying that Palin is the Messiah and that Levi will hang himself. It's called an analogy. Just in case the idiots poke their heads in.

Butler's an Idiot

I'm sorry, but this just cracked me up. Levi's lawyer responds to Bristol's request for child support:

Attorney Rex Butler tells TMZ, Levi has told Bristol on several occasions he wanted her to come to his house to pick up checks for Tripp's support. Butler says Levi also told her "it would be nice" if she brought Tripp along when she picked up the checks, because Levi wanted to spend time with his son. Butler says on each occasion Bristol was a no-show.

Butler says Bristol is partly to blame for the fact that she hasn't gotten the support she wants. Butler tells TMZ on one occasion Levi was prepared to hand over $3,000 ... but Bristol never showed.

As for why Levi didn't just put the check in the mail ... Butler says, "Why should he have to do that. He's not dangerous to her."

Ha, ha, ha! Oh, that's priceless! Among the usual "caribou barbie" garbage there are some pretty good comments on the article:
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1. He's a pig. Talk about an ego "Why should I stick them in the mail?" perhaps because you want to support your kid by any means?

So what if she's driving around in something like that? I know several well to do families that have bought their child cars. (Sadly I wasn't one of them)


2. First, you send the money and show good faith, with no drama. After time, she begins to trust that you care about your son, and THEN she might even arrange to meet to pick up the checks and bring their son. Who ever said, I've got support money.....come and get it? That's not how it's done. Clearly this guy doesn't get it....any of it. If he's that immature, then he should stay on the path he's on, make as much money as possible, and move on.


3. Man up you D bag and pay support. This stupid crap about paying her if she comes over is lame. If he wanted his kid so bad he could have taken that 100k and fought her. What a fing loser. In California they would have raped him with support the min he didn't mail the check. The DA offices here can collect a fee for helping collect so the parent just needs to call them and they will be on the dead beat like the A team.

I am a single father and my ex does this crap too. She hasn't paid me anything because she only wants to pay 50 a month so because I think a college grad can make more and pay me more than 50 bucks I am going to go to file the same papers. The stupid ex won't even help pay for my girls meds when she is sick.


4. His lawyer is some stupid sled chasing loser too. Who cares what Bristol is driving it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if her mom leased it for her or Bristol got it on her own. To say thats the other reason he won't send any money for his kid is a joke and he should be dis barred.


5. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? come to my house and pick up a child support check???? Mail the check and go see your son on your own time. The two have absolutey nothing to do with each other. It's time to take on your responsibility and stop using your 5 minute fame as a teenage father to become a celebrity. Take care of your child


6. What a bunch of BS. I have been a legal assistant for over 26 years and not once in all those years have I ever heard such crap! Refusing to pay child support unless the receiving parent comes to your home to pick it up?!?! Seriously? I would love to hear that excuse fly in a courtroom where I live. If he wants to be a father, let him be a father but part of being a good parent is supporting your child, not playing ridiculous games with the other parent. Oh, and who cares what kind of car she drives?


7. How ridiculous. This male (not a man) cannot mail his support to his son? The mother has to pick up his son's support check in person? Come on! This guy is total dirt for publicly trashing his son's family, and now he is demanding his ex show up in person if she wants his financial support for his own son.

What Bristol drives is irrelevant. Her mother probably does pretty well financially with her book and her new job at FOX. At least someone is kicking in to support Bristol and the baby. I don't see how the type of vehicle Bristol drives should impact if this loser supports his son.


8. So he wants her to go to his house to pick up checks and take the kid with her so he can see it. Hey Butler it cuts both ways this little wanker can get in his car and drive over to her house to drop off a check and see his kid I haven't heard that she a threat to him either.
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On the accusation that Bristol's been driving around in an Escalade...um, so what? It might belong to her parents. And even if it doesn't, it's hardly relevant. Rich or poor, fathers have to pay child support. My dad had to pay through the nose for the kids from his first marriage. We were pretty poor until my half siblings hit eighteen. Sorry, Levi. This is just the way it goes.

Another Day, Another Headache

'There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.'

