Much as I’d like to ignore Sarah Palin, the entire Palin family and everyone who has ever been associated with the them, they aren’t going away. Take Levi Johnston – the 18-year-old kid who fathered son Tripp with Bristol Palin. This is the only reason this kid’s famous, which should be kind of embarrassing for him. Instead of keeping his head down and trying to figure out his life, Levi instead agreed to be interviewed by Tyra Banks.

So what does Alaska’s most famous teenage father have to say about the woman who was close to being his mother-in-law? Levi says that he and Bristol had sex in the Palin home, and he’s “pretty sure” Gov. Palin knew at the time. He also says that he and Bristol practiced safe sex “most of the time.”

Bristol Palin’s former fiancé and father to her child Tripp is talking about their sex life on national television.

Levi Johnston not only says he practiced safe sex “most of the time” when they were together, he also reveals to Tyra Banks that he believes Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin knew he and Bristol were having sex when they lived under her roof. “I’m pretty sure she probably knew. Moms are pretty smart,” Johnston, 18, says in an interview set to air April 6.

The couple, who were high school sweethearts, planned to wed after graduating – but ended up splitting earlier this year. At the time, Johnston told Good Morning America that he needed to mature before getting married.

Meanwhile, now that they are just friends and not romantically involved, PEOPLE has confirmed with a source that Bristol is not dating but has been “texting and chatting” with a high school boyfriend she had before Johnston.

Johnston’s mom, Sherry, and sister Mercede, join him on The Tyra Banks Show, talking about the gag order imposed on them during Palin’s vice presidential campaign. “We were supposed to say that all questions need be brought up to the McCain campaign. Other than that we had to say ‘no comment,’ ” explains Mercede.

[From People Magazine ]

This kid has the media relations instincts of a rock. And Bristol is “texting and chatting” with the boyfriend she had before Levi? Is “texting” an Alaska colloquialism for “getting knocked up again”?

In other Palin-related news, Todd “The First Dude” Palin gave a denial-filled interview to Men’s Journal Magazine in which he claims that the Palins never asked for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in clothes they received from the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee. Todd says they “never went to Saks… I couldn’t give a rat’s [expletive] about clothes. Please. I mean these are my Sunday go-to-meeting jeans! You got to remember, it’s not like they just plucked us off the fishing boat with scales still under our nails, you know?” Do you believe him?

Levi Johnston gave an impromptu press conference last week, saying that he and Bristol Palin had broken up “a while ago”. This weekend Gov. Sarah Palin, Bristol’s mother, gave a brief statement about her daughter, saying that she was “doing great”. But it looks like that wasn’t all we had to hear about this whole situation. Levi has given an interview to Good Morning America, in what I can only guess is an attempt to clear the air and come out of the situation looking like the good guy.

Levi says that he wasn’t “mature enough” and that he and Bristol decided it would be “better for us to separate for a while.” He also messes with the timeline again. Last week, Levi claimed that they had split “a while ago” and now he’s saying they split “a week, two weeks ago”. I don’t think two weeks is “a while,” but whatever, Levi. People has more:

Nineteen-year-old Levi Johnston, the former fiancé of Bristol Palin and father to her child, has had to grow up fast, but says in a new interview that he needs to “mature” before considering marriage.

“It’s just us not, me not being mature enough, or something, and having a kid and thinking … it could be better – better for us to separate for a while,” Johnston, 19, said in an exclusive interview at his Alaska home with Neal Karlinsky of Good Morning America.

As for whether a reconciliation with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s eldest daughter is possible, he said, “We’ll see how it is … We’ll just remain friends for now. We’re both cool with that decision, and we’ll see.”

Of the break-up that happened “a week, two weeks” ago, Johnston admitted, “We were just, we were in a fight. And trying to see if we can make things work. But this is what it kind of ended up turning into.”

Palin, 18, gave birth to a son, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, on Dec. 27, and Johnston says he sees his son regularly – and it has changed his life.

“I’d give anything for [Tripp], to be with him,” he said. “[There are] a lot of changes when you’re a father, when you hold him for the first time, you know. I don’t do a lot of things I used to anymore, I’ll tell you that.”

He added: “Yeah, [I'm] growing up a lot. So, it’s fun. It’s good times.”

Asked if he felt any pressure from the Palin family, Johnston said, “No, not at all.”

[From People]

So Levi didn’t feel any pressure to marry Bristol? Perhaps not in the long run. In the short-term, during the campaign, I’d say he was definitely being pushed into marriage, or at least saying that he would marry Bristol at some point. After the election, maybe the Palin family gave the meth-dealing Johnston family a second look and decided that they were “white trash” who would destroy the their own political future.

