In an interview with Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez, Levi also offers a look at his relationship, past and present, with Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, his ex-fiancée and Tripp's mother. Among other things, Levi asserts Bristol is being "short" with him when he speaks with her these days.
And Levi's mother, Sherry Johnston, was very candid and emotional about her family's concerns that the Palins will limit their time with Tripp -- so much so that, Rodriguez says, they want a pow-wow with the Palins to work out a custody arrangement. Sherry admitted she's "begging" the Palins to be fair.
In a perfect world, Sherry told Rodriguez, "Everything will be reconciled. (I hope) we can get together, if for no other reason, (than) for Tripp. He deserves to know both grandmas and grandpas, and aunts and uncles. And mom and dad.
"I had a really rough summer," Sherry said, as she began to cry, "and he was what kept me going. Just waiting for him."
Wiping tears from her eyes, Sherry continued, "I mean, and Bristol and I talked about it a lot. Just like, 'Well, you'll have Tripp soon. And he'll be there for you." '
"You're still waiting"? Rodriguez asked.
"I'm hoping," Sherry responded. After a pause, she added, "I'm begging."
Levi says things began to get rocky in his relationship with Bristol when Sarah Palin was named as John McCain's running mate on the Republican presidential ticket last fall.
"It started going downhill a little bit,' Levi says, "and we just started fighting, and things weren't working out. ... Their attitudes changed. ... We just weren't seeing eye-to-eye with each other anymore. And I didn't like it. And I thought it'd be best that we-- we both did -- break up for a little bit and see what happens. ... We just couldn't, like, have a conversation without fighting, I guess, anymore. It was-- it was just getting really bad.
"We talk every day, every other day." And the conversations are "real short. You know, I call her to see -- see how my baby's doing. That kind of thing. But we don't really sit there and talk. Like, 'How are you -- how you been?' I mean, she's real short with me."
The more I see this family the more my heart goes out to them.
I have been a father trying desperately to see my baby while my ex kept her from me just to punish me, so I can definitely sympathize with Levi's pain.
The Johnston's are certainly doing a good job of painting Sarah and Bristol as vindictive people. Somebody better get Meg Stapleton out to do some damage control.
(BTW you can see the video of the interview by clicking the title. For some reason I could not get it to embed.)
Something doesn't make sense. Sarah is named McCain's running mate and things started going downhill. Didn't they fly Levi in for the Convention? Put him in a nice suit of clothes? Seat him (and his tatoo'd finger) next to Bristol, have them hold hands, kiss baby Trig? That didn't look like a relationship falling apart, fighting, going downhill. At the same time, Sherri may have been set up in that parking lot (or she really was selling drugs, we haven't had the trial yet), but it is very suspicious that her arrest was held up until after the election. Even after Tripp was born, Sarah let us know that the kids were parenting their butts off-- all right,just because she said it doesn't make it true. So when, exactly did things start to go downhill??
ReplyDeleteThere's some interesting speculation going on over at Palin's Deceptions. Some of the posters suggest the possibility that Levi and Bristol may be the parents of Trig, the first baby. In order to provide for good medical care, which Sarah was in a far better position to provide than young, unwed teenagers could, an adoption may have been in place before Trig was born, along with confidentiality requirements, you name it. That's why the second baby, Tripp, is so very important to the Johnstons, who have been upholding their end of the deal, not being a part of Trig's life. Mind you, this is all speculation-- everyone's entitled to their own best guess, but there are some interesting thoughts out there. The fact that they immediately picked up on the photo mixup over at Tyra's show-- the picture of Levi holding a new baby Trig, not Tripp, fuels the thinking. There's a great story to be told.
I think the comment during the interview was that things started to go downhill when they all went back to Alaska, GINO having lost the election.
ReplyDeleteI think SP was totally convinced she would win, and since that time, has been unwilling to re-focus on either personal relationships or governing Alaska.
Most people don't remember that McCain had predicted he would win, and that it wouldn't be apparent at first, but late after the polls close he would be declared the winner. The problem was that the day before the election Michael Connell testified before congress. He the guy that fixed the election in 2004 for the Repugs. That testimony caused him to withdraw the "Fix" enabling Obama to win. Connell then mysteriously died in a plane crash shortly aftrward.
ReplyDeleteSo Sarah expected to win, and was very disappointed to have to return to reality.
You people are nuts! Where in the heck do you come up with this crap? You should all be sci-fi script writers. Levi's mother chose to sell drugs. Who is she to critique anyone, and what nerve. I'm sure Miss Palin has more than sufficient reason to deny Levi's mother access to her child. After all, who wants a junkie around a small child? Get a grip on reality people. You're all just trash-mongers!
ReplyDeleteAnd SP would have won but for the dirty lie Obama told McCain regarding the campaign funds, and the Acorn (now being investigated) group. They targeted the uneducated (including college students), a product of our new generation teachers and professors. Those poor college students don't know which way is up, let alone what they were voting for or their platforms. Pitiful victory. Hope you all have good jobs and can pay the piper when the time comes!
ReplyDeleteWow - I see the trolls are out. Sherry says she had a rough summer? Tripp wasn't born until January. What summer is she talking about?
ReplyDeleteAnon@ 9:05 and 9:11 p.m. wrote: "Who is she [Sherry Johnston] to critique anyone, and what nerve. I'm sure Miss Palin has more than sufficient reason to deny Levi's mother access to her child."
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, it's either Mrs. Palin or Gov. Palin, right? She is not "Miss."
Second of all, neither Mrs. Palin, nor do her followers, have any right to claim moral superiority over ANYONE. That's the point. Palin paraded Levi onstage during the RNC convention to make it look like she did not condone her daughter's premarital sex and they would be married, when in fact, Palin not only KNEW about the premarital sex, Palin invited Levi to sleep in her house for months.
Thirdly, stop conflating issues. You are the one without a grip on reality. Obama never ran against Palin. Nor will he ever. He ran against McCain. By the way, it was McCain who lost, not Palin. McCain's name was at the top of the ticket; perhaps you might have noticed that if you had actually voted.
Fourthly, Palin will never make it out of the GOP primaries, esp. when none of her followers, if you are representative of them, are preparing to fight her true and immediate wealthy foes: Romney, Huckabee, Pawlenty, Jindal, and now Steele.( Why are all of Palin's supporters so clueless as to how national politics work? Have you never voted in a primary? Have you never worked a real campaign before?)
Lastly, how can you defend a middle-aged governor attacked an 18-year old kid, who is the father of her grandchild? It is unconscionable. It is cruel. It is not "Christian." Christianity, at its most basic level, encompasses the concept of forgiveness. Here on Easter weekend, perhaps you need to meditate on that, Anon @9:05 & 9:11.