The Wasilla stud is totally working that Wal-Mart greeter sweater vest.
And hey kids listen to your Uncle Gryphen. If you cannot grow a real mustache then don't bother letting the peach fuzz grow. It just makes you look pathetic.
I have to agree with my commenter's from the earlier post who said that Levi looks sad.
Go Mercedes, go! Damn! Is she pissed or what?
And it appears that Bristol/Sarah/Meg Stapleton's statement suggesting that this family is only doing this for the money is completely false. Hah! I bet Sarah simply cannot imagine doing ANYTHING if it does not make her a buck or move her closer to the White House.
Levi seems pretty sure that Sarah knew that Bristol was knocking boots with Levi.
"Were you practicing safe sex?"
"Yeah"
"Every time you practiced safe sex?"
"Yep"
"Every time?"
"Every time."
"Levi?"
"Most of the time."
I swear that is my favorite exchange of the show and certainly shows a lot of Levi's teenage boy attitude. I find it kind of endearing actually. He is just a regular kid.
Sherry Johnston almost breaks my heart when she starts talking about not seeing her grandson.
Oooh it looks like Levi is ready to take the Palin family to court over custody of little Tripp. Oh please do, please do, please do. I swear I will start a Levi legal fund tomorrow if he needs any financial help. I am pretty sure we could raise enough money to get him the best legal team in Alaska.
Maybe we could hire that Wayne Anthony Ross guy, I think he will be looking for a new job sometime soon.
I don't know if it was because my tinfoil hat was too tight or not, but I kept thinking I noticed a subtext to some of what Mercedes and Levi were saying. As if behind the words they were saying out loud to the audience was a message to a certain Governor we all know?
Perhaps in the order of: "Listen up bitch we are not going to give up all of your secrets just yet, but if you don't start to play ball, the whole world is going to know EVERYTHING about you and your family."
(Hat tip to Celtic Diva for finding these YouTube videos for me.)
Update: Holy crap! Mercedes is definitely sending a message to Sarah Palin and to all of us who are following the "babygate" story. Go back and watch that first video. Seven minutes in there is a picture of Mercedes and Sarah Palin with a baby. THAT BABY IS NOT TRIPP! That is a picture of Mercedes with Trig from her My Space page. You can see it in context here.
Mercedes is giving us a peek at the cat in the bag but not completely letting it out.
Damn this is going to give Sarah a heart attack. Come on Mercedes just start talking kiddo, think how much better you will feel. (Thanks to my commenter Annette for bringing this to my attention.
The interview made it very clear that the couple was doing fine until Sarah was nominated to run for VP. Then she took over all their lives, and look what has happened. It is sad that an evil person can wreak such havoc in the lives of others. I hope they will impeach her soon.
ReplyDeleteGryphen,
ReplyDeleteYou are so correct. Levi was giving a warning to the Palins. I bet that the Johnstons and the Palins make up real soon.
I thought it was interesting that Sherry mentioned the Secret Service hacking her computer. What was that all about? I wonder what they were trying to find?
I still think that Bristol is Trig's mother but I really don't think that Levi is his father. It seems to me that Bristol has really put it on Levi. He strikes me to be a bit whipped with that Bristol tattoo and all.
I can see Bristol hiding a pregnancy from Levi and him being too stupid to notice. Does anyone not find it strange that Bristol moved to Anchorage with her Aunt in Dec. 07 because the Palins wanted her away from Levi only to allow her to move back to Wasilla in March/April 08 and resume the relationship with Levi? And to top it off, she gets pregnant again and this time it's by Levi. Definitely strange as hell to me. I think poor Levi was used by Bristol and the Palins.
I completely agree that Levi is trying to send a message. I betcha they'll be more accommodating with visitation for him knowing that he hasn't spilled all the beans....yet!
ReplyDeleteA commenter on mudflats noticed this, and so did I...
ReplyDeletePart 2, about 7:26, Levi looks sharply at his sister/mom while his mom is talking. Interesting.
Hey, I watched and did brief glimpses to those on flats while I watched it. I really felt sorry for them. Well not all, I believe Mercede is ready to kick some wasillihillbie ass. I was very impressed by her, first time I have ever seen her, she is very pretty girl.
ReplyDeleteI felt sorry for Sherri (sp, think that is her name)I do not think she was lying about not being able to see the baby and them not being allowed to attend the birthing and the no photographs.
God don't like ugly Gino clan, what you put out you will receive 10x fold.
Gryphen.. you need to watch that video and look at the picture they show at about 7 minutes of Mercede and the baby...