Alaska governor Sarah Palin is sort of talking about her daughter Bristol’s split with Levi Johnston. Gov. Palin was in a Juneau supermarket, helping out the Girl Scouts, when she gave what seems like an impromptu press conference. She brought along her three youngest children, as well as her grandchild Tripp, who is the son of Bristol and Levi.

I’m not sure what questions Gov. Palin got, but at some point someone asked where Bristol was, or how Bristol was doing. Gov. Palin answered that Bristol was appearing in her mother’s place at a miniature golf tournament/fundraiser, and that Bristol is “doing great, just great!” You betcha. People has more:

Alaska governor Sarah Palin strode through the produce section of Juneau’s Fred Meyer supermarket Saturday morning, smiling and waving with an entourage of youngsters in tow.

“These are my children, Willow, Piper and [11-month-old] Trig,” Palin told an excited group of Girl Scouts. Then Palin, 45, motioned to a baby bundled in a hoodie, held and bottle-fed by Piper. “And this is my grandbaby Tripp,” she said of the infant son of her daughter Bristol, 18.

“He’s only 2-months-old. It’s kind of surreal!,” she added.

Palin was taking a break from governing the nation’s largest state to help Juneau’s Girl Scout Troop 32 sell cookies after the group lost all for [sic] their previous proceeds in a robbery the week before. “I read about it in the newspaper and I said, ‘Well, me and the kids have an hour on Saturday, let’s go down and help,’” she explained. “This age is so precious.”

Missing from the Palin family group was Bristol, in the news after her split with Tripp’s father, Levi Johnston, 19. There’s no mystery, though. “Oh, Bristol is over at the state capitol building golfing in a miniature golf tournament,” Palin told PEOPLE. “It’s a fundraiser and she’s up there taking my place while I’m here.”

“Bristol is doing great, just great!,” Palin said.

During her hour and a half in the store, Palin, in jeans and purple down vest, walked the aisles urging shoppers to buy cookies while chatting with Girls Scouts clamoring to hold her hand. “Cool, she’s our babysitter!” said one of the scout moms with a laugh. Palin responded with a laugh of her own: “I was so glad to leave the office for this fun thing.”

Palin made several sweeps of the store (“Come buy cookies!) until she was diverted by an aisle of exercise equipment on sale. “Wait a minute, we need this for when it rains and I can’t run,” said the Governor, closely examining an elliptical trainer. PEOPLE asked Palin if she’d lost weight since the election. “I’ve lost weight since I had my baby,” she said. “Thanks for noticing!”

Still, Palin chipped in for several boxes of cookies for her family. “I love the Thin Mints,” she said. “But my daughters already told me I can’t get those, that I have to get the Samoas. Well, you know what? We’ll get both!”

From People Magazine

Mmm, Thin Mints. I can’t believe Sarah Palin and I both like the same kind of Girl Scout cookies. I didn’t really get what Gov. Palin was saying about losing weight after the baby was born. She’s talking about her baby Trig, and she gave birth to him last spring. She already had her figure back by September, for her Vice Presidential rollout, but I guess she’s lost even more weight.

So, was this Gov. Palin’s official “statement” about the Levi-Bristol split? I would have expected a lot more. Honestly, I was hoping for some gaffe-and-wink-filled press conference, but my hopes have been terribly dashed. Gov. Palin’s lack of any substantive comments on her daughter’s split seems both smart and classy. Way to go, you betcha.

Sarah Palin is shown in the header on 2/20/09 at the Wasilla airport before a charity trip to deliver food. Credit: Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News/MCT

It seems like Star Magazine actually had a good scoop yesterday. They reported that Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston had officially broken up, and that Bristol wouldn’t allow Levi to spend any time with their baby Tripp.

Wednesday evening, Levi confirmed the break-up news himself, as he stood outside of his family’s home. Levi claimed that the decision to split was “mutual” and that they decided it “a while ago”. Uh, the baby was just born at the end of December. How long “a while” ago did they decide to split? Like two seconds after giving birth? People has more:

Levi Johnston doesn’t want you to believe everything you read.

Standing outside his family home in Wasilla, Alaska, Wednesday, the 19-year-old confirmed that the end of his engagement to Bristol Palin was mutual and decided “a while ago.” But, he also told the Associated Press that the rumors on the Internet of why and how were inaccurate.

Meanwhile, Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin, issued a statement through her mother’s political action committee, saying, “Unfortunately, my family has seen many people say and do many things to ‘cash in’ on the Palin name. Sometimes that greed clouds good judgment and the truth.”

The teenagers’ infant son, Tripp, was born Dec. 27.

