Levi, shut up already. Go home. Get a job
There were more than a few parents, including some conservatives, who thought that Sarah Palin should have declined John McCain’s offer of a spot on his ticket in order to shield her pregnant daughter, Bristol, from the national limelight. I was among those who didn’t think she was making the best decision for her family. (I would have held to that view if she had been liberal, socialist or Hillary Clinton.)
Here’s one reason why: Levi Johnston. Now that he’s found a way to extend his 15 minutes of fame, he won’t shut up. He keeps bashing the ex-governor, alleging all manner of bad parenting and furthering damaging his relationship with the mother of his child.
In the October issue of Vanity Fair, in a story entitled “Me and Mrs. Palin,” he grants yet another interview full of gossipy revelations.Talk about a cad! Hasn’t he ever heard that gentlemen don’t kiss and tell?
Levi is old enough to take responsibility for his own actions. He may not yet be old enough to drink, but he is old enough to legally marry, sign a contract and join the military. He ought to have sense enough to know that he is doing nothing but harming his chances to have a role in the life of his baby boy. If the Palins won’t let him see the baby now, how does he think they’ll respond to his continuing tattle-tale interviews?
But the larger share of blame for this very public dysfunctional family saga has to be borne by grandma, Sarah Palin. She’s the person who introduced a young Levi to national celebrity. She’s the one who invited him to share the stage at the Republican National Convention, to campaign with her and Bristol, to share the adoration of the ultra-conservative base.
Levi found the adoration addictive. He can’t give it up. He wants to be a model, apparently, and Vanity Fair strings along the boy’s hopes in order to get him to open up with more unflattering tales about Sarah. The magazine also apparently paid him handsomely.
Perhaps therein lies the hope for retributive justice. Let’s hope that Bristol has a standing child support order, and some of that money goes to the kid.
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91 comments Add your comment
Rob
September 3rd, 2009
8:52 am
Levi should spill the beans on dysfunctional and incompetent Sarah “I can see Russha” Palin. Anyone with half a brain and not blinded by republican delusions can see that Palin is a dysfunctional and incompetent politician who is only out for her own narcissistic supply and gain.
Ed Magowan
September 3rd, 2009
8:56 am
I’m no Palin fan, McCain’s choice of running mate cost him my vote, but I have to disagree with Cyntha Tucker on one point. Palin’s pregnant daughter should not have been an issue regarding her candidacy, this was the 2008 election, not 1958. Tucker is right on the mark about Levi Johnston’s love of the limelight, I agree, shut up and fade away, Levi. You’re a nobody.
Bob
September 3rd, 2009
8:59 am
Actually, as she apparently wants to run for National office, all information is relevant. He has confirmed much of what many have thought about the Palin family. I still question whether the youngest child belongs to Sarah Palin, or whether it was an earlier child born to the eldest daughter.
Cora delosreyes
September 3rd, 2009
8:59 am
Levi is using his relationship to the Palin’s family for fame and money.
He’s critizing Sarah on parenting…so what’s he doing for parenting?
He should give the money he’s making on this gossips to Bristol to support her and the baby. After all, he’s the one responsible for
putting Bristol in this situation.
Turd Ferguson
September 3rd, 2009
9:02 am
Why oh why would Levi appear at anything with the ugly snaggle-toothed loudmouth, obnoxious Kathy *PUKE* Griffin. *PUKE* again.
Cynthia is correct…Levi, shut up and get a job.
Tim
September 3rd, 2009
9:05 am
So Levi can’t make a buck off of the Palin media circus, but the media themselves can? Hypocrites.
Tim
September 3rd, 2009
9:10 am
Cora, I don’t think he’s the only one responsible, do you?
Also, I’m not sure why you guys are telling him to get a job when it says right in the blog post that he’s getting paid ‘handsomely’ for his dirt..
jconservative
September 3rd, 2009
9:11 am
Amen.
Mrs. Georgia Peach
September 3rd, 2009
9:18 am
Well said Cynthia. Thanks for the wonderful article.
