About Levi Johnston

A great many things are happening in the world today. But instead everyone is buzzing about this.

My Right Honourable Friend from New Jersey is very upset with Mr. Johnston. He feels that a self-respecting man does not go on a tabloid television show and discuss the sex life of the mother of his child. A self-respecting man would not create a situation where his child, in the future, might view his father discussing the intimate details of his mother's life.

Jim Geraghty at NRO's Campaign Spot had this to say:

Discussing Johnston's appearance on MSNBC, Sarah Palin was described as "a strong activist for abstinence-only education." The guest just corrected the anchor that Palin also said condoms ought to be discussed in schools alongside abstinence.

UPDATE: Jeez, MSNBC did it again, touting the segment by saying Palin was "preaching abstinence."

In the clip they showed, Banks does an exceptional job of humiliating Levi Johnston, asking him if he practiced safe sex, "every time." He says yes, repeatedly, and finally concedes "most of the time."

The MSNBC anchors add that this "could be potentially damaging to Palin's future, and she's "going to have to address it."

How? Why? How, precisely, does her daughter's fiance's comments on a daytime talk show reflect upon her? [emphasis added]

How indeed. And Mr. Johnston is no longer her daughter's fiancé.

Gov. Palin never advocated abstinence-only, but that won't stop both sides of the political spectrum from mischaracterizing or attacking her pragmatic position.

The real kicker in this latest drama was this:

The Alaska governor most likely was aware before her daughter, Bristol, became pregnant that the teenager and her hockey hunk boyfriend were having sex, Levi Johnston said in a bombshell new interview.

"I'm pretty sure she probably knew. Moms are pretty smart," said Johnston, 18, the father of the governor's first grandchild, in an interview that will air Monday on "The Tyra Banks Show."

Of course, that's just his speculation, and it's no doubt his way of smearing the governor. But I think Todd and Sarah Palin were onto this character from the beginning.

The March 30th People Magazine article on Gov. Palin contained this revealing paragraph:

Tom Whitstine Jr., a longtime co-worker of Todd's, believes the Palins have also opposed the Bristol-Levi romance, at least in the past. Last year her parents sent her to Anchorage to do her junior year of high school and live with Sarah's sister Heather Bruce. "Basically, they were trying to limit her contact with Levi, trying to be good parents," says Whitstine. "The method didn't work out. Now he's part of Tripp's family forever."

The Palins are private people, and I'm sure they hate having their family problems dissected before the world. But it would seem that they did try to separate Bristol from this Johnston character. It didn't work. And now this person is unfortunately attached to them.

The AP's latest story includes this:

"Some days we can have regular conversations without fighting," Johnston said. "Most of the times, I don't know what's wrong with her. She's in a pretty bad mood, she's short, she doesn't want me around, I don't think. She says that I can come see the baby and that kind of thing, but won't let me take him anywhere."

Gosh, I can't imagine why she might be "short" with you, Mr. Johnston. Perhaps because she just had a baby, her hormones are all over the place, she's tired because her son doesn't sleep through the night, and she's upset about the drama surrounding members of your family. No, I can't imagine why Bristol Palin might not "want you around." I also can't imagine why she might not want you taking your newborn son, who was born in the middle of the winter in Alaska, "anywhere."

The AP also reports:

Palin family spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said Bristol Palin was unaware Johnston would be appearing on "The Tyra Banks Show," along with his mother, Sherry, and sister, Mercede.

"We're disappointed that Levi and his family, in a quest for fame, attention and fortune, are engaging in flat-out lies, gross exaggeration, and even distortion of their relationship," Stapleton said in a statement Friday.

Stapleton has said Bristol Palin isn't preventing anyone from seeing the baby, and that Johnston sees his son "whenever he wants, the family sees the baby whenever they want."

The other supposedly shocking revelation from this tabloid television show is that Levi Johnston claims that he was "sharing a room with Bristol Palin in the governor's home prior to their recent break-up. He moved into the Palin home about one to two weeks before Bristol gave birth and was living there until they broke up" about a month after the birth. This is not corroborated by the Palins or by the timeline of events, but I suppose that if it were true then he was there to help with his child, and considering all of the drama going on with his own family at that particular time, it would seem to be an act of mercy that the Palins let him stay with them. He was, after all, their daughter's fiancé at the time. I think this latest episode proves that Bristol made the right decision in calling the engagement off.

Mr. Johnston apparently hopes to "get back together" with Bristol, but his sister is of another mind:

Asked about her brother's breakup, Mercede says he and Bristol are "being mature about the situation because of the child." She adds, "I hope they don't get back together, just because I'm not fond of her."

Don't worry, Mercedes. After this latest stunt, I think it's pretty safe to say that your brother won't be getting back into Bristol's good graces anytime soon. In fact, People Magazine has more from Stapleton's statement:

"Bristol's focus will remain on raising Tripp, completing her education, and advocating abstinence," the statement continues. "It is unfortunate that Levi finds it more appealing to exploit his previous relationship with Bristol than to contribute to the well being of the child."