ReplyDeleteI don't want to say too much... just look at the picture. Please.
if this was really taped 3 weeks back, then the contrast of SP publicly saying the johnstons did it all for the money vs. tyra going out of her way to say they were not paid to appear is especially rich. guess SP's "ears to the ground" have been hearing voices, not uncommon in cases of paranoia.
ReplyDeleteif, as they said, this was an attempt to clear the air around their family (and make SP & fam look cruel and petty,) i'd say the johnstons have earned a gold star. i knew the ring tatt+bristol's ring at the RNC meant they'd been engaged! i was actually entertaining the idea they'd been already secretly married (mercede calling B her sister-in-law on myspace and all). this seems like a perfectly normal break down of a high school couple, just with SP and babies thrown in to make it newsworthy. this is really sad.
Gryphen you hit the nail on the head.
ReplyDelete"Perhaps in the order of: "Listen up bitch we are not going to give up all of your secrets just yet, but if you don't start to play ball, the whole world is going to know EVERYTHING about you and your family."
I felt the same thing and while I was disappointed not to hear Levi disclose even more info on the Palin's, it was sooooooo obvious they had decided what to say, what not to say and HOW to say things that I think they are getting advice from somewhere. Maybe just attorney associated with Tyra's show.
THERE IS SOOOOO MUCH LEVI, MERCEDES AND SHERRY CAN SAY AND THEY OBVIOUSLY KNOW HOW PISSED PALIN IS FROM JUST THIS INTERVIEW.
Obviously something has happened that makes them feel they have nothing to lose from going public.
IF THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN BILL MAHR IS ON THE PHONE TO LEVI AS WE SPEAK LOL !
But then Gryph you need to go to 7:49 and look at that picture of Levi, Sadie and NB Trig...same place, same clothes, same chair!!! Has anyone ever seen that picture before????
ReplyDeleteGryphen,
ReplyDeleteYou are too funny!
Wouldn't that be some trial if Levi took the Palins' to court for 50% custody of "Tripp?"
I'll be happy to pitch in too!!
Ginger
okay he took off a ring to show the tatt- did anyone else see that,he was holding it???
ReplyDeleteyes, in part 2, when sherry says "then mercede came back from florida" levi gives sis a definite look. i can't help remembering the blogger buzz (i commented on it too) about a myspace message from mercede to -her boyfriend's mom in orlando, i think?- the one which said that SP wasn't letting them see the baby because they were suddenly "white trash." do you think levi/sherry blame mercede for the post going public and earning the wrath of SP? that would suck.
ReplyDeletenothing crazy SP does is our fault, but now i feel a bit bad for being all over that myspace comment. gryphen, didn't you blog about it? was the mom's name connie or something?
and yes, the baby pic at 7min part 1 is triggy-bear, as i said before.... it's easy to visually tell little trig from equivalently little tripp. i think they put it up because it shows mercede with SP, regardless of which baby, but one never knows.
and why didn't the make-up people insist that they shave levi's stache wanna-be? isn't that their job?
I'm exhausted after watching those clips--they made me so sad. Levi and his family seem to be really hurt by being cut off from Tripp. I was impressed by their tact and restraint. They appeared to not want to burn any bridges.
ReplyDeleteOverall the interview was extremely sad to me. I wonder if the interview was a downer for the audience compared to a typical talk show interview.
Gryphen, if you start a legal fund for Levi, I'd contribute.
the part that was the most interesting was that he said they were engaged in JUNE...that is way sooner than SP and company every admitted to..
ReplyDelete....so that means that he spent the summer with the Palins ? why ? was it so he could be near trig ? and that bristol and trig were Definently engaged when McCain did his 24 hour Vetting in August ? and the week of the convention he went hunting...definently he was not wanting to be in the public limelight...still feel sorry for him...pretty quiet shy guy...sad..really sad that he can't see the baby...
I think there is a little more to this story. There are always three sides to the truth. His hers and the real one.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Johnstons are not spilling the whole reason for the Bristol/Mercede feud. I think Bristol has more issues with Mercedes lifestyle than just the jealous of her friends bit.
When asked about how Bristol told him about the pregnancy, he says, "Well that time..." Was there more than one time???