That's a phrase that's been playing over and over in my mind these days. I watch Romney and McCain flank Scott Brown, a man who ran on Palin rhetoric. I watch McCain use Palin to get reelected (no surprise, we all knew she would support him) and oh, what a shock, he's bringing in Brown too. What a pathetic, pathetic man. He knows we couldn't care less about him so he uses the young talent to get his sorry butt reelected. No matter. He's powerless now anyway.

Sarah's smart. She knows what she's doing. But that doesn't mean I like John McCain any more. Politico has a fairly fair piece on it here.

Sarah will be on Oprah this afternoon with Bristol. Should be interesting. I believe they might swing by Entertainment Tonight as well. Of course the press is criticizing it and every other move Palin makes or doesn't make, but what else is new? Palin is going to become much more mainstream as the year goes on. Tammy Bruce doesn't want Palin too get too familiar, but I think she will. As she does, she will broaden her appeal. She can either be a firecracker and have a few million people crazy about her, or she can calm her image down a little bit and have tens of millions okay with her. Then she's free to fight for the Presidency (if that's what she chooses to fight for) from there.

The March for Life is happening today too. Sarah said on Twitter that it's one of the things she will talk about on Oprah today. Sarah also reminds everyone to tune in to Glenn Beck today. It's his genocides special. Should be really good. Heh. Ironically, for me, it's on at the same time as the Oprah interview. Sorry, Glenn, I'm going to have to catch you at your rerun:)

What's going on in the Bristol/Levi custody battle? Pretty much what goes on in every custody battle, only with the media. Levi will be on the Insider sometime this week. Yay. Can't wait for that. I've actually calmed down a lot about this whole thing. It used to be that any mention of Levi's name churned my stomach. Okay, there's still a little rumbly in my tumbly about it, but for the most part, I've decided that a calm, rational approach is the best.

This week, a friend of Levi's sold some pics and a quick story to RadarOnline. He basically said that both Bristol and Levi were guilty of freaking out about nothing, they don't get along, and Sarah stays out of it for the most part. He also said that Sarah's a good person. Story here. Mercede Johnston put this up on her Facebook.

Oh, so you don't like it when people sell you out to the media, huh? Well, now you know how it feels. I seem to recall a certain teenage girl talking to Star Magazine quite a bit. Wonder who that was? Hmmmmmmm.

Bristol and Levi are 19 year-old parents. This drama happens. They've just got the world watching.

Bristol has asked for interim child support until a child support order is given. Documents here.

On to happier things.

I like this vid of a military guy commenting on Palin in September of 2008. Audio a little low. You'll have to turn it up:



And you've probably heard by now about the "scandal" that was Mayor Bloomberg holding back photos of a trip Governor Palin made to NY in 2007. I think the story came out last November. Here's Bloomberg's comments on it:



Here are the pics from the visit. Found here:

Big Hollywood on Levi

Levi as a young boy

Article in Big Hollywood - Levi Johnston: A Hollywood Cautionary Tale :
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Fame is that place where character is rarely able to sustain itself. I don’t know how much character Levi Johnston had as a boy, but as a young man in the grips of the Hollywood culture machine he’s lost it all.

Levi’s story is one that plays out hundreds of times each year in Hollywood. The young either come to La La Land seeking fame, or have the opportunity for it laid in their lap due to circumstances they often times never sought. The wreckage of most rarely see the light of day, much less the pages of Playgirl magazine, they only end up chasing a dream that never comes, in rehab, jail or worse.

When one unknowingly trades character for fame the recipient has only one recourse, attack the catalyst that brought them the opportunity in the first place, in Levi Johnston case it’s Sarah Palin and the mother of his child.

When young men lack positive role models at home, often times they go astray in that long stretch towards manhood, only to end up a tool for whatever hungry machine is in their path, gangs, a White House intern, or the exploitative elements of Hollywood. When a young man’s character fails him, good parents are needed to right the course. Levi Johnston didn’t have that growing up in Alaska....

