Sarah Palin fights with devastating poll numbers and hooks up with the lamestream

"Sarah Palin’s Approval Rating Crashes to a New Low" was one of the typical headlines of 2010, and the situation for Alaska's most famous citizen is not improving: NBC/The Wall Street Journal published a new poll, and Palin looks "palin' by comparison":

Ouch! It does appear that US citizens really do not appreciate the efforts of Sarah Palin. How ungrateful of them...

HuffPost reports:

Public opinion on Palin leaves little room for her to improve only by swaying those who are undecided about her — she must actively change peoples' minds if she wishes to compete against Obama. According to the NBC/WSJ survey, 50 percent of respondents said they have a negative view of Palin while only 28 percent have a positive view. In the HuffPost Pollster trend estimate, Palin has only a 37-percent favorable rating, while 52 percent disapprove. This is an ominous sign for Palin not just because she is unpopular among those who express an opinion of her but because the vast majority of people do express an opinion - 78 percent of people in the NBC / Wall Street Journal poll and 89 percent in the HuffPost Pollster Trend estimate.

Romney, on the other hand, not only starts from a stronger position than Palin but may have more room to grow simply by becoming better known. In the new survey, respondents had a more positive view of Romney by a 28-percent to 20-percent margin (his HuffPost Pollster favorable rating is also positive, by a 34-percent to 31-percent margin). In the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, more than half (52 percent) said they had no opinion of Romney.

The trend doesn't look too good for the ice queen either:

But who appears to be unimpressed by these terrible poll numbers?

Sarah Palin...as well as parts of the media from the group which Sarah loves to call the "lamestream."

So why not hook up with each other...?

Politico published a remarkably detailed, three-page-article, examining Sarah Palin's new media strategy. It is noteworthy that the journalists of Politico seem to keep a much closer eye on Palin these days after the controversy regarding Jonathan Martin's "Hurricane Sarah" article which famously resulted in Sarah Palin calling Jonathan Martin a "punk."

Politico reported on December 16:

The former Alaska governor has started cautiously cooperating with some of the same media outlets she and her supporters have accused of unfair and inaccurate coverage they feel has caricatured her as a flaky lightweight — a narrative her team seems determined to rewrite as Palin openly weighs a bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

“This is just about getting the press to characterize the governor accurately,” said Tim Crawford, a top Palin aide. “And, if that can be accomplished through Gov. Palin and some of the people around her talking to the press, we’ll try that.” (See: Palin has run in with press.)

Palin’s effectiveness as Republican John McCain’s 2008 vice presidential pick was undercut by the bad press she generated, particularly from her stumbling television interviews. After that experience — and particularly since her resignation as governor last year, which she says was prompted partly by unrelenting media scrutiny — Palin has mastered a high-impact, if unconventional, communication style that almost completely circumvents most traditional media.

Instead, she’s relied on conservative media outlets from which she is unlikely to face tough questioning (most notably Fox News, for which she is a paid contributor). She also taps social media such as Facebook and Twitter, combined with her own star power, to deliver cutting attacks on her opponents and the media that sometimes drive the political debate for days.

So what does Palin have to offer to the "lamestream?"

The latest example: ABC spared no expense and sent GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts to Alaska. The full episode was due to be aired today - some of the excerpts:

Well, to be perfectly honest, and with all due respect, ABC: If you do conduct an interview with Sarah Palin and produce nothing which really differs significantly from an interview on Fox News, then it probably wasn't worth it.

The constant attacks by Sarah Palin and her Palinbot attack brigade which were directed at the "lamestream" media DID deliver results: Despite the fact that Sarah is one of the most vicious politicians around and developed insults and "mean-girl-manners" to an art-form, tells lies on a regular basis and hides numerous private scandals and secrets, she doesn't need to be afraid to be asked in a very critical manner. It appears that no journalist is keen to have Palin's fanatical supporters at his or her throat, which would be the inevitable result of highly critical reporting, as proven countless times in the past.

No change of this sad state of affairs is to be expected to happen soon, and this is bad news, despite of the atrocious poll numbers. The "lamestream" continues to give Sarah Palin a pass.

Even the important conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer is being attacked in a pretty disgusting way by Palin's fans due to his opposition to Sarah Palin. The rabid right-wing "American Spectator" asked today:

"Does Krauthammer Have a Man Crush on Obama?"