P
September 3rd, 2009
9:22 am
I really wish the media would actually, you know, vet his claims before publishing them…rather than bribing him with modeling photos and money to get him to say stuff about his ex-girlfriend’s parents. It’s pretty sad when even the AP is running second-hand stories more suited for the Star tabloid you see in the supermarket. A lot of these stories, like the “never shot a gun before,” etc., are easily verifiable by talking to people who know the Palins…and I would have to think that, if true, a lot of this would have come out when she was running for governor and VP. There were professional dirt-diggers going after her then.
All that said, the country will be much better off when we stop hearing about Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston for good.
Davo
September 3rd, 2009
9:24 am
Ya….like, where is this kids mother?
Umm…
Josh
September 3rd, 2009
9:32 am
Palin, shut up already. Go home. Get a job
FlaMa
September 3rd, 2009
9:41 am
Regardless of what he thinks of Sarah Palin, he is sewing yet more seeds of dysfunction in his relationship with his son. “Dissing” grandma is not a great idea. Take the Vanity Fair and other articles out of the picture (is he really considering Playgirl???), look at the reality of his behavior, and it is not only utterly classless, it reflects an ignorance of how families are built and maintained. Sign him up for a parenting class. He needs someone to care enough to show him how to be a good dad, not how to find his 15 minutes of fame. Sooner or later, his son will be asking about all of this. Ouch.
Conservative Mark
September 3rd, 2009
9:51 am
Ive always thought Mrs Palin had a high school type mentality (and hardly a HS education). To see her dragged into anything with a hockey playing, redneck political no-mark just shows what type of a serious joke she is. She is white trash and she is surrounded by white trash. This sort of story proves it.
DirtyDawg
September 3rd, 2009
9:57 am
Hey Cynthia, does is bother you that the only people that are agreeing with you on this are Republicans? Fact is Levi’s is living the American Dream…if you’ve got something that people are willing to pay to see/hear/have then you go for it – kinda like Sarah herself. I mean how could you expect the ‘kid’ to care about making a life with his ex/would-have-been inlaws when he clearly doesn’t respect them anymore than most of the rest of the country? As for the mother of his child, if she finally sees the light and is willing to get the hell out of that family, and bring the boy with her, then I expect he’ll change his tune…so long as there’s no more money to be made on it, that is.
So long as Palin keeps pushing her idiotic self on us, then Levi will be in demand and I say, ‘why not, making money is, after all, what America is all about.
DirtyDawg
September 3rd, 2009
9:59 am
Enter your comments here
Isabelle
September 3rd, 2009
10:09 am
His mom was arrested in December and charged with six counts of “misconduct with controlled substances” including manufacture or delivery and possession. I’m thinking his understanding of the proper role of a parent might be a bit skewed – thus the horror that the Palin kids do chores.
John
September 3rd, 2009
10:16 am
What amazed me is you had Al Gore’s son whose a drunk and druggie, in 2 car incidents, the same with several of the Kennedy’s, Louis Farrakhan’s son arrested and caught in a hit-and-run and possession of drugs, and so on and so on, yet all these Letterman’s and others only picked on Palin’s daughters. Why?
staballoy
September 3rd, 2009
10:20 am
I wonder if this columnist was as critical of another dysfunctional family: the Clintons.
windrider
September 3rd, 2009
10:21 am
Sarah Palin is the kind of small-town Queen Bee who does well as a big fish in a small pond (or at least, a sparsely populated one) but once out in the wider world, soon shows her classlessness and cluelessness. What worked in Wasilla is not necessarily appropriate for Washington, and she doesn’t understand the difference. It doesn’t surprise me much if she can’t really hunt and doesn’t fish; most politicians, however great or small, create myths around themselves. It’s part of the sell and unfortunately, just about everyone really DOES do it. It also wouldn’t surprise me if the kids do most of the work in the family. It was VERY clear during the campaign that her daughters, and not Sarah, were parenting the younger siblings, especially Trig.
And if she hadn’t mistreated and manipulated Levi from the get-go for her own ambitions, he might not be dissing her now. Levi’s not the only one who should sit down, shut up, and get a job. But Sarah has discovered the limelight again, and the one true pattern in her life, dating all the way back to high school, is that she loves to be the center of attention. But when she can’t control the nature of the attention, then she gets hissy and pissy. She got by with it for a lot of years, maybe because of her terminal nose-wrinkling cuteness, but that’s because the whole country wasn’t watching.