Getting your high school girlfriend pregnant is hardly worthy of fame, that is unless her mother is the Governor of your state, a vice-presidential candidate and conservative woman. Only then do the leftist vampires of Hollywood come out of their dark corners and offer you the glowing flame of fame. But what they didn’t tell Levi is that he’s just another one of their moths and the moment he’s served their purpose they’ll push him into the flame and exterminate him.

Levi’s now what Hollywood calls an actor and model, surrounded by the illusionist of Tinsel Town, an agent, a lawyer, a publicist. They prop him up on Tyra and Larry King for painful interviews of which reveals only a young man being nudged towards the embers. They set him up on public dates at children’s events with despicable bottom feeders like Kathy Griffin, get him to hock pistachios on TV and take his clothes off in magazines, all while taking 10, 15 and 5% of his gross respectively. When he’s done with the rounds in Hollywood they set him ablaze by dragging his child into the circus with a court battle because they tell him having custody would be good for his image. And when the media showers the public with the car crash that is Levi Johnston they are filled with glee because somehow they believe they are helping their liberal cause by destroying a young man, smearing a young mother and mocking a conservative woman who rose to power by her own boot straps.

There are worse things in life than ending up an electrician in Alaska and a present, active father in child’s life. I hope that’s where Levi ends up; it’s a far nobler and more lasting life. Cause if he stays on the path of the hungry machine that is Hollywood, just another moth reaching for the fame flame, you’ll see him years from now on “Celebrity Boxing,” “Tool Academy” or “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” and he won’t be the handsome young man with so much potential that he is today.

When Levi is older I hope he’s able look back at this time in his life and feel a sense of shame, only then will he know that he’s begun to rebuild his character.
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This guy made a few factual errors in his article, like failing to mention that Levi was run out of his job because of political opponents of Palin, and he apparently doesn't know that Levi's father has left home.

People who write articles like this are people who truly care about the Johnstons, Levi in particular. People who try to make everything big, bad Sarah Palin's fault are only aiding Levi in his self-destruction. Trying to excuse Levi's actions and rushing to the defense of his poor decisions of late does nothing to help him. The Palin-haters are just happy to have someone to do their dirty work. They accuse Sarah of using him - well what on earth do they think they're doing?

Now, legally, I don't think Bristol has much of a case. Hope springs eternal, but the fact remains that Alaska favors joint custody and Levi, while being a scumbag, has stayed within the law. It sucks to have him get away with being a douchebag, but such is life.

At the end of the day, it might be a good thing. I believe he truly does love Tripp (who wouldn't love their son?) and if joint custody is granted I can only hope that some better judgment on Levi's part will start to kick in and he'll start making decisions that are in Tripp's best interest rather than his own. I guess we'll see.

I'm Going to Try to Do This Dispassionately....

There are a few topics running around right now that do nothing less than boil my Viking-blood. But I will try, try to remain calm.

Oh, who am I fooling?

The first has to do with this matter of "banned" bloggers from the Wasilla book-signing event. Have I mentioned lately that I hate the media?

This article in Gawker (I know, I know, it's Gawker) is soul-stirring to say the least. By the article, you would think that Gryphen and Zaki were merely critical of Governor Palin. That they merely disagreed with her on a few issues. What an injustice and an overreaction that they were banned!

There is no mention that Dennis Zaki has been trashing Palin relentlessly in the most ridiculous and flat-out false way for the past year, including his assertion that Governor Palin plagiarized Newt Gingrich after she cited Newt twice in a speech.

The worst part though is that Zaki put links on the front page of his website to gutter-trash places like Gryphen's Immoral Minority. Gryphen has spewed the most outlandish assertions, including (but certainly not limited to) the idea that Trig is not Sarah Palin's son, that Track only joined the army to stay out of jail, that Levi is the salt of the earth and everything that has happened to him is solely Sarah Palin's fault, and Gryphen was the guy who "broke" the story that Todd and Sarah were "Splitsville," a story he pledged was not a rumor, but fact.

That Splitsville story made the headlines on Zaki's website. From there it could spread into the mass media, and it would have if the Palins hadn't adamantly denied the story right away.

But you will hear none of that from the media. The fact that Gryphen is 100% certain that Trig did not come from Sarah Palin's loins (and who knows where Tripp came from) will never enter the conversation.

