Former VP candidate Sarah Palin wasn’t happy with online reports characterizing her daughter and future son-in-law as high school dropouts. She left a voice message for her contact at People Magazine defending them as hard-working kids doing their best. Sarah’s 18 year-old daughter Bristol gave birth to her first child, a baby boy named Tripp, last week. Bristol is taking a correspondence course to finish high school while her boyfriend, the baby’s father Levi Johnston, is working as an electrician’s apprentice and has plans to get his GED. New grandmother Palin said they’re “working their butts off” to parent. She didn’t comment about the news that her future son-in law’s mother was arrested on felony drug distribution charges, nor did she add a standard comment about how mother and baby were doing:
“You need to know that both Levi and Bristol are working their butts off to parent and going to school and working at the same time,” Palin told PEOPLE in a phone message Wednesday. “They are certainly not high school dropouts.”
The former vice presidential candidate said she wanted to be clear about their continuing work toward high school degrees because any suggestion otherwise “harms Bristol’s reputation and Levi’s reputation and their chances for good work opportunities.”
PEOPLE reported this week that Bristol, 18, who gave birth on Saturday, intends to finish her high school degree through correspondence courses. Levi, also 18, told the AP in October that he had left high school to enroll in an apprenticeship program training him as an electrician.
Gov. Palin told PEOPLE at the time that she hoped Levi would eventually earn a GED, adding, “I respect that Levi is out there working hard.”
[From People]
Palin was probably livid that her future son in law’s mom was caught dealing Oxycontin. She decided to focus on how her daughter was portrayed by the press instead of admitting the real problem. The tabloids are all over Sherry Johnston’s arrest this week, with the National Enquirer reporting that Levi’s mom was ratted out by one of her customers. The Enquirer’s account has one of Mrs. Johnston alleged customers tipping off police about her. The customer’s three children were taken away by Child Services in Wasilla after she and her husband were busted injecting crystal meth. Cops promised the woman she could get her children back if she named names, so she turned in her Oxycodone dealer, Sherry Johnston.
When the cops raided Sherry Johnston’s house they “found Oxycontin and a grow room with marijuana plants,” according to a source quoted by the Enquirer. (There’s no indication that Johnston was involved in crystal meth at all.) That’s much more damning to the family than some reports that your teen daughter and her boyfriend aren’t finishing high school because they now have a baby to look after. Sarah Palin is just focusing on what she can control, though.
Sarah Palin is shown in the header on 10/28/08. Credit: PRPhotos
palin wouldnt have to be leaving voicemails at people magazine if she hadnt thrust her children into the public spotlight for her own selfish and ambitious gains. its fair game palin. if she’s old enough to have a baby and raise a child and get married, she probably shouldnt have mommy chewing out the press and trying to clean up after her. such a stupid hypocritical family. she should focus on managing the state instead of her daughter’s reputation. i’d say its irreparably ruined anyway.
The whole situation is ridiculous and awful and rife with hypocrisy, and I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that this woman was a serious contender for second-in-command.
And at the same time, I think it’s kind of sweet she did this.
I didn’t know Levi’s father was busted, too. Why, then, has all the focus (and late-night jokes!) been on the mother?
Mojo it was the customer’s husband busted by the cops after taking crystal meth. I worded that part poorly and will try to re-word it so that it’s clearer. Sorry for the confusion!
If those glasses have prescription lenses in them at all it’s very, very slight…she wears them as an accessory to dial down the MILF so people will take her seriously more than anything else.
Verdict: FAIL.
There’s too much unsavory taint around this family and the tentacles are spreading to others, including low-life drug dealers. So glad Sarah Palin has returned to Alaska and hopefully will stay there.
Oh PAleeze…don’t fool yourselves into thinking anyone’s family is free from “taint”. Sh*t happens in this life and it’s how well one handles it rather then hides it that counts.
I seem to remember McCain’s campaign staff denying reports that they hadn’t fully vetted Palin prior to her being offered the VP spot. The proof is in the pudding. Can you imagine where we would be as a nation if McCain/Palin had won? The entire world would be running away from any relations with the U.S. I really do hate to bash because I truly admire John McCain, but it’s now clear that his campaign was a high-speed car wreck. I know Repubs have been framing their image around “real Americans”, country music and all that, but just how “real” did they want to be?
No one is responsible for the in-laws actions except the in-laws, period.
That said, which one of you would not stick up for your child?? Palin is no different than any Mom I know in that respect.