Jay
September 3rd, 2009
10:46 am
couldn’t the title of this artlice apply to Sarah also. she quit her job, she is always on TV, and she is never in Alaska. What makes her any different from Levi?
thebob.bob
September 3rd, 2009
10:53 am
Go Sarah go!! As long as you keep draining off the most extreme of the New American Fascist Party the longer the Republicans will remain in the political wilderness where they can’t hurt America. They sure did a number on us during the Bush years.
GOP08_DOA
September 3rd, 2009
10:58 am
Love ya Cynthia, but I gotta say, GO LEVI GO! I’ll never forgive John McCain for hoisting Sarah Palin on the USA. In my eyes, and the eyes of many, they’re both white trash who tried to hoodwink the electorate. Palin was the worse of the two. Thank the Lord they lost & God Bless Barack Obama.
Ralph Woods
September 3rd, 2009
11:04 am
I disagree. Keep Levi out there in the news. Articles such as in Vanity Fair accentuate the trivial pettiness in which lefties embroil themselves. The conservative base continues to stregthen and the polls continue to drop for support of the left. Levi will be spit out by the media just as poor old Cindy Sheehan when he is no longer perceived as a useful idiot for their causes.
basementfrog
September 3rd, 2009
11:05 am
Typical Republican politician. Palin is all facade, no substance: A created figure with no basis in reality promoted by a power group to get their adjenda of self-serving laws in place that allow themselves to reap the rewards, hide their wealth,and pay no taxes while the middle class carries the burden.
Reagan, Bush, Palin– notice any common threads? Stupid, losers, great bull siters…just what wealthy power holders need to deceive a public with similar traits.
Poor dumb Levi has just made himself a big target for the right wing loons. Watch out kid, the gestapo is gunning for you. Good thing you know how to handle a gun.
anti Levi
September 3rd, 2009
11:07 am
We could discuss many things here, like how the current first lady walks like a linebacker. We could talk about Ted the swimmer Kennedy and his attempts at selling out to the former Soviet Union. We could talk about a lot of stuff. Instead you’ve got a wet behind the ears kid whose genitalia work, an unwed mother, and a grandmother. Time will tell how Levi turns out. Given his present course I suspect that he’ll be killed in either in a bar fight or in a drug deal gone wrong.
reality
September 3rd, 2009
11:09 am
You are absolutely right, Cynthia. I wonder if his child support is up to date?
wow
September 3rd, 2009
11:12 am
“His mom was arrested in December and charged with six counts of “misconduct with controlled substances” including manufacture or delivery and possession. I’m thinking his understanding of the proper role of a parent might be a bit skewed – thus the horror that the Palin kids do chores.”
Name? Link? Fantasy?
reality
September 3rd, 2009
11:14 am
“Poor dumb Levi has just made himself a big target for the right wing loons. Watch out kid, the gestapo is gunning for you. Good thing you know how to handle a gun.”
Tucker is left-wing. Your point? Or do you even have one?
Shawny
September 3rd, 2009
11:14 am
He does need to go away, but you don’t help it by broadcasting the fact that he is still around. Let it go also.
On to something more important. Charlie Rangle, democratic chairman of the house ways and means committee (the ones that write our tax laws) is himself a tax cheat. Imaging that. Of course he denies wrong doing. Of course.
Anyway, he is bribing the very officials that are investigating him! Nice. If you didn’t do anything wrong (alledgedly), they why do you have to pay off ‘friends’ that are investigating your wrongdoing? hmmmmm.
Jessica
September 3rd, 2009
11:15 am
If Palin had NOT tried to include Levi along with the family during the campaign, these same critics would have accused her of hiding or excluding him. Since at that time the daughter was planning to marry him, it was right to treat him as a part of the family. Too bad for the girl that he turned out to be a loudmouth dirtbag.