It would be like President Obama meeting Glenn Beck, if Glenn Beck also spent 75% of his time saying that Barack and Michelle were on the brink of divorce, that Michelle secretly hated her children, and that one (if not both!) of the girls were not actually Barack's.

I certainly wouldn't begrudge the President having a problem with shaking Glenn Beck's hand, even as Glenn Beck currently stands.

It's just disgusting. The more I live in this world, the more I loathe it. It's like that one guy in Psalms who said, "Why do the wicked prosper?"

I guess in this case the question is, "Why do the wicked always seem to get away with it and the good guys can't catch a break?"

Anyway....next topic.

I really am going to try and not be agitated on this one. The one and (hopefully) the only, Levi Johnston.

As you know, Bristol is suing Levi for full legal custody of Tripp, but she also wants Levi to have access to her son via a visitation schedule. She argues that Levi has been largely absent from Tripp's life, that he hadn't paid a dime in child support until this last October, and that Levi is in no position to share custody of Tripp at this time.

She also wants it in writing that Levi's mother can only watch Tripp with supervision. Levi essentially agreed that his mother wouldn't be with Tripp alone, but I doubt he'll go for anything in writing.

I'm going to be honest, Bristol's got an uphill battle ahead of her. It's not easy to convince a judge to grant sole legal custody, and Alaska law is tricky on this. If I were you, I would pray hard.

My personal belief (and this is as far away from my personal feelings as I can get) is that Levi needs to get his GED and get a real job with a real source of income before he should be granted joint custody. I would be in favor of giving Bristol custody for now with the stipulation that the case must be revisited in maybe three years. If at that time Levi can produce evidence that a high school equivalency has been aquired and that he has a job and a stable life, then go ahead and grant joint custody.

I could go into a rant about how I think Levi's a Douchebag, but that's not relevant. I honestly, honestly don't think he's ready yet. Give him another couple years, and then he might be.

My heart bleeds for what Bristol must have had to sit through this last year, having to remain a class act while her ex-boyfriend goes out and trashes the family, the very family that is looking after his son. She doesn't have the forum to say what she thinks about the situation like he does. It kills me to think of Levi essentially being rewarded for his scumbaggery, but sometimes that's the way life is. We'll just have to wait and see.

I really, really do pray with all of my soul that Levi wakes up one day and realizes what he has done and the pain he has caused.

Levi's Ridin' Them Coattails

Come on, Flein, Get It Together

After reading through the court documents of the Bristol/Levi case more thoroughly, I have come to this conclusion: Van Flein better step it up a notch.

While Butler's tactics are clearly of the scumbag variety and his ends are clearly wrong, he's also staying clearly legal. Van Flein's been fighting based on right and wrong (with a few legalities thrown into the mix); Butler has no "right" to fight from so he's fighting from pure law. Van Flein better fight the enemy where the enemy lives.

Some of the things in his arguments to keep the case closed to the media were just plain sloppy. First off, it appears that one of the documents that was supposed to be turned in to the court was turned in late.

At another point, Van Flein used a tweet from a fake twitter account (at least I'm pretty sure it's fake, unless Tom knows something I don't know) that was supposedly Levi's as part of his evidence.

Sloppy, Flein. Get it together, NOW.

I know you're a good lawyer, but Rex has been gearing up for this for a year, and he's going to use every dirty tactic in the book while always keeping his big toe just within the line of the law.

You're going to need to do the same. Unfortunately, scumbaggery doesn't matter; the fact that Levi's a douchebag doesn't matter; only the law matters.

And sometimes the law sucks.

Levi/Bristol Custody Battle Vids

To the Underground and Back

I survived. Another trip to the underbelly of the internet and back, and some fresh new tidbits to show for it.

Rumor Mills:

Some are busting a blood vessel about Meg Stapleton. They're all wondering where she is. (Gasp!) Is she bailing on Sarah?

Well, it's true that she hasn't been seen on the book tour, but she has been quoted in articles recently speaking on Sarah's behalf. The answer may be something quite simple: Meg had a baby recently. She probably wants to stick close to home for awhile. This is all speculation, of course, but that's my best guess.