Representatives for Gov. Palin have not returned calls for comment.

From People Magazine

Like yesterday’s report from Star, this “confirmation” by Levi is still only coming from him and his family. It would be really interesting to hear what Bristol had to say about it.

Last night on Coutdown, Keith Olbermann made some “Bristol is an unwed mother” jokes that I thought were a little cruel. Yes, Bristol’s mother is a hypocrite, and the Republican Party used Bristol and Levi to further their own agenda. The joke’s on the adults, not on these dumb kids Bristol and Levi and their baby Tripp.

Photo Credit: UPI/Newscom

They said it would never last. And it didn’t, according to Star Magazineand Levi Johnston’s sister. According to Levi’s sister Mercede, Bristol Palin has “virtually cut Levi out of the life of their two-month-old son Tripp”.

Last month, CB reported that Governor Palin refers to Levi Johnston’s family as “white trash”. Levi’s sister says the same thing, only she puts the words “white trash” in Bristol’s mouth. Allegedly, Bristol tells Levi that she doesn’t want the baby around “white trash” unless Levi‘s baby-sitting. Good Lord. Where to even start with that one? Read Star’s report:

The teen love affair that rocked last year’s presidential race is over.

Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, has ditched her baby daddy, Levi Johnston!

Now’s Levi’s sister, Mercede is telling all exclusively to Star and the picture she paints of life in Wasilla, Alaska is not a pretty one. Bristol, 18, has virtually cut Levi out of the life of their two-month-old son Tripp.

“Levi tries to visit Tripp every single day, but Bristol makes it nearly impossible. She tells him he can’t take the baby to our house because she doesn’t want him around ‘white trash’!” Bristol won’t even allow him to watch the baby for a few hours — unless he’s babysitting!

The worst part, Mercede continues, is that the former vice presidential candidate condones Bristol’s treatment of Levi, 19. “I used to love Sarah,” Mercede says sadly. “But I’ve lost lots of respect for her.”

From Star Magazine

We pay a lot of lip service about how Star Magazine is a bottom-feeding rag that makes up stories out of thin air. It is, and we’re right. But occasionally Star does get a half-decent scoop. You can usually tell it’s a pretty good scoop when the sources are actually named. I don’t know if this sister, Mercede, has an axe to grind with the Palin family, or if she and her brother are close. But I’ll buy that Mercede is close enough to know what goes on with her brother. I’ll also buy that this Star story is most likely just Levi’s version of events. I’d imagine if the Palin family was leaking information to Star, the story would be completely different.

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are shown at the Republican National Convention in September, 2008. Credit: UPI/Newscom

Bristol Palin, oldest daughter of Alaska governor Sarah Palin, has given her first interview since giving birth to baby Tripp to Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren. So, is Bristol going to run for president in 2012? No, silly! Of course not! Bristol wants to become some kind of advocate for teen pregnancy, I think.

The biggest news out of the interview is that Bristol thinks telling teenagers to simply be abstinent is “not realistic at all”. Duh. That’s what we’ve been saying. Thank you for joining us, Bristol. I have to hand it to Bristol though, to so publicly criticize a position her mother holds (though her mother got knocked up before marriage as well), and to do it on Fox News, the mothership.

Bristol also talked about her “eventual” marriage to Levi – it doesn’t sound like she’s really trying to get him down the aisle. Maybe it has something to do with her mother’s feelings on Levi’s family. People has more:

Hoping to set an example for others with her own experience, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol Palin, would now like to become an advocate for preventing teen pregnancy.

“Everyone should wait 10 years,” the younger Palin told Greta Van Susteren on a Fox News segment that aired Monday night. “I hope people learn from my story … It’s so much easier if you’re married, have a house and career. It’s not a situation you want to strive for.”

Palin, 18, also said in the interview – her first since the teen made headlines last summer during Sarah Palin’s GOP vice-presidential campaign – that her mother’s view of abstinence, especially in regard to teenagers, is “not realistic at all.”

Bristol further stated that although her mother is an outspoken Right to Life advocate, “It was my choice to have the baby. It doesn’t matter what my mom’s views are on it. It was my decision.”

Recounting how she first informed her parents, Todd and Sarah Palin, of her condition, Bristol said she gathered her boyfriend, Levi Johnston, and her best friend, but that getting the words out of her mouth was “harder than labor.”

The friend broke the news to the parents, said Bristol, who also described Johnston as a “hands-on dad.” She added, “Eventually we’d like to get married.

As for her new situation, “I like being a mom,” said Bristol. “I love it, just seeing him smile and stuff. It’s awesome.”