I give Bristol credit for her tenacity earning her HS degree with a new baby. You think it’s easy? Try it.
Try it with world-wide criticism not only for your actions/decisions, but also for the actions/behavior of adults you have no control over.
I earned my HS equivalency at age 15. I worked my ass off for it and didn’t have the added burden of a baby to take care of.
Guess what? My Mom was proud and stood behind me as Palin is doing for her daughter, it’s called love. Plain and simple.
Is there anything else to do in Alaska besides doing and selling drugs?
@Kink: yes, there is moose hunting and sex.
Not meaning to make fun of Alaska, it’s a very beautiful region with a lot of nice people living there.
I’m not criticizing these kids, they’ve got a hard row to hoe, but to deny they are high school dropouts is silly when they obviously are. And I don’t see shame in being one, but obviously Sarah Palin does, since she is denying it.
Once you get past it, a GED counts for just as much as a high school diploma.
i wonder why she didn’t finish her GED BEFORE the kid was born?!? when did she drop out?
maybe then there would have been new name choices in mind rather than same old random object baby name generator.
Ugh, I guess this is going to be her project now that the Maverick project is over.
I yearn for it to go back to when I didn’t know her and her white trash family.
thank god she didn’t name her kid Maverick!!! LOL
“They are certainly not high school dropouts.”– Would someone please explain why they are not dropouts, when neither one is attending high school? You take correspondence courses and/or go for a GED after you’ve dropped out of high school, no?
Henny Penny:
Agreed! I guess she just wants everyone to know of their intentions to go about alternative means for their education.
I frankly find it all self-serving. She’s only trying to fix her image, which I’d say is quite tarnished now.
Ditto Syko
Palin´s son dropped out of high school, her daughter dropped out of high school, her son in LAW (SOMEDAY, i GUESS???) DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL…WHAT DOES PALIN mean WHEN SHE SAYS THEY are not drop OUTS?????????????? Why doesn´t ANYONE EVER call her on the shear stupidity of her statements. WHEN SHE CALLED THE NEWSPAPERS and MAGAZINES, did anybody say, BUT SARAH they DROPPED OUT…………….EVEN if they someday make it up, they still did what the name suggests, DROP OUT..see Sarah, understand, DROP OUT…………
Deo, lol
thats ok-palin is clearly operating on the emperor’s new clothes policy.(scenario pun not intended). she thinks if she denies it then it isn’t true. she obviously makes up her own reality. and you other people nailed it: there isnt much to do up there besides the 4 things mentioned, although I would add reading and outdoor activities to the list.
unfortunately, its a vast place with pockets of extreme hillbilly redneck white trash behavior. evidenced by the perfect storm of the extended palin family.
Bristol is still in high school, if she’s taking courses for it in any way, shape or form. I think Palin is resenting the use of the term drop out;
High school is complete BS. It doesn’t mean you’re stupid if you don’t finish. My husband dropped out of high school at 16–to go to college! An electrician is a great, well paying job, good on him for getting the apprenticeship. Our society gets more and more obsessed with little sheets of paper as the institutions giving them go down the toilet. Drives me crazy.
As for the future mother-in-law…that doesn’t really reflect on Palin. Obama has some unsavory relatives, embarrassing relationships, just as every other politician in the United States does, whether it’s a mistress in Edward’s, Fitz’s or Clinton’s case, or something else. She can’t control it, it really doesn’t have much to do with her, why would she say anything? I know if my in-laws were busted for something my mother wouldn’t have much to say to anyone outside of the family.
God, if we ostracized everybody in the world who a kook or criminal relative, we’d each have our own little desert island to sit on.
My husband dropped out of high school at 16–to go to college!
To be fair…if he went to college, he didn’t necessarily “drop out” of highschool. He tested out. I’m not sure what colleges are around you, but the ones around me, don’t take people who don’t have their HS Diploma or equivalent.
But as far as the Bristol and her baby’s daddy goes….when you drop out of high school…you’re a high school drop out.
Baho: No kidding. And I’m happy to lend some of the criminals in my family to anyone looking to “taint” up their own herd. But you have to keep them or the deal’s off.
True Baholicious, but not all of us have tried to run for public office on the basis of our own bible-humping, flag-waving self-righteousness- there’s a difference. Someone in the GOP is kicking themselves and guzzling Maalox like its going out of style over that Palin woman and her clan of rednecks.
Very very true Baho. God knows my family has enough black sheep for 7 or 8 herds!