They're also going crazy with the idea that Meg is depressed, or that someone close to Palin was or is depressed. I have no idea, but if I were to guess, I'd say it would be Kris Perry who was served an ethics complaint while standing at the death bed of a relative earlier this year.

Hmmmm... Tank Jones was on Dan Fagan's show. I haven't listened to it, but you can download the conversation here. It's hour 3. Why you would want to torture yourself, I don't know, but maybe you're morbidly curious like me.

Anyway, he says that Levi's putting whatever incriminating dirt he supposedly has on Palin in the book. I say, "Bring it on." Lay it all out there, buddy. If you're going to be a Scumbag, go full throttle Scum!

The question is, will I read the book or not? Should I keep my distance and my sanity, or give the Douchebag a few bucks and give into my morbid curiosity? That is the question.

Now, on to the pictures. Here's the Elmendorf book-signing:






And the latest look at the Palin's new house:




So much for that whole movin' to Montana thing:)

Vids, Vids, Vids....and more vids

Poor Dumb Kid

ET has video of Sherry Johnston's recent court hearing. The video is here. It won't let me embed. Gag-worthy as Levi is, I want you to watch it, especially the last part where Levi's lawyer is talking to him.

Now, obviously, Rex is playing it up for the cameras, but this is the kind of thing that Levi's handlers have been bottle-feeding him for the past year. Notice how Rex couches his statements in a way that's subtly anti-Palin.

Again, he's also playing to the cameras, but this kind of thing is why Levi came out on CBS and said he realizes Now that the Palins never really liked him. He's been surrounded by these people who have convinced him that he somehow matters, he can become a celebrity, and he doesn't have to take responsibility for his actions. They have cast him into a typical victim mentality. Levi's life fell apart; I'll give him that. Rex and Tank gave him a way to blame all of his problems on Sarah Palin.

I think Palin needs to continue to be gracious to Levi.

I think Levi and Bristol should have gone to court a long time ago and straightened out custody. No big deal. People do it all the time. Rex has just been waiting until he thinks it could do the most harm to Sarah, not to mention that Levi's going to have a hard time getting booked on anything if he doesn't have Sarah to complain about.

On a personal note, anger at Levi has turned into apathy. I feel sorry for the dumb kid. He listened to people that don't really care about him or his son. Rex is on record having a beef with Sarah Palin. They're the real villains in this. I kept hoping that Levi would come to his senses. When he didn't, I wrote him off. "Oh, well, he chose his side. Good riddance."

(sigh) I guess every good story needs at least one Judas.

Just File, Already!

I held my nose and dove into the cesspool after posting my rundown. According to Gryphen (a very reliable source\sarc), Levi isn't actually planning on filing for custody of Tripp, he's just doing this to discourage the Palins from filing for full custody.

Nobody saw that coming.

Can't give up your meal ticket, can ya? Have to have something to complain to the press about.

If there really are issues, just go to court and straighten it out. But, the aftermath of that would be irrelevancy, so we can't go down that path, can we? No, we must continue to have a reason to slam the Palins - a justification for our shameless money-grubbing. If joint custody is received, what will Levi cry about to get his fifteen seconds then?

Here's Gryphen's comments:

Hold the phone guys! I just received a call from one of my sources and they say that Levi is NOT planning to file for joint custody at the end of this month! I don't know if Levi was misquoted, or if he spoke without checking with his attorney, but it is not in the works thus far.

I did hear however that if Bristol files any papers that Team Levi is ready to respond.

I apologize for getting everybody's hopes up. I was kind of excited as well.

Update2: By now many of you have seen the Insider interview with Levi and wonder if I have gone off of the deep end. I made a follow up call and this is the deal.

TeamLevi is convinced that there will be a motion for full custody filed by the Palin family. In order to let THEM know that Levi is not afraid of that, and that he is willing to go to court as well, he made that statement to the Insider. As you can see from Levi's demeanor he is serious.