Krauthammer likes Obama, he has a "man crush" on him? Well, the "American Spectator" seems to be convinced and explains the underlying reason for Krauthammer's alleged adoration:

My guess is that it has something to do with Sarah Palin. While Krauthammer has not called Palin "a cancer" or "a joke" as Brooks has done, his distaste for Palin is palatable. This was certainly the case in August 2009 when Krauthammer suggested that we ought to ask "Sarah Palin leave the room" after she coined the term "death panels."(...)

It seems to me that Krauthammer cannot get past Palin's accent. The prospect of a Palin presidency has Krauthammer so troubled that he is now prepared to cast Obama as another Bill Clinton and have four more years of Obama in the White House. How else does one explain Krauthammer concluding his article by comparing Obama to Ronald Reagan?

So there we have some revenge for Krauthammers open criticism on Palin, which he reiterated in a recent interview with Bill O'Reilly. It's really about Palin, who ought not to be picked on, and not about Obama.

The fact that Krauthammer criticized Sarah Palin on his show prompted Bill O'Reilly to give poor little Sarah the chance to defend herself. That's at least my impression - and to be perfectly honest again, the following clip with Bill O'Reilly is just as "enlightening" as a typical "lamestream" interview with Sarah Palin:

Palin: "I am sorry I am not so hotty-totty."

"Newshounds" posted a very good article about this interview.

Well, Bill O'Reilly clearly is not Sarah Palin's biggest fan, as became already apparent in the past, for example when Bill O'Reilly famously interviewed an ill-prepared Sarah Palin on immigration. I guess that's what Charles Krauthammer had in mind about when he called Palin "weak on policies."

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On a different topic, we recently received information from different people regarding the fact that the Palin family apparently bought a new home in or around Phoenix, AZ. Apparently Bristol now lives there with Tripp. This could also be Sarah Palin's base for the upcoming presidential campaign. While this is all still at a "rumor stage", due to the lack of hard evidence, I would like to point out that the rumors are "strong."

Speaking of Tripp - we received this picture a while ago. Tripp in the rain, bare-foot (of course...). The photo was taken at the back of Palin's house in Wasilla:

This picture appears to have been taken in July, so it was most likely a warm, rainy day. Sarah Palin's history of "bare footed neglect" doesn't seem to apply here. But it's a fun picture. What would be a good caption?

By the way, Levi certainly knows how to pick cool shirts for his son:

Levi, Bristol and Tripp - the soap opera will probably continue for the next decades.

Have a nice start into the weekend, everybody!

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PLEASE RE-TWEET:

http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/15937384919072769

http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/15937820891807745

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Friday evening fun at Palingates - Kathy Griffin and Levi Johnston, the complete program - Open Thread

After such a heavy (and successful) week with lots of serious stuff, culminating today in Sarah Palin twittering that American soldiers are getting killed in Afghanistan for a website based in Iceland and Sweden which is run by a guy from Australia, we have deserved a little break from all the madness.

It's time to have some really good fun, and today I discovered that somebody put the complete program of Kathy Griffin's meeting in Alaska with Levi Johnston on youtube, and it's absolutely hilarious. We have previously seen only some smaller parts of it, and trust me, the complete program is an absolute "blast" (Palinese) - it's hilarious and full of little treasures and even includes some more serious remarks which are very interesting (watch out for example what Tank Jones has to say about Sarah Palin...).

This needs to be seen, take it from me. It's hugely funny and gives some "unfiltered insights" into life in Alaska as well (well, more life in Anchorage and Wasilla, that is).

If Levi's new reality show gets close to that, then it will be an absolute winner. ;-)

Here are the five parts - ENJOY!

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Palin, Johnston/Palin and Johnston struggle with each other - Will it never end? Also: "Trig-politics" continue in the media

Welcome to the next installment of the epic soap opera battle which I would like to call now "Palin vs. Johnston/Palin vs. Johnston" - at least these seem to be the front lines right now. At first I wasn't sure whether I want to write about it at all, because "Jerry-Springer-like internet battles" like these are the not primary focus of Palingates. However, there ARE some interesting aspects to recent events, and ultimately, there is also Sarah Palin. Without her NONE of this would happen. In saying this, I don't want to express that Sarah is orchestrating "everything" in the background - because I am convinced that this isn't the case (more below). But Sarah Palin is definitely the underlying cause for this tragic family battle in my opinion.

Also, there is an urgent need for everyone to try to come their senses and calm down. The uglier this public fight becomes, the more damage will be done and the harder it will be to "make peace" in the end. And there has to be a peace agreement, because little children (well, at least one...) are involved.