DJN
September 3rd, 2009
11:20 am
2 weeks ago Levi Johnson said he would pose nude for the right price. Now, for the right price, he landed a major article in a liberal magazine designed, once again, to undermine Former Gov. Sarah Palin, and entertain the Palin haters and critics. I am sure if Levi Johnson’s bank account records became public we may find checks from the DNC…or MoveOn.Org.
Just think, 2 badly edited interivews with Couric/Gibson affected Palin’s image and the election. Levi Johnson is just being used to continue the left’s efforts.
Frank in CA
September 3rd, 2009
11:26 am
During the early stages after the announcement of Palin as VP candidate there was a lot of us and the news trying to learn who this women was, and her background. There were many posts on local blogs in Wasila from folks who knew the Palins well, and quite a few of the allegations made then match up to what Levi is speaking about today. There was a post by a friend and coworker who posted some comments made by Todd Palin that backs up Levi’s claim of arguments and even divorce talk. One blogger who claimed growing up with Sarah stated that she was always determined to have a fame job, beauty pageant, TV news, and when those didn’t work out she found that politics as Mayor was local, it was still a job that put her in the limelight even if was only local. Personally I think Levi is making the best of his 15 minutes of fame, but he didn’t seek the attention Palin shoved him into it. The kid isn’t smart or clever and he seems to be honest in his statements. Also if you have seen most of the interviews he doesn’t offer opinions or facts, the interviewers have to pull those answers out of him.
jt
September 3rd, 2009
11:30 am
Cynthia equates retributive justice with child support.
Sadly, she is far from being the only one to do this.
It is an entire industry.
This is indicative of a very sick society.
Dave White
September 3rd, 2009
11:36 am
Why does anyone listen to Cynthia ? She is just a bitter, angry, partisan person who has no clue !
She would be better off in a communist country where she belongs. What a jerk !
I bet the liberal (dumb) media loves her too !
Benny
September 3rd, 2009
11:44 am
What is the sad part of this is that if she had their doctor explain about birthday control instead of beliving the her daughter was not having sex, Levi would not be in the picture.
Allen
September 3rd, 2009
11:50 am
He’s young extending his fame is heady stuff and he doesn’t have the experience to know when he’s being used.
BTW “I can see Russia” wasn’t said by Palin, it’s from a comedy routine on SNL. Laughably people who repeat it without knowing it’s wrong reflects on their quality of information. Better to be funny than correct I guess.
Terry
September 3rd, 2009
11:51 am
Rob you’ve not a clue as to what you’re blabbering about. The more idiots like you attack a person who has done nothing to merit such hatred, the more her base expands. Cheap, tacky and baseless insults are all that your feeble mind can come up with. You hate her because she, a conservative woman, has accomplished so much on her own merits.
John Frum
September 3rd, 2009
11:56 am
Classless, clueless opportunism runs in the Palin household.
Jack
September 3rd, 2009
12:25 pm
It’s all easy money, the American way folks so Levi can’t make a buck off of the Palin media circus, but the media themselves can? Hypocrites.
mike
September 3rd, 2009
12:33 pm
Tucker should be criticizing Vanity Fair, not Johnson. The kid is a scumbag, but who is giving him the microphone?
Liberal rags like Vanity Fair print this kid’s garbage because it give folks like John Frum, Benny and Frank and CA to bash somebody they obsess about. The hate that liberals feel towards Palin is laughable and media outlets that cater to them are milking this hatred for all it is worth.
Me First
September 3rd, 2009
1:26 pm
Dear Ms. Tucker:
Why don’t you interview Levi for the AJC. He’s already in over his head. Maybe you’ll win another Pulitzer prize.
Joey
September 3rd, 2009
1:33 pm
Cynthia;
You don’t really want him to shut up, not really. You just want him to be quiet for a little while; until his attacks can be used more effectivly by you and your ilk to continue your efforts to distroy Sarah Palin.
You will be at the front of the line repeating and repeating again Levi’s stories. But know this, Palin will be a force in the 2010 election. Probably not the 2012 Republican candidate, but she will be a powerfull force. Count on it.
Jack
September 3rd, 2009
2:16 pm
I think we’re hearing about Levi because Tucker knows she’s overdone the health care issue.