The reason that Levi has been giving interviews to Vanity Fair and offering to pose for Playgirl is to make money to care for Tripp. He has been doing the best he can to demonstrate that he is a responsible parent, but the young man simply CANNOT get a regular job.

Being plucked out of the middle of his hunting trip and deposited into the middle of the McCain campaign has changed his life forever. He is unable to return to the life he lived before so, with the help of Tank Jones and Rex Butler, he is trying to make lemonade out of the pile of lemons left to him when Palin evicted him from her home.

Forgive me while I wipe the tear of laughter from my eye.

Posing for Playgirl to demonstrate that he's a responsible parent. Oh, that's rich.

He could get a normal job if he really wanted, but Tank and Rex put a bug in his ear. Levi himself said at the end of the Vanity Fair article that they told him that not everybody has a chance to be famous.

And nineteen-year-old imaginations ran wild.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but if this is true (with no guarantee that it is, we'll just have to see if Levi does file), then I guess that means that things with the Palins really aren't to the breaking point, and Levi isn't being driven to this because they won't let him see Tripp. It means that this is a preemptive strike, and not at all based in what he's been saying for the last couple weeks.

Which would mean.....

Levi lied?

Gasp! No! Who woulda thunk it?

Wow. This kid is a walking poster child of self-incrimination. Again, no guarantee that Gryphen is in any way reliable. We'll just have to see what happens. One way, Levi's a liar with a meal ticket. The other way, Levi's a liar without a meal ticket. Either way, I don't really care.

A Little Late-Night Levi Bashing

I'm just posting this for the fun of it. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Be prepared to see more of Levi Johnston than you ever wanted to see. The 19-year-old who fathered a baby born out of wedlock to Sarah Palin's teenage daughter Bristol is about to pose nude for Playgirl magazine. Also, with Palin's book "Going Rogue" set for release this month, some publications may follow Vanity Fair's example in October by granting the high school dropout a byline.

In that piece, Johnston claimed that Palin did not nurture her children - or cook or clean - while husband Todd tinkered in the garage or slept on a black recliner in the living room.

This sort of Vanity Fair piece need not include verification by other sources, but there must be a paragraph with a seedy nugget in it. So Johnston wrote that the former Alaska governor sometimes called her Down syndrome son Trig "the retarded baby."

Appearing on CBS' "The Early Show" last week, Johnston released his latest salvo: "If I really wanted to hurt (Palin), I could, very easily, but I'm not going to do it, I'm not going that far."
Not yet, anyway.

Johnston garners more ink in British than American newspapers. But he frequently is fodder for left-wing blogs and among pundits who concoct phrases like "Wasilla hillbilly" - and cannot let go. He is the scratch for the itch of partisans so anxious to feel superior to Palin that they will consume any negative story about her, no matter how tainted. MSNBC talking heads like to bring up Levi Johnston.

Methinks if Fox News aired similar stories about a Democrat's daughter, there would be news stories questioning the right-leaning network's news judgment. After all, the accusations of an underemployed 19-year-old - who has a career incentive to dish out dirt on Palin - are not exactly credible.

Or as "The Early Show's" Maggie Rodriguez wondered during an "exclusive" interview last week, "You really sound like somebody who's dead set on hurting these people the way they hurt you."

Rodriguez also asked, "Why should people believe you versus her?"

To which Johnston replied, "I don't know." And: "I mean I was like family in that house." (All the more reason for Johnston to have kept his mouth zipped.)

Granted, Palin doesn't help her case when her spokesperson releases statements trashing the father of her grandson. Such as: "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." This is one of those situations in which "No comment" would have worked better.

Of course, Palin is outraged because Johnston is behaving like a classic heel.

But he's a 19-year-old heel, who clearly is in over his head. No doubt Johnston will come to regret the Faustian choice he has made. TV producers and magazine biggies may woo Johnston in their zeal to discredit Palin. But he can give them what they want only by making things up or betraying confidences - that is by making himself look like a world-class creep. In no time, they'll be trashing Johnston as a hick turncoat/opportunist.

During her interview, Rodriguez asked Johnston if he felt "used and discarded" by Palin. He said he did - and he failed to note the irony.