Let's take a look at the clip in which Bristol and Levi announced their engagement (click here for the video). As many of our readers have observed, both seem to be genuinely happy. This is good news amongst all the negativity surrounding the announcement.

On a lighter note, the reaction by Kathy Griffin to the news is as hilarious and spot-on as usual (VIDEO).

Then there is the public fight between, broadly speaking, Bristol and Levi on the one side and Mercede and Sherry on the other side. Mercede famously uses her for blog for stabs against Bristol and Bristol has used her facebook to attack Mercede. Tonight Mercede and Sherry will be on "Inside Edition", telling their side of the story.

We will stay out of this fight. After all, it's none of our business, and my hope is that at one point the parties will maybe seek the help of somebody from outside for an attempt to reconcile the parties with each other. I don't know if this will ever happen, but it would be awful to think that this public fight will never end.

Maybe Mercede and Bristol should just fight it out (JOKE!):

As mentioned above, I don't share the popular belief that this engagement was orchestrated in the background by Sarah Palin. This engagement is ultimately a great embarrassment for Sarah Palin. She and Todd did everything to drag Bristol away from Levi. I don't believe at all that Levi has been "bought off" by the Palin, as some claim. Is he earning money from this engagement? Yes, he is, as Levi and Bristol sold their story to US Weekly, and it looks like there could be a reality TV show in the works. However, this is not same as being paid off by the Palins.

Various inside reports seem to confirm my view. Popeater reports:

Sources tell me that the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee is furious about her daughter's decision and thinks Bristol is making the biggest mistake of her life -- despite the fact that she and Todd eloped in 1988 without telling their parents. Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin

But it was ultimately Sarah who played grandma and comforted Bristol during her toughest times, while Johnston soaked up his fifteen minutes of fame by posing for Playgirl and hanging out with comedienne Kathy Griffin.

But it all comes back to politics. A Republican insider tells me Sarah is worried that her loose-lipped son-in-law will continue to ruin her political career and the public's perception of the Palin family.

"You can't control who your kids fall in love with, but Sarah wants this kid to go away. However, that doesn't look like it going to happen," the insider admits.

"So for the time being, Sarah is doing everything she can to protect her daughter and herself. And trust me, Levi has been warned. This isn't the sort of family you want to mess with twice."

In addition, we have confirmation for the fact that Sarah and Todd Palin are unhappy from a surprising source - Ben Barber, who apparently was Bristol's boyfriend shortly before the reunion with Levi (well, didn't Levi say a long time ago that Bristol isn't really the girl for abstinence...).

Ben Barber gave an interview to Shushannah Walshe from the Daily Beast. Shushannah is one of the authors of the very informative and well-written book "Sarah from Alaska".

Ben Barber

Walshe writes:

Barber is clearly miffed that Bristol and Levi are back together. “I don’t understand how Bristol can go and spend her life with someone who can’t get his GED? What’s he going to do when all this stuff has run out on him?”

Barber may sound like a lover scorned. But it’s clear he respects the Palins—especially Todd, whom he described throughout the interview as “the coolest guy.” He said that Track and Todd had invited him to fish with them last weekend in Dillingham, but he couldn’t get out of work to meet up with them. Barber was in Wasilla with the family when they first found out the couple had reunited.
“[Bristol] never had a good relationship with her Mom and Dad, so not telling them (about the engagement) doesn’t surprise me. But I know the whole family isn’t happy about it. I was in town for a night and stopped by to see Todd and Track. They were furious.”

Barber says upon hearing the news he went outside with Track and asked him what he thought of the rekindled romance. Barber said Track was “disappointed and didn’t approve of the situation”—so much so, Barber says, that Track called his sister by a four-letter pejorative.

By contrast, Barber says Levi handled the news that he had gotten together with Bristol rather well. “It really surprised me. When Levi did find out, he was very mature about the situation. He was more happy that it was me with Tripp and Bristol than someone he didn’t like. I still wanted to be friends, but Bristol wouldn’t let me do that.” Barber admits that he then dropped Levi as a buddy. “I feel pretty low as a friend for doing that,” he says, adding he doubts he’ll be asked back as a groomsman this time around.

According to Barber, the constant attention on her family has taken its toll on Bristol. “She totally swapped personalities,” Barber said. “She used to be super passionate and a really nice person. Two or three years ago she was super cool. And around Christmas time she was the same Bristol. But now a lot of this has gone to her head. Her mom’s, too.”