Mid GA Retiree
September 3rd, 2009
2:39 pm
Too many people take what Levi is saying as gospel. Just how credible is he, anyway?????
Pat
September 3rd, 2009
2:43 pm
I agree with Cynthia about Levi. When he first spoke out and said he felt he’d been used by the Palin campaign, I understood. He said his piece. But why is he still talking? So what if those agreeing with Ms. Tucker are mainly Republicans?
Right is right, wrong is wrong. It’s wrong to keep collecting cash by shoveling dirt on your ex’s family, no matter how you feel about their politics. Sarah Palin’s a joke no thinking Republican
(yes, there are some) would support. But Levi’s motives are suspect, and he’s hurting his chances to be close to his son.
As to the indignant rightwingers who just can’t understand why everyone keeps “going after” Palin re the daughter’s pregnancy …
You’re right on one score. This should’ve been private family business. But Palin decided to go public and drag her kids out as props for “family values.” But far more relevant: Palin has pushed long and hard for abstinence-only sex education in public schools. It’s one thing if Sarah wants to keep her kids ignorant about protecting themselves from pregnancy. But she wasn’t satisfied with that – she wanted to push it on all Alaskan parents, and the whole nation if she had her way.
That’s why Bristol’s pregnancy’s fair game – even though I feel sorry for the way her mom pimped her for political gain.
xinunus
September 3rd, 2009
3:02 pm
WHEN DID IT BECOME OK TO ATTACK A POLITICAN THROUGH THEIR CHILDREN?
WHAT IF WE DECIDED TO ATTACK OBAMA BY INTERVIEWING THE FRIENDS OF HIS DAUGHTERS?
THE GOVERNMENT RUN MEDIA IS PATHETIC.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL NEVER FORGET THIS PATHETIC BIAS ON THEIR PART.
WHEN A REPUBLICAN IS IN POWER THE MEDIA IS THE FORTH BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT AND HAS TO INVESTIGATE EVERYTHING.
WHEN A DEMOCRAT IS IN POWER THE MEDIA IS BUDDY BUDDY WITH THEM. LOOKING THE OTHER WAY WHEN THEY DO SOMETHING WRONG OR ILLEGAL.
THIS IS NO DIFFERENT THAT WHAT GONES ON IN CHINA AND RUSSIA. NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL.
xinunus
September 3rd, 2009
3:03 pm
WHEN DID IT BECOME OK TO ATTACK A POLITICAN THROUGH THEIR CHILDREN?
WHAT IF WE DECIDED TO ATTACK OBAMA BY INTERVIEWING THE FRIENDS OF HIS DAUGHTERS?
THE GOVERNMENT RUN MEDIA IS PATHETIC.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL NEVER FORGET THIS PATHETIC BIAS ON THEIR PART.
WHEN A REPUBLICAN IS IN POWER THE MEDIA IS THE FOURTH BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT AND HAS TO INVESTIGATE EVERYTHING.
WHEN A DEMOCRAT IS IN POWER THE MEDIA IS BUDDY BUDDY WITH THEM. LOOKING THE OTHER WAY WHEN THEY DO SOMETHING WRONG OR ILLEGAL.
THIS IS NO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT GONES ON IN CHINA AND RUSSIA.
NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL.
joe matarotz
September 3rd, 2009
3:21 pm
Levi Johnson is even less relevant than Cynthia Tucker. Who’d a thought?
RealityKing
September 3rd, 2009
4:37 pm
Speaking at a health-care forum in Washington Heights, Charley Rangel said that when critics complain that Obama is “trying to interfere” with their lives by pushing for health-care reform, “then you know there’s just a misunderstanding, a bias, a prejudice, an emotional feeling.” Rangel then likened the battle over health-care expansion for the uninsured to the fight for civil rights. “Why do we have to wait for the right to vote? Why can’t we get what God has given us? That is the right to live as human beings and not negotiate with white southerners and not count the votes. Just do the right thing,”
Further supporting arguments due out here soon.., from the AJC’s very own Pulitzer prize winning Queen of race baiting.