The Rundown

Well, the RINO dropped out of the NY-23 race. Now it's Hoffman and the Democrat. Hoffman is expected to win. Yay! See Sarah's response here. That oughtta seal the deal for how influential a Palin endorsement can be.

Speaking of Halloween (Happy Halloween), Levi won't go away. What a surprise. Like the tick that just won't back out of your bloodstream, the parasite keeps feeding off of his host. Spurred on by the egging of the losers that surround him, Levi continues his assault on the Palins. He's now reportedly thinking of taking the Palins to court for custody of Tripp. Audio here.

He seems surprised that the Palins aren't giving him great big bear hugs every time he comes to their front door. He claims that Sarah has turned Bristol against him. Ummm, Levi, are you sure you haven't turned Bristol against you? Quit listening to the spiders in your ears. They're leeching off of you.

As for the custody battle, it's about time.

Is it a coincidence that this is happening just as Palin's about to go on her book tour? I think not. Pathetic, lefties. Using a child to smear a potential rival. You have no shame. And Rex, he's never been malicious? Ha!

Correct me if I'm wrong, genius, I'm pretty sure Sarah Palin has nothing to do with your son. That's Bristol's territory.

Bring it the h-e-double hockey sticks on. That's right, I said hockey sticks. Let's see what you got, pretty boy.

Well, She's Not Afraid of Levi

Whatever "huge" things Levi's got in his back pocket, apparently, Sarah's not too worried about 'em. Following the CBS interview, she had this to say:

We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied. Trig is our ‘blessed little angel’ who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad.

CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. 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.”

I, personally, think Sarah should just ignore Levi. I know it's tough. I know he's annoying and he's smearing her, and it's probably driving her crazy. I know it would me, especially the remarks about Trig. But that's why he's doing this. As long as he can get her to respond, he gets publicity. That, in turn, equals big bucks for him.

So, hard as it is, unless he comes out with a charge saying that she laundered money or something, she should just ignore him. If he had any credibility, I would say, "Yes; defend yourself." But nobody belives him anyway. He's not a threat, he's an annoying mosquito that won't quit buzzing in your ear. There are bigger fish to fry.

And if Sarah responds, all she does is play into their hands. All they're trying to do is distract her. If she goes off and fights with a nineteen-year-old, guess what? She's distracted.

That's just my take on the whole deal. If people took Levi seriously, yeah, sure. Go ahead. But they don't. Going after him is just wasting bullets.

Levi: Put Up or Shut Up

Did I not tell you that CBS would kiss his butt? Well, okay I didn't say it here, but I said it on C4P the other day.

I'm speaking, of course, of Levi's interview on CBS (part 1) this morning. Yes, there will be a part 2.

I think I saw this coming, I may not have known that I saw it coming, but I think I saw it coming.

When I first heard the news that Bristol and Levi had broken up, my initial reaction was, "Oh, no. Please let them patch this up and let nobody get hurt." Even if that "patching" didn't involve actually getting back together. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I think I sensed a vulnerability in Levi. He was ripe for the picking.

And he's been picked; oh, boy, has he been picked.

This stuff about him during the election is a joke. Nobody cared about Levi. He was there as moral support for Bristol, and that's it. He just sat and stood there. Whoop de doo. There was no image, he was just there. After the convention I never thought twice about him. DURING the convention I never thought twice about him. It was never about him. Someone apparently convinced him it was.

Levi claims to have "huge" things he hasn't spilled about the Palins. That could be true. Listen, I don't doubt about 90 percent of what he says. I think he leaves out any and all context, but who isn't cherry picking facts these days?

The Palins are human. They do human things, like complain about their jobs and watch tv. I don't doubt that Bristol did a lot of the caregiving for Trig before Sarah resigned. Other magazines who did interviews at the Palin's house SAID that. The woman was the Governor of the State of Alaska. She was busy. Nobody rags on the man for leaving his wife to do the majority of the child rearing while he's out being the Governor or what have you. Why are we throwing a conniption fit if Todd does the majority of the child rearing? What's the problem?