So we will have to wait patiently and see how this tragic soap opera will unfold. As I mentioned above, I just hope that all participants will be able to get along in the end and will find an agreement. After all, they are family.

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Regardless, we should not forget about the politics! I have said several times before that Palin/Johnston family feud is ultimately a great distraction which takes time and attention away from Sarah Palin's "rise to power". We should not fall into this trap.

Bill O'Reilly recently expressed his outrage that the "Down-Syndrome-song" in "Family Guy" received an Emmy nomination - and so did his guests:



The right-leaning website mediaite reports:

The program itself did not get the nomination, according to O’Reilly’s report, but, rather, the song that plays at the beginning of the episode, which has lyrics about Down Syndrome. After playing a refresher clip of the Family Guy episode for those who had forgotten, O’Reilly asks Hoover and Carlson: “Are the Emmys making a political statement of support for Family Guy’s alleged attack on Palin by nominating the soundtrack to that particular episode for an award?”

Hoover sees a serious problem with the message it sends about special needs people in American society, and called it “rewarding people who are making special needs children the brunt of our jokes.” Even if the episode itself wasn’t nominated for content, the lyrical content of the theme song was enough to be seen as an endorsement of this type of humor.

Unlike her colleague, Carlson didn’t analyze the potential general messages the Emmy organization was sending out. She took the political route, and in no unambiguous terms called the move “a total attack on Sarah Palin, end of story,” by the academy that hands out nominations. She said that the reason Family Guy did not get what she would deem to be an appropriate reprimand, why they chose to air the story, and, later, why the powers-that-be who give Emmy nominees handed one to Family Guy was because Sarah Palin had a child with special needs and “Hollywood hates Sarah Palin.”

So it's all about Trig again. Will this ever end? ;-)

It seems that Trig is the only Down-Syndrome child out there in the nation.

Of course, neither Bill O'Reilly nor his guests mentioned the fact that the down-syndrome-girl in that "Family Guy" episode was famously played by actress Andrea Friedman, who herself has Down Syndrome. And not just that, but remarks by Andrea Friedman received huge attention in February this year, after Palingates exclusively published the full text of her statement in which she was highly critical of Palin's stance. Apart from Palingates, this statement was only also obtained by the New York Times, and they omitted vital parts of it.

Andrea Friedman also directly addressed Sarah Palin on TV - and never received a response from Palin, who because of her well-known personality disorder is unable to admit mistakes:

Sarah Palin can run on an imaginary mountain, but she cannot hide! ;-)

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PLEASE NOTE:

We don't claim that it's the "ultimate truth" what we present here. It's our opinion, based on the available information. Other people might come to different conclusions, and we strongly encourage everyone to discuss these issues and make up your own mind.
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Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston: Hello, stranger! - UPDATE!

Sometimes blogging about the Palins feels like talking about a huge soap opera.

Unfortunately, it's more serious than that, because "Saint Sarah", the woman who is not only a huge warmonger, but also an expert in lies, deceit and manipulations is preparing her run to become President.

But today, it's soap opera day, mixed with hard legal facts which show again how secretive the Palins are when it comes to their personal dealings.

Bristol Palin's famous condo in Anchorage has been talked about a lot lately. The recent posh story featuring Bristol Palin by Harper's Bazaar was shot in her condo - and she had some strong things to say about her former lover Levi Johnston:

"I just ignore it. He is a stranger to me," she says, visibly rattled by the mention of Johnston's name, though she refrains from saying more. "I don't want to get into it. It's just dirty laundry." She is not seeing anyone at the moment: "I'm in no rush. One day I'll find a nice guy."

However, in the world of young people, things can change easily, and the today's news can become old news very quickly.

The new mysterious Alaska online gossip magazine "AlaskaWTF" yesterday published a short story under the sensational headline:

"Levi Johnston banging Bristol Palin again!"

In the short article, AlaskaWTF claimed that Levi has been "staying over" at Bristol's apartment for the "past week".

Shortly afterwards, this article was then removed from AlaskaWTF, and a short notice was put up, saying:

"We had a post up earlier that we took down for a few ($$) reasons. Check back later next week for more details."

Another short message by "Dirk Diggler", the owner of AlaskaWTF, followed in the comments:

"Dirk Diggler says:
June 11, 2010 at 7:10 PM
WakeUpAmerica – It had nothing to do with Flea Trap. The story actually gets better."