ReplyDeleteThe pictures of "Sadie" and baby (Trig?) at 7:07 and the pic of Levi/Sadie/baby (Tripp?) at 7:49 DO look very similar. I don't know if it's possible to say definitively if she's wearing the same white shirt, but the hair and the earrings are the same, and it seems unlikely that it would just so happen that she would wear the same outfit/accessories with the same hairdo almost a year later, in a picture in the same location in the Palin home. As for the baby, again, it's hard to say definitively that the baby's wearing the same thing, but it looks like it- and I think it's a bit odd (7:49 pic) that a baby would be in short sleeves during the winter in Alaska. In all the other pictures in that little montage of Sadie/baby, the baby is either wrapped in blankets or has long sleeves on. I'm in Ohio, where it's currently 33 degrees and snowing outside, and I'm in a sweatshirt because I'm chilly. I can only imagine that it would be even colder in Alaska in late Dec./early Jan.
ReplyDeleteHow strange is it for Mercedes to have a tatoo of her brother on her arm. Then she says that she thought that Bristol was jealous of her being so close to her brother. Only in the valley!!!
ReplyDeletebucks and bron: I don't get it...explain the photo thing please! I feel so bad for that kid, and when he watched Bristol's comments on the video he looked soooo sad.
ReplyDeleteThere are 2 pics on the video of Trig--one with Mercede and Sarah, and one of Mercede with Levi holding Trig. When these pics were taken, Levi and Bristol were still dating, and Levi was holding his sweetheart's baby brother. Tripp looks completely different than Trig; it is easy to tell them apart. There has been a lot of speculation as the whether or not Bristol is actually Trig's mom, but I think today's interview on the TBShow puts that to rest. If Trigg were Levi and Bristol's baby, the Johnstons would be fighting just as hard to see him as they are to see Tripp. Grandma Johnston wants to see her grandson; if Trig were hers, too, she would surely speak up now.
ReplyDeleteokay- so the deal with the photo- the very first one is from SUMMER or SPRING- cuz Sara Pee is wearing shorts- and here's the thing- THAT photo of Mama Sara and Mercedes was found on Spacebook last summer before McCain CHOSE sara to be his running mate- that photo is Trigg- and on it - it had been labeled "me and baby tripp"......we all posted it last August /sept during the convention and after- before the page was taken down....but thousands saw the photo- even the BBC..
ReplyDelete~~~~~~~~~~~
about the tat- this may sound weird- but I live in a hood ( actually urban ) but the kids now tat their family on themselves- babies- angels- dead granma- etc - like a way to keep those you love with you all the time....
If you thought Troopergate was bad, you haven't seen anything yet. I can tell you exactly how Sarah is going to react to this. She's probably started already. She is going to compile as much dirt on Levi as she can to portray him as an unfit Father and to deny any visitation. She'll find some girl to admit Levi got her pregnant too. She find some girl to show Levi cheated on Bristol while she was pregnant. And probably after Tripp was born too. And I'm sure Bristol will claim some sort of abuse. Mental abuse. Unless they can doctor some photos of Bristol to show bruises. It is going to be brutal.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter what Mercedes says. Palin has already started her campaign to discredit them all and make them all out to be liars and gold-diggers.
It hasn't even started to get ugly.
Mark my words.
I also noticed the look Levi passed to Mercede & Mom. Sherri was speaking and saying that she had Tripp for a few times while Bristol was at school or working. Could it be that Sarah didn't know about that? Now she does.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like a message to Sarah Palin. Sherri has a new lawyer who may understand that the best defense is always good offense.
The tattoo and bond between Levi & Mercede doesn't strike me as odd in light of the death of their older brother and the demise of the parents marriage. What does strike me as odd is that Bristol chose a guy who holds outdoor hunting, fishing etc. as his priority, and wants to make a few bucks to support himself & child. Sounds like the first dude, no?
cooky:
ReplyDelete"a guy who holds outdoor hunting, fishing etc. as his priority, and wants to make a few bucks to support himself & child. Sounds like the first dude, no?"
and like every other rural male (and some females too) in all of america, indeed all of the rural world, not even just AK. there are many, many things wrong and sad about this, but levi's culture -totally normal for a place with big skies, plentiful game, and not that many high incomes- isn't one of them.
i grew up in a chicago suburb, and have lived in cities. i've also traveled and lived in places far off the map from that. ripping on levi for his apparent enjoyment of hunting and fishing in a place not totally removed from humans living "off-the-land" isn't very nice or very
informed. no one should wantonly kill animals for sport, but catching a fish or shooting a moose/deer/sheep/caribou etc. and eating it doesn't make you a bad person.
Oh, Gryphen, I got a gotcha' against you!
ReplyDeleteTrig is spelled with one "gee" but Tripp has two "pees."
Tee hee!