The stuff about "she never hunts or fishes." Again, Governor! Listen, I like to ride horses, but that doesn't mean I do it every single day. I do it maybe once a year, if that. But I still like to do it. Sarah Palin was a working mother of five with a husband with a job thousands of miles away. I doubt she went fishing every other day.

That's what I mean when I say that I think Levi is being factual, but not necessarily truthful, because there's no context.

As for Todd and Sarah supposedly not liking him - Dude, you knocked up their daughter. Be thankful they didn't shoot you. Also, you broke up with their daughter. That's just plain old awkward.

See, I think Levi got hurt. Couple that with the voices around him that are anti-Palin, a desire for revenge, a chance to make money, and voila - one ruined life coming up.

As for the stuff he's supposedly holding back that he won't spill:

Listen, Levi, either spill it all or quit talking about it. Either leave Sarah Palin alone or drive the knife in deep.

No more of this middle stuff; make up your mind. If there really is something nefarious that went on, we need to know about it. But put up or shut up.

Set your TIVO's! Not.

Levi will be on the CBS Early Show Wednesday morning.

So, Bristol dumped Levi's butt and he got bitter. He finally caved to all of the media outlets who were banging down his door asking to him to, quote - "dish the dirt on the Palins." He went on Tyra and some others, and that probably sealed the deal for Bristol. No way she was ever taking him back. Levi had nothing to lose after that. Might as well just cash in.

At first he didn't say anything too awfully terrible. Those first couple of interviews before Rex and Tank got a hold of him are probably the truest picture of Levi. Of course his sister was an influence on him at that point. His sister is obviously out for the money. Speaking of credibility, in her first interview with Star Magazine, Mercedes said that Bristol wasn't going to high school and wouldn't graduate. Which begs the question: when can't you trust the word of a Johnston?

(That was sarcasm, by the way.)

Levi is milking the system for whatever it will give him. What's pathetic is that the system is willing to give him anything.

I think he honestly got hurt in the initial onslaught of a break-up, a break-up in front of the media no less. Then his dad left home, and his mom got thrown in jail. Having burned any possible bridge to the Palins, he was left adrift, until Rex and Tank showed up like knights in dingy, oversized armor.

For Levi, it's a combination of his personal life falling apart, falling in love with the attention he was getting, and realizing that he could make some bucks off of this. That's what he's doing now in this CBS interview. He's saying, "I've got some information...how much are you willing to give me for it?"

Yes. How much are you willing to give the kid to tell you Sarah also made him get her a Big Mac at McDonalds?

For his handlers, it's an agenda against the Palins. These are the people who have poisoned his mind to the point of hardening his soul. According to Levi, he sees now that the Palins are fake and out to bash him.

And what exactly has Sarah Palin been saying about him? Have you seen any press releases about Palin bashing Levi lately? The only thing he could possibly be talking about is her book. Has Levi been rushed an early copy?

Who are those who are telling him what Palin's really saying about him? Well, one is a guy who has never met Sarah Palin, but won't go so far as to say she's not evil. The other is a dude who claimed during the 2008 election that Palin "had no use for black people." Very objective sources, Levi. I'd venture that person #2 - Rex Butler, like person #1 - Tank Jones, has never met Sarah Palin either, yet he apparently knows her so well.

These two guys smell money, and they smell a chance to help out Obama by putting a few dents into Sarah Palin. That's all it is.

For Levi's handlers, it's a matter of distraction. Whenever Sarah does anything, they throw Levi into the mix, even when it has nothing to do with him, to say: "Wooohoo! Look over here! I'm saying bad things about you! Your marriage is falling apart! You never hunt or fish! You're a bad mother!"

It's a distraction. It's annoying as all get-out, but it means nothing. It's just to try to get the Palins off stride and off course. I can talk about it because I've got nothing to lose. The Palins and anyone politically connected with them should stay away from this because going near it will play right into the enemy's hands.

Always remember: Levi's just a puppet; Rex and Tank pull his strings. Oh, well. What does he care? He's getting at least $20,000 out of the deal. Principles be hung.

Next up for Levi? Probably some kind of gay porn. Isn't that fabulous?