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So this made us very curious, and our brilliant contacts in Alaska (BIG WAVE TO OUR FRIENDS IN ALASKA) yesterday checked the situation out - with success.

I would like to disclose here that Palingates has already known Bristol's exact address in Anchorage for quite a while. We not only know the address, but also know who the legal owner of Bristol's shiny condo is - for more details, see below.

But first let's talk more about Bristol and Levi, the young participants in this great soap opera. Levi is the proud owner of a big red truck, pictured here with his sister Mercede and a friend:

Our brilliant contacts went to see yesterday if they could spot Levi's truck at Bristol's condo - and there it was, parked just in front of Bristol's condo.

Note the yellow motorbike, which we haven't seen before. We are pretty certain that the black truck next to Levi's car belongs to Bristol.

We post a cropped version here of the photo taken yesterday, showing only the cars and not Bristol's condo, as we have no intention to disclose her address. We also would like to ask our readers not to make guesses in the comments.

We also want to make absolutely clear that so far we do not know whether Levi "stayed over" at Bristol's place. We therefore cannot confirm this part of the story in AlaskaWTF, as the only thing we know is that Levi's car was parked in front of Bristol's condo yesterday, that the truck was there at that point.

We think it's great that apparently some attempts of "reconciliation" are being made here, and that Levi now also gets to see Tripp more often. This is very good news for everyone who feels for the young child and wants him to grow up with a mother and a father in his life!

But we have more to report.

Some of our readers have wondered in the past who the legal owner of Bristol's condo is, as Bristol Palin's name was nowhere to be found in the property listings.

In the article in Harper's Bazaar, it said:

"She's also fiercely proud of her newly purchased condo. (Before she bought it, she and Tripp were living at home in Wasilla, an hour and a half away.)"

Palingates can now unveil this secret and can prove that the Palins went to great length to conceal the legal owner of the condo.

The legal owner of the property is the company "SM Properties LLC", with Yvonne Robinson as the registered agent, office address: 711 H Suite 620, Anchorage AK 99501.

Yvonne Robinson, unsurprisingly, works for Sarah's and Bristol's preferred expert for all legal problems: Thomas Van Flein.

Here are the Articles of Organization (download PDF here):

In addition, these are the records from the Municipality of Anchorage regarding the ownership of the condo - please note that this document does not contain Bristol's address (click to enlarge):




From this document, we learn that condo has a market value of $ 272,000. Teen pregnancies pay nicely these days!

Please note that we have obtained more documentation about the condo in order to properly verify it. We have even checked the pictures from the estate agents listings, and they match - compare them with pictures from the Harper's Bazaar video from the photo shoot:

Kitchen:

Living room with fireplace:

So, it's clear that the Palins didn't want the world to know the details about Bristol's condo. In classic Palin-style, the name of the company also has this typical "hint" to real life events, because Bristol's full name is Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin - so why not name this company which they apparently set up just to buy the condo "SM Properties LLC"? ;-)

I don't know which tax consequences this construction has, if there are any benefits or whether they "just" wanted to conceal the purchase.

This new development in the relations between Levi and Bristol, although the details are cloudy, is very interesting indeed, especially since Mercede complained just several days ago, on June 2, on her public facebook page (every facebook user can see the page with the "wall", it's not a private page) that Bristol served her with a subpoena, although the details of the subpoena are not clear:

Mercede also reveals many interesting details and news from her life on her public facebook as well. She is for example very proud about her new car, a VW Beetle, and buys presents for her mom:

Therefore, lots of things are at present happening in the world of the Palins and the Johnstons, and there will certainly be no shortage of news in the near future.

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UPDATE:

Please note that Mercede Johnston made her previously public wall on her facebook private now.

Also:

One of of our brilliant readers has found a "Special Liability Warranty Deed". For the SM Properties LLC, only Bristol Palin signed as "Managing Member!"

I won't post the link, but only screenshots of this document with the exact details of the property blacked out:

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Websites which linked to this post:

Alaska Dispatch

Andrew Sullivan, "The Daily Dish"

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Kathy Griffin and Levi Johnston go ice fishing in Alaska - UPDATE

Kathy Griffin is currently in Alaska and has hooked up with her old buddy Levi Johnston. AP published a report about the events and recapitulates them in a rather dry, very correct, non-confrontational style. It's almost like they wanted to make sure that "nobody" would be offended by this report:

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Comedian Kathy Griffin has brought her "Life on the D-List" show to Sarah Palin's home state, skewering the former Alaska governor at a raucous show in Anchorage.