Ginger
Fixed it. Thanks Ginger.
ReplyDeleteStupid similar names!
It's me again, Gryphen!
ReplyDeleteJust did a post over at PD. Finally, I watched the Tyra show. What really surprised me were the clips used from Fox of the Greta interview with Bristol.
As I asked over at PD, doesn't Tyra's network have to have permission from Fox to use those clips? We all know how thick Sarah is with Fox. Why woould they let Tyra's show use those clips knowing how angry Sarah was with the interview?
I'm interested in what you think about this.
Thanks.
Ginger
Syrin's blog posts (linked on Gryphen's Alaskan blogroll) have me wondering what sort of crazy is going on out there in Wasilla. More questions...
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Rachel Maddow & her guest did an awesome take-down of SP about this mess... the video is on the show's site. Definately worth a listen.
And Andrew Halcro smoked her out too.
SMR
gryph, have you seen audrey's latest?
ReplyDeletenow that chair has those weird "footprints" in one shot and not the other -meaning they are probably different chairs. but i guess someone might not decorate all the chairs (in a typically 4-6 piece set) identically, who knows.
all i can say is that the argument for that baby and mercede looking identical=same day, same baby, shots is very strong.
so if that pictured baby is trig (forget tyra for one minute) why are levi and mercede cuddling him so tightly?
i'm putting on a tinfoil hat -what if B and levi were engaged -or even married- when lil' trig was born? the whole "mercede: "my baby brother & sister in-law" still fails to make sense. i believe she is definitely educated enough to know the word "nephew."
the trig/tripp story is still missing some rather large pieces i feel...
I'm glad the Johnston's went on national t.v. and talked a bit. And, clever how they stuck that photo of Levi holding newborn baby Trig in there! I agree that there was a subtext to this interview - the Johnstons have more ammo against the governor. Come on Johnstons, (Go Sadie!). Next move...spill all the Babygate beans. Call Katie Couric!
ReplyDeletePhotos with baby (Trig or Tripp?)
ReplyDelete@2:14 Part 1 - Levi with baby (Tripp?)
@7:50 Part 1 - Levi, Mercede, Baby (Trig)
@4:22 Part 2 - Levi with baby (Tripp?)
The photo of Levi with baby is part of the same photo of Levi, Mercede and baby. The baby is Trig.
Why was a photo of Trig as Tripp included?
I think the whole interview thing was orchestrated by Sarah Palin to validate Tripp's birth date. The Johnstons sound like they're speaking for themselves, but are they?
The protesting from SP is just part of the script and it plays well in the context of the interview. The Johnstons' script had to be a bit controversial for effect, but there were no real damaging revelations. On the contrary, it made people move away from the Trig parentage question.
If the Johnstons had been paid it would have been far more convincing, they would have delivered their OWN script and it would have been a very different one.
This "controversial" interview served only to validate Sarah's lies in a roundabout way.
The only truly interesting thing is the use of a photo of Levi with a baby, posing as the loving hands-on dad to Tripp, but that baby happens to be Trig!
Maybe SP didn't think that far and the Johnston's slipped in a photo that raises some questions while faithfully delivering SP's controversial script...
Mercede for Governor! Or is she overqualified?
ReplyDeleteAgree with everything posted, but I did notice the Triggy bear pic with Sarah right away...strange, right. Hey, sign me up for the Levi custody fund.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be awesome when they have to get DNA tests....
The interview raises lots more questions than it answers.
ReplyDeleteFrist thing Levi needs is a paternity test and a good lawyer - count me in for donations
I am sure that they were advised by an attorney before the show as to what could be said and not said (there is the whole issue of slander and being sued if they told lies) - definitely by going on the show and NOT revealing any real dirt it puts Levi in a stronger prosition with some leverage by saying to SP - "we can do interviews do, now let me see my son or we will do another one and tell even more" - in my opinion by including photos of Trig I think was a definite clue and unspoken message to SP just what that truth might be
What that more is they could tell - who knows.
Just a few other thoughts about the babygate:
IF Bristol is Trig's birthmother - he would have had to be born earlier then the public birthdate (Tripp's dob was witnessed by too many people to have been faked - friends of Bristol's)
For the sake of Trig, and all the medical care he is going to need, Levi and family may be upsdet about not getting to see him much (or not at all) -- but for the greater good of the child willing to just fight for joint custody of Tripp.
Levi's mom may not know if Trig's is Levi and Bristol - it would not have been to hard to hide it from it - she may have been suspicious, but no reason she would have had to know for sure.