But none of us are dumb enough to run for public office…
Lord, y’all know all she’s doing is trying to keep her own face and name in the media. Her worst nightmare (Palin) is to be ignored after all that damn attention she got for a while.
Obama was raised by a single mother. Is he trash as a result? His brother lives in a hut in Kenya.
Palin has a lot more political experience than our current president-elect.
Are you people really pro-choice? Being pro-choice means just that – accepting that some people will choose to keep their babies rather than get rid of it.
“Are you people really pro-choice? Being pro-choice means just that – accepting that some people will choose to keep their babies rather than get rid of it.”
There’s really no choice involved for those who believe that life begins at conception.
@ Bunnicula: Where or how does pro-choice enter into this??!
I can see that you are not only sipping on the Palin-kool aid but are actively trying to market it as well.
I’ve been censored?! But my comment was so beautifully passive-aggressive. . .
Seriously? Censored?
I know it’s the new pink to be Bush haters, but the election is over.
Obama already won.
Didn’t you get the memo?
My Mom was a drop out, she went on to get a masters much later…..but still acknowledged that she DROPPED OUT. It´s a TERM, a decription, a fact, it doesn´t change because it´s a PALIN kid. THAT´S ALL. It doesn´t change COZ SARAH SED.
There’s really no choice involved for those who believe that life begins at conception.
Actually life began about 50 million years ago, well before all you little monkeys began to make such ostentatious remarks to each other about your reproductive choices.
“Actually life began about 50 million years ago, well before all you little monkeys began to make such ostentatious remarks to each other about your reproductive choices.”
LOL! This is true. I personally don’t believe that something the size of a salamander (and certainly can’t survive outside the womb) qualifies as a living being.
But I am certain the Palin brood does. That was where I was going with that.
Can we stop paying attention to the Alaskan Clampetts already? The election is long over, and Palin and her brood have returned home. Why do we still have to hear about them every day?
Is anyone else finding it REALLY hard to believe that the Palins were completely oblivious to the reportedly extensive drug activity going on in the soon-to-be-son-in-law’s family home? Sorry to all for rehashing if this topic was already covered in a prior thread.
Bannicula: More “political experience than Obama”? That is laughable. I firmly believe that kids are off limits, so will limit my comments to Sarah.
The fact is that her popularity in Alaska has done a nose dive — so much so that she might not win re-election. It seems that Alaskan residents were upset when Palin lied on the national campaign trail about her earmark funding, her saying “no” to funding to the bridge to nowhere, and other things. She also lied about the amount of “energy” Alaska supplies to the lower 48. They view Palin as someone who thinks that the rules of governance don’t apply to her, and she is under investigation for various violations of ethics issues.
Dante, your comment is sexist and offensive.
To Ginny:
Education is not BS. You should be ashamed of yourself; that type of thinking is what is lowering the standards in this country — as well as our nation’s future.
Fact: Sarah Palin believes that sex should only occur between a married couple, and that the only family is the Married Father/mother setup.
She also believes that teenagers should not be taught safe sex and about contraception.
Her Family is in the spotlight because SHE put them there and made family a central platform. Before she judges other families – she should get her own house in order
daisy424: Dante, your comment is sexist and offensive.
Oh I’m sure Sarah was put in her position by her skills, intelligence and capability to lead, just as I’m sure that magical green pixies sing her soothing lullabies and bring her gifts of nectar and gold dust every night.
Politics is a sexist business, dahling.
Bannicula: Sorry, I don’t think that being “pro-choice” is that simple. Many people are pro-choice but not pro-abortion. This means that they feel that abortion should be allowed, but only in the early stages of the pregnancy — not later term, or, God forbid, partial birth abortions. Many believe that “human life/soul” or the “person” does not begin until after the first trimester. Some believe it is later. So to say that abortion is to “get rid of the baby” just isn’t true.
@Dante; My comment was is response to your disgusting, idiotic comment which has been deleted/moderated by CB, dahling. So I must have been correct in my analogy.
Oh I’m sure Sarah was put in her position by her skills, intelligence and capability to lead…
Palin wasn’t voted into the office of Governor by green pixies, but by the voters in Alaska. Their reasons are unknown to me, but I can assure you; it wasn’t due to an ability to sit at a computer all day viciously attacking celebrity bloggers who dare to have a different opinion.
You need to lay off the ‘pixie gold dust’ maybe then you wouldn’t be so F-ing combative & caustic. Get over yourself.