Griffin was escorted on stage on Friday by Playgirl model Levi Johnston, who fathered a child with Palin's oldest daughter and is involved in a child support battle with Bristol Palin.

Griffin said she spent a day ice fishing with Johnston in Wasilla, and was surprised when 19-year-old Levi's friend brought along a camera - but only to photograph the fish they caught.

Griffin helped Johnston's celebrity star to rise, taking the aspiring actor to an awards show last year as her date. While in Wasilla, Griffin said she also went to Palin's home. There she left a note, inviting Palin to Friday's performance.

She asked the crowd to look around and see if anyone was doing a pageant wave.

Griffin said John McCain picked Palin to be his running mate on the Republican ticket after "talking to her for 10 minutes."

Of Palin's monologue this week on "The Tonight Show," Griffin only promised the audience she would never try to be a mayor.

Griffin also claimed Palin is a "gift that keeps on giving."

Griffin welcomed news that Palin is trying to shop a reality show or docudrama about Alaska. She called that a "gift from God."

Griffin is in Anchorage to coincide with Saturday's start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. She was to have attended several events leading up to the race, including the musher's banquet and made many jokes about the annual Trappers and Miners Ball."

As no clips from these events seem to be available so far, I would like to draw your attention to two older clips which are particularly entertaining. In the first clip which was broadcast in November 2008, Kathy Griffin talks about Sarah Palin. The second clip is not Palin-related, but very enlightening. Kathy Griffin talks with Joy Behar about sexism in Hollywood.

Talking about older clips which are worth to be revisited: Here is Tina Fey talking about her Sarah Palin impressions in October 2008.

Sarah Palin actually accused Tina Fey of "exploiting" her - the Young Turks published a nice report about her remarks.

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UPDATE:

A video of Kathy Griffin's performance on Mach 5, 2010 in Anchorage is now available:

(h/t Polly)

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Rex Butler: Levi Johnston will pay Bristol Palin the outstanding child support "within a week" - UPDATE!

ABC reported just a few minutes ago:

"In a 20-minute hearing Thursday, a judge ordered Levi Johnston to pay child support and retroactive back payments for the care of Tripp, the son he had with Bristol Palin, daughter of former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

On Nov. 3, 2009, Bristol Palin filed a legal petition seeking sole custody of Tripp and child support from Johnston in accordance with Alaska law. She asked for primary custody with visitation rights for Johnston, as well as $1,700 of child support a month.

Rex Butler, attorney for Johnston, told ABC News that his client is eager to make the back payments and will hand over a check within the week.

"The judge decided that Bristol should have child support, which we don't disagree with," Butler told the ABC News Law and Justice Unit. "Fortunately, Levi has put this money aside a long time ago. The back support is going to come out to about $10,000 to $13,000, and he's going to write Bristol a check."

Butler confirmed that Johnston's saved funds came in part from modeling, particularly a much-publicized spread in Playgirl, but said the most important matter going forward was "whether to seek full custody, split custody or whether Levi will be satisfied with reasonable visitation."

"I think split custody is the best of these," Butler said."

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Well, let's hope that the Johnston's get to see Tripp on a regular basis now!

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UPDATE:

The celebrity and media website "monstersandcritics" have an interesting report with new details regarding the custody case, including an interesting new picture of Bristol - check it out! They general opinion in the media now seems to be that Bristol Palin "won the custody case". How on earth could that happen? Didn't Levi originally have the advantage, being faced with an outrageous claim by Bristol in many respects?

They write:

The daughter of Sarah Palin, Bristol, has been awarded interim child support in a court battle with the father of her one-year-old son.

A judge in Alaska ordered Levi Johnston to pay Bristol nearly $18,000 in overdue child support payments, according to reports.

Johnston, a Playgirl cover model, previously claimed his income was too erratic to meet Bristol's original demand of $1,750 per month.

But the 19-year-old teen mum, who is guest-starring in an episode of The Secret Life Of The American Teenager was pleased with the ruling.

Her lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, said: 'Bristol was in court today and she was pleased with the way things went. Levi was not present in court.'

Palin won interim child support for her son, Tripp, and the right to subpoena Johnston's commercial earnings, according to reports.

Van Flein said: '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 23 September.

“The payments amount to around $18,000 and date back to when their son was born, and Levi will be paying around $1,600 a month in ongoing child support payments.'

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Sarah Palin, "Family Love", and the Johnstons - UPDATE!