Sherry talked to Tara about not being able to take photos of the baby. It obviously means a lot to her as she was very emotional.
ReplyDeleteThere is a photo of Levi and his Dad with a baby from Star magazine, it looks like it was taken around January 2009 at the Palins. I didn't see that one in the Tara slideshow. Did I miss it? Could it be Tara's staff collected the photos from the internet without the Johnstons knowing what would show up?
Showing the photos prior to May 2008 also says to Sarah, we need new photos or we will use what we have.
After DNA test and Levi with legal custody the Johnstons will be free to take photos of the baby and do what they like. Babies grow up fast, they need to get into the legal process if they want to have those memories of this part of Sherry's only grandchild's first year. How sad Sarah steals that from them.
I'm not sure the Johnstons provided any of the photos. They didn't prepare the video clips that Tyra shows -- snippets of the Van Cistern/Bristol interview.
ReplyDeleteThose pictures have been 'out there' for a while. Some from Sadie's MySpace page, some from Fox News [sic]... I think Tyra's production people put the slide show together.
One thing I found really odd was when Sadie mentions that some of the pictures floating around on the 'net (or maybe even on Tyra's big screen) were on the Johnston computers that got hacked and nowhere else. That info came out in what should be a part 3 YouTube, which I can't find anywhere yet.
Remember the interview with Levi in his truck and the only "picture" he had was a sonogram? Now we know a likely reason why he didn't have real pictures--his family isn't allowed to take pictures. That is cruel. In a custody hearing, I can't imagine any court that would prohibit a parent from taking pictures of their child for their personal use and enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteBut Levi has no advocate for his parental rights. He is so young, he certainly doesn't know what his rights are. His Mom doesn't have much power to help. Maybe his Dad can help him. Levi sure seemed listless in the interview, maybe even depressed.
I guess the sarahcuda machine has gunned him down. The interview made the cruelty of the palins sadly obvious.
Ennealogic,
ReplyDeleteThe picture of Levi, Trig and Mercede has not been seen before.
@luna1580: Those footprints look like they were added to the image in something like photoshop. They were not on the chair or on the wall originally :)
ReplyDeleteI knew I was missing something by not recording this yesterday...
Those footprints look like those little stickers used to decorate photos in scrapbooks to me. Any crafters/scrapbook people out there?
ReplyDeleteHow was Tyra permitted to use the footage from the Van Susteren interview without Palin's knowing about it? Doesn't Fox own that footage and wouldn't they have to grant permission to use it? So when SP says that Bristol had no idea Levi would appear on the Tyra Banks show, was that accurate?
From Levi: Bristol is really smart SP: Bristol is an honor student
From Sherri: Seeing Tripp while Bristol was working and going to school SP: Bristol works and attends school and will graduate with her class
Levi on cutting the umbilical cord, Levi with the sonogram images
All validating the Tripp birth story and flattering to Bristol. Hmmm.
No mention of Trigg or that birth story. Hmmm.
If Mercede goes rouge..... So how must it feel to be a teenager and the most powerful woman in Alaska?
I thought the footprints looked like they were added on...just looked weird. And, yes, that looks like Trig, Levi and Bristol in the photo at 7:49. His hair darker than the other baby's hair. Maybe that's why the mom said: Bristol knew how much that baby meant to me. -- strange for a grandmother to say.
ReplyDeleteBut I also think that the mom was trying to earn points from Palin. First she confirmed that Bristol was going back to work and school; then she blamed the media.
Levi's statement that he told his mother first contradicts Bristol's story. Unless they were talking about two different pregnancies, of course.
Thanks, Gryphen!
Could Mercede's dress been any shorter?
ReplyDeleteWhy is levi's father holding Trigg? why take a picture of the occasion?
ReplyDeleteThere supposed to be no picture of Tripp with Levi's family.
Sherri took care of Tripp on few occasions...Nobody thought of taking a picture then? hard to believe.
To Cooky:
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing up the interview on Fox between Greta and Bristol.
I can't get an answer out of anyone! How could Tyra's show use that footage without approval from Fox.
If we could get an answer, it might prove that Sarah was involved (which I think she was). Her ties to Fox start right at the top with Rupert Murdoch.
Another thing I'd like to know, when did negotiations start for this show? Sometimes it takes months before they even tape. The reason I mention this is because I've always wondered why Sarah let Levi move in. That really surprised me. It's just not her style.
Now, if they were talking to Tyra in January, and they wanted something salacious to talk about on the show, it makes sense.
Just thinking crazy like everyone else!
Ginger