Appearing late in the interview, carrying her grandson Tripp Johnston, Gov. Palin said, “Hey, life happens.” Of her unwed, teenage daughter’s pregnancy, she said, “Not the most ideal situation, certainly you make the most of it.”

From People Magazine

I’m really starting to wonder if Bristol and Levi really want to get married. Levi has always seemed to be, at best, going with the flow, and at worst, a hostage to the Palin family. Both Sarah Palin and her husband Todd have publicly proclaimed their interest in seeing Bristol run down the aislet, but I tend to think that’s just for appearances’ sake.

So will Bristol really become some sort of advocate for not-just-abstinence-only sex education? Doubtful, but I do admire the fact that Bristol so publicly proclaimed her indifference to her mother’s policies. There’s hope for her yet.

A then-pregnant Bristol Palin and her fiance, Levi Johnston, are shown at the RNC on 9/4/08. Credit: UPI/Newscom

Former Vice Presidential candidate and current Alaskan governor Sarah Palin is involved in a bitter feud with the family of her daughter’s fiance and is actively blocking them from seeing her six week old grandson, Tripp. Sarah’s daughter Bristol, 18, is engaged to 18 year-old Levi Johnston. Levi’s mother Sherry was arrested in Wasilla, Alaska in December on multiple felony drug counts involving illegally selling the prescription drug Oxycontin. Sherry Johnston claims that the public has the wrong impression of her and told People Magazine that she had a hysterectomy eight years ago and seven subsequent surgeries and that she uses the drug to deal with the constant pain. She didn’t quite explain how she was caught dealing, though.

Sarah Palin is said to be adamant that Levi’s family stay away from her daughter and new grandson, Tripp. She hasn’t let Sherry or her daughter Mercede, Levi’s sister, meet the new baby:

Bristol Palin, 18, gave birth to Tripp on Dec. 27, but neither Sherry nor her daughter Mercede has been allowed to see the baby, say sources.

A furious Mercede, called Sadie by friends, has complained on the Internet that the governor is snubbing the family.

“We aren’t Palins so therefore we are white trash,” she wrote on a Web site.

Sadie told a pal: “Sarah Palin is breaking our hearts. She won’t let us see the baby.

“Bristol doesn’t want us around either, and Levi’s too weak to stand up against them.

“Mom’s arrest was just was Sarah was looking for to freeze out our family. They’ve always looked down on us and went into shot when Levi got Bristol pregnant.”

A family friend confirmed to The Enquirer that since Sherry’s arrest, Palin has shut out the Johnston family.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, February 16, 2009]

In October, Sarah and her husband Todd told People Magazine that they wanted Bristol to marry Levi soon. All those plans went out the window when his mom got busted, and according to the source quoted in the Enquirer “[Sarah] definitely doesn’t want to see Bristol marry him at this point,” although she’s said to be “accepting of Levi.”

Sherry kind of made her own bed by dealing drugs out of her house and although it must be heartbreaking for her not to be able to see her grandson I can kind of see why Sarah is being so adamant about it. An hour supervised visit doesn’t seem like it would hurt, but maybe Sarah doesn’t want to open that door and would rather her daughter have nothing to do with the family. It’s kind of too late now that she had a baby with their son, though.

Levi Johnston is shown meeting John McCain at the RNC Convention in September. Sarah Palin is shown holding her son, Trig (not Tripp) and kissing a then-pregnant Bristol, also at the RNC. Credit: UPI/Newscom

Levi Johnston’s mother was arrested in Wasilla, Alaska the week before Christmas on multiple felony drug charges involving the controlled prescription medication Oxycontin. Reports came out after the arrest that the investigation was purposely delayed due to the US election. Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, who is the fiance of former VP candidate Sarah Palins’ daughter, Bristol. 18 year-old Bristol welcomed her first baby, a son named Tripp, on December 18.

Sherry Johnston, 42, pleaded not guilty to the drug charges this Monday. She also made a statement to People Magazine in her defense. Johnston explained that she had a hysterectomy eight years ago and seven subsequent surgeries and that she uses the opiate to deal with the constant pain. She didn’t explain how she was caught dealing it, except to say that the public has the wrong idea:

Speaking for the first time since her Dec. 18 arrest on charges of selling OxyContin, Sherry Johnston – whose son, Levi fathered a son with Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, last month – tells PEOPLE she got hooked on the prescription opiate after a hysterectomy eight years ago, which led to seven additional surgeries.

“I was in pain, and I’m still in pain,” she says.

Johnston, 42, pleaded not guilty at a Jan. 5 arraignment in Palmer, Alaska. “I have been trying for years to deal with the pain,” she says. “I have a medical pump inside me. I’d rather not comment any more but it’s not everything that they’re saying.”