By Kathleen

Yesterday Gryphen dropped yet another interesting bombshell. He revealed that the much discussed Triggybear photographs had been snapped by Levi’s mother, Sherry Johnston, on the 3rd May, 2008, a significant date because it was the day of Levi’s 18th birthday. I’ll come back to this later.

Here is the photo of Sarah, Mercede and Trig, taken from Mercede's "Triggybear" collection, which Mercede published on 4th May, 2008 on her myspace. The caption reads “Mommy Inlaw Trig and Myself”. Mercede and Sarah certainly do seem relaxed and comfortable with each other, don’t they?

Next we have the photo of Mercede, Bristol and Trig. Again there is no tension here. The girls both appear to be happy in each others company. No sign here at all of the brooding hostility that is yet to come. For the moment everything is hunky dory and the caption reads “Family Love”.



I also include this curious photo taken on the 25th April, 2008, one week after Trig's official birth.

It is titled "My Sister IN-LAW , Oooh how I love her". How much closer can you get?



This leads us nicely to the mystery photo which was first revealed on the Tyra Banks Show on 6th April, 2009.


(Wonkette)

Audrey at Palin Deceptions wrote an excellent post regarding this photo which I encourage everyone to go back and read. With help from the Palin Deception Team, Audrey quickly identified that the photo was of Levi, Mercede and Trig and that it had been taken on the same day as the well known Triggybear pictures.

So let’s step back in time to the day when the pictures were taken. It is Levi’s eighteenth birthday. It’s quite an exciting birthday for many young people who often find themselves in a hurry to grow up and gain some independence. We don’t know for certain how Levi celebrated his birthday but we do know that some kind of celebration was held for him at the Palin home and that at least two adults (Sherry and Sarah) were involved. How do we know this? Let’s take a closer look at the new enlarged version of the photo that Gryphen posted:



On the counter behind Levi, who is tenderly cuddling tiny baby Trig, is a birthday cake. It must have been for Levi because it was his birthday. How sweet it was of Sarah to open up her house to a virtual stranger, his sister and his mother and share birthday cake with them.

In the following video, Sarah suggests to Barbara Walters the fact that she did not know Levi very well (from 5:32):



Barbara Walters: "At the time, leaving aside feelings today -- how did you feel about Bristol's boyfriend, Levi Johnston?"

Sarah: "We didn't see a lot of Levi. Bristol told us that she was pregnant...that was probably the only...only the second time that we had seen Levi there, in our living room, having a conversation with us like that."

Was this really "the second time" that they had had a conversation like that? Did Sarah unconsciously reveal to Barbara that there had been two conversations with Levi in which Bristol revealed that she was pregnant? Or did she simply want to imply that she had rarely met the young man who had impregnated her daughter?

The pictures portray a different story. They seem to be a celebration of not just Levi’s birthday but a celebration of life. Trig’s life. Members of the Johnston and Palin families come together to share birthday cake and cuddle Sarah’s “precious perfect miracle” and practice “Family Love”. We also shouldn’t forget that previously on the morning of 18th April Levi was present at the hospital to welcome Trig into the world, according to Levi's article in Vanity Fair, October issue 2009. For a young man that it has been suggested that they wanted out of their daughter’s life and that Sarah implies that she did not know well Levi certainly was tight with the Palins.

(Levi Johnston, Vanity Fair, October 2009)

An obvious question is why are they celebrating Levi’s important birthday at the Palin home? Why not at his family home with his mother and sister? Perhaps Bristol would join them there for cake and nibbles? Could it be that Levi felt so extremely comfortable at chez Palin because it was now his home and that he invited his mother and sister there to celebrate his important birthday? And did he live there with Bristol while she took care of Trig and did he help her take care of him?

So many questions and I will admit that I do not have definitive answers to them. Here is what we do know. We have the picture which turned up mysteriously on the Tyra Bank Show. A picture taken by Sherry in which Levi and Mercede share a very tender moment with a frail looking baby identified as Trig. We have Levi’s 18th birthday celebration shared by members of both families in the Palin home indicating that Levi was possibly living there at the time the photo was taken. We have the photo of Bristol and Mercede which identifies Bristol as Mercede's sister "IN LAW". We have the identification of Sarah as “Mommy Inlaw” and the caption underneath the photo of Bristol with Mercede and Trig which is curiously titled “Family Love”.

To this I’d like to add one more teensy observation. And this may provide the twist in the tale or not. In the Tyra Bank photo take a look at Levi’s ring finger. He wears a gold band. Is this a promise ring, an engagement ring or a wedding band?