The statement ends, saying, "Bristol realizes now that she made a mistake in her relationship and is the one taking responsibility for their actions."

The March 30th People Magazine article also included this:

Bristol, meanwhile, is mostly keeping quiet in Wasilla, where she takes correspondence classes, attends Wasilla High and, says a friend of Levi's, "is thinking of going to UAA next year," referring to the University of Alaska Anchorage, possibly to study nursing. According to [SarahPAC spokesperson Pam] Pryor, college is next for her, and she definitely wants to be an advocate for teens waiting to have babies." In her little free time, she works as a barista and a teaching aide. "Bristol is a tough kid, and she's going to be okay," says Mark Okeson, assistant principal as Wasilla High. "She seems to be doing real good, glad to be back." Adds Ty Bunnis, a retired teacher: "she's dealing with things publicly that most kids deal with privately. But they will pick up the pieces and go on – you can't grow up in Alaska and not be resilient."

People who know Bristol – and all the Palin kids – say they are nothing if not hardy. "My sense is this is a mother who has empowered her daughters," says a McCain campaign insider who met the family last year. "They were very grounded and respectful, very close to Mom and Dad. They had a strong sense of self-worth, and were comfortable in the limelight."

In my biographical sketch of Gov. Palin, I noted that Chuck Heath taught his daughter to be self-reliant and independent. She no doubt raised her own children that way. I can respect this. My parents raised me to be independent. They taught me right from wrong, but then they let me get on with my life, and if I had been attracted to the "bad boy" types, I could have found myself in the same situation as Bristol. Thank God that I've never been.

None of this should make people turn away from the Palins.

Even Larry Persily, who is no friend of Gov. Palin, thinks that this family drama will be "inconsequential" in the long run. He told People Magazine, "I'd like to think Americans haven't sunk so low that they will vote for President of the United States based on whether his or her daughter broke up with a boyfriend."

I refuse to allow the "drive-by" media to destroy another conservative leader. We know why they hate her. Ace gets it:

Because she's such an attractive figure, [Palin] is a natural target for tabloid coverage, which is only exacerbated by the fact that the media is determined to tabloidize her in order to make her unacceptable as a leader.

[...]

Is that fair? Well, I can't help but think that Levi Johnson has been courted particularly ferociously not just because Palin is an interesting, ratings-generating figure, but because the media wants to make her into a Jerry Springer buffoon.

Where is their interest in, say, allegations that Joe Biden's daughter was a cokehead? Surely we can learn all sorts of cautionary tales about drug use from that story, just the same as we can learn about birth control and youthful sex from Levi Johnson.

But the media doesn't pursue it. Partly because Joe Biden is a goofy old bastard, and his daughter, most likey, is no head-turner (I confess I don't know; I'm going by the averages), but largely because the media wishes to protect Joe Biden (and therefore Obama) from any hint of scandal or "messy family lives" (as Sarah Palin's just-less-than-picture-perfect family life was often referred to).

They don't want to tabloidize him, and so they are not knocking on doors and burning up the phone lines to get Joe Biden's daughter's boyfriends on TV.

The media has their narrative. Sarah Palin, low-class frost-neck chillbilly, and Joe Biden, serious, accomplished man deserving of respect and privacy. The fact that Slow Joe claims a lower-class upbringing himself, and has been caught lying multiple times about his woeful academic record, doesn't change that.

He's a Democrat, and therefore deserving of praise. Palin's a Republican and deserving of nothing but contempt and hatred.

Today I was reminded of the words to Bob Marley's "Redemption Song":

How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?

As JR noted recently, Whittaker Chambers once said that the Right "leaves their wounded on the battlefield." We allow the drive-by media to kill off our leaders before they can rise up. I remember watching them feast on George Allen because of a stupid joke. He was a good conservative and would have made a great nominee for president, but we stood aside and watched the drive-by media destroy him.

No more.

I'm heartened to note that even Allahpundit, no friend of Palin he, has taken her side this time.

UPDATE by RAM: Just a clarification - Meg Stapleton has told CNN that Johnston never lived under the Palins' roof.

Update by JR: President Reagan on fatherhood:

Fatherhood can sometimes be walking the floor at midnight with a baby that can't sleep. More likely, fatherhood is repairing a bicycle wheel for the umpteenth time, knowing that it won't last the afternoon. Fatherhood is guiding a youth through the wilderness of adolescence toward adulthood. Fatherhood is holding tight when all seems to be falling apart; and it's letting go when it is time to part. Fatherhood is long hours at the blast furnace or in the fields, behind the wheel or in front of a computer screen, working a 12-hour shift or doing a 6-month tour of duty. It's giving one's all, from the break of day to its end, on the job, in the house, but most of all in the heart.

UPDATE by RAM II: Go here for Gov. Palin's latest response.