Johnston said has been under a doctor’s care and that she was prescribed OxyContin as a painkiller. Still, the hysterectomy and the subsequent complications forced her to give up her career as a hairstylist because she couldn’t comfortably stay upright. “I am disabled,” she says.

[From People]

I did some half-assed google research and the implanted medical pump Johnston is referring to might be used to deliver local anesthetic to the pain site. That sounds like a horrible way to live for nearly a decade. Opiates should be a short term solution to pain and not something you rely on for years as that can prolong the problem and cause its own issues. Withdrawl from Oxycontin is difficult to say the least and can make the pain more intense, leading sufferers to go back to the drug. It’s awful to suffer chronic pain and it’s a huge trade off to go on an opiate for relief, only to end up addicted. Many people are hurting so badly that they don’t feel they have any other options.

If it’s true that Sherry Johnston was selling a controlled substance to friends it’s illegal and there’s no excuse. Maybe she thinks it’s justified or something because she couldn’t work.

Sherry’s son Levi Johnston, 18, recently quit his job as an electrician’s apprentice on an oil rig when reporters questioned whether he was qualified for the position. Johnston is a high school drop out and regulations require that all electrician apprentices hold high school diplomas.

Sherry has one bright spot amid all the scandal in her family. She says she’s “very excited” about her newborn grandson, Tripp, and that he “looks just like Levi.”

18 year-old Bristol Palin, the daughter of Alaskan Governor and former Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin, just gave birth to baby Tripp on Sunday. The celebrity glossies had a mild bidding war for the first photos of the baby, with People coming in first. Despite the economic downturn and an accompanying drop in the price that celebrity baby photos can command, Bristol is rumored to have received an estimated $300,000 for Tripp’s debut. The controversy over dad Levi’s mother’s arrest on felony drug distribution charges, presumably for selling Oxycontin, is said to have bumped the price of the photos up. There’s nothing like a family arrest to sell magazines:

According to one source, bidding for the baby photos began at $100,000. People won out in the end, but In Touch was the only other weekly to make serious bids, according to several sources involved in the process.

The price didn’t soar immediately, according to the sources, because Sarah Palin stories just didn’t sell all that well for the weeklies on newsstands.

“Sarah was on the cover of People, Us Weekly, and OK! the same week, and really only People saw a bump in sales,” says a source.

The drug-related arrest of Johnston’s mother, however, caused the price tag for the photos to go up.

“The bidding started well before the baby was born, but once Levi’s mom was arrested — well, then you had a story,” says one editor.

As for how much teen parents Bristol and Levi made from the deal — most estimates hover around the $300,000 range (none of the magazines would confirm the exact figure in the end, which is standard).

[From MSNBC's The Scoop]

$300,000 is a lot of money, especially to a young couple just getting started. It can help set them up with a house and money that they can live on for years if they manage it well and keep day jobs. Bristol’s fiance, Levi Johnston, has dropped out of high school and is working as an electrician’s apprentice to earn money for his young family. They have a wedding planned for the summer of next year and the money will help with the expenses. There are also Levi’s mother’s legal bills to consider.

Bristol Palin has given birth to her first baby, a little boy, on Sunday.

Bristol Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, gave birth on Sunday to a healthy 7 lb., 4 oz., baby boy in Palmer, Alaska.

“We think it’s wonderful,” said Colleen Jones, the sister of Bristol’s grandmother Sally Heath, who confirmed the news. “The baby is fine and Bristol is doing well. Everyone is excited.”

The baby’s name is Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, according to Jones.

Baby Tripp takes his surname from his dad, Levi Johnston, an apprentice electrician and former Wasilla High School hockey player who has been dating Bristol for three years.

People

I thought Tripp was an unusual choice, partly because it isn’t that common, and partly because Bristol’s nine month old brother is named Trigg, and her other brother Track.

Bristol currently resides in Wasilla, and is studying for her high school diploma via correspondence. Her boyfriend Levi dropped out of school due to his impending fatherhood and is now an apprentice electrician. While Bristol’s parents Sarah and Todd Palin gave an interview saying they’d like the couple to get married ‘sooner rather than later’, which many took to mean before or very soon after the baby is born, the pair don’t plan to wed until summer 2009.

Levi spoke briefly to the media about his relationship with Bristol, and said he was looking forward to fatherhood. “I’m going to take him hunting and fishing. He’ll be everywhere with me.”

Bristol was five months pregnant when her mother Sarah was nominated as Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican Party.

Congratulations to the couple, they seem to be working their hardest on being good parents in very difficult circumstances.