In the Vanity Fair article Levi said that they broke the news of Bristol’s pregnancy with Tripp to Sarah and Todd the day after his birthday. Yet here he is wearing on his ring finger a gold band. Gryphen has suggested that this is an engagement ring and I have no reason to doubt what he says although I am still open to the suggestion that they may have married. What I do ask myself is why the hurry to commit and when did they become engaged? Bristol was seventeen. Levi just turned eighteen.

(Levi Johnston, Vanity Fair, October 2009)

Levi has admitted himself that his relationship with Bristol was somewhat tumultuous. Finally, Sarah has stated that she did not know this young man well at all. This young man who was presumably promised or engaged to her daughter is not known to her very well at all, yet he goes so far as to wear a ring at his birthday party in Sarah's kitchen - and this ONE DAY BEFORE the happy couple had broken the news to the Palins of Bristol's pregnancy with Tripp.

Does this make sense to anyone?

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UPDATE

I have found further evidence that Levi WAS living with the Palins before and around the time of his birthday. I think that this is very crucial and absolutely proves that Sarah was lying when she spoke to Barbara Walters.

Again. Ask yourself why was he living there? I can only surmise that he was helping Bristol take care of Trig.

From the Vanity Fair Interview, October Issue 2009:

"...since I used to sleep on the couch until Bristol got pregnant......."

"Todd slept in the living room, on his little black recliner, with the TV going in the background—usually with the news or an Ultimate Fighting Championship match on—wearing clothes he wore that same day. (Since I used to sleep on the couch until Bristol got pregnant, I know he doesn’t snore, so that’s not why he wasn’t in bed.) At four a.m., he was gone, off doing something. Sarah would wake up around five, then go to Kaladi Brothers Coffee soon after."

(Levi Johnston, Vanity Fair, October 2009)

In addition, it's of course also a blatant lie by Sarah Palin in the interview with Barbara Walters when Sarah claimed that she didn't know that Bristol already had sex when the news of the pregnancy with Tripp arrived.

The written proof for this lie is hidden in Bristol Palin's old myspace comments, which the Palindeception research team unearthed in early 2009.

On May 14, 2007, Bristol Palin wrote in the myspace comments on Johnny Chandler's page:

"haha, my mom was asking me who i was on the phone with last night, and she said she heard everything i was saying...now she thinks im pregnant. ahaha, call me later if you'd like.."

This incident had even further consequences for Bristol, because Sarah Palin then took Bristol's phone away for a few days:

You can download Bristol Palin's complete old myspace-comments HERE.

Well, can we really be surprised? After all, everyone who still has his/her marbles in place knows that Sarah Palin is a nasty pathological liar.

Here is another fine example of Sarah's lies, exclusively uncovered by Palingates in December last year.

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Sarah Palin's hypocrisy, an enduring theme: "socialized healthcare" is good enough for the Palin family

Shannyn Moore and earlier the Daily Kos commented on the fact that Bristol Palin's son Tripp Johnston is an enrolled tribal member of the Curyung Tribe and receives health care services at the state of the art Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage.

Recently released documents from the custody battle show clearly Tripp Palin Johnston has socialized health care through Indian Health Services and the Alaska Native Medical Center.

Palin’s family has federally funded health care afforded to them…but if you had, it Barack Obama might kill you. Put this on the list of Palin’s Greatest Hypocritical Hits…Volume 97.

Tripp is eligible to Native health care, according to this document.



Apart from collecting Bristol Bay Native Corporation dividends for himself and his children, Todd has very little involvement in native affairs.



An ADN article gives us some insight into Todd Palin's "nativeness":

Culturally, the Palins live a lifestyle of small-town Alaska. Todd does not take part in Native organizations or tribal politics. He grew up in Glennallen and Wasilla. His Native roots can be seen in his dividends from the Bristol Bay Native Corporation and boyhood visits with his grandma, where he learned to tend fish nets along the Nushagak River.

The Palins are grifters and opportunists as well as world class hypocrites. They are using anything they can to slam Levi at any given opportunity. Levi expected to have to provide health care cover for his son and would have deductions for it, naturally. So the Palins came back with the Native "thingie" to make Levi look bad, reinforcing their hypocrite credentials in the process. After all, Granny Palin is death panelled against socialized health care...

In the meantime, Tripp is receiving free health care thanks to grandad NINO (Native In Name Only).
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