Andrew Sullivan deems Levi Johnston the REAL "Rogue" of 2009. Update!

Sullivan makes a number of very good points, but it is THIS one that I am going to focus on today.

Remember that Johnston is the only family member who actually knew and lived with Palin and has broken ranks. He could be lying, of course, or seeking revenge, or bargaining for more access to his son, or something else we don;t know about. But given Palin's record of dissimulation, it seems to me he deserves at least as fair a hearing as she has had, even if nothing like the millions she has raked in. His story deserves to be taken more seriously as a real account of what Palin really is. Until Wallace and Schmidt screw their courage to the sticking place, he's the best we've got.

Here, for example, is his recounting of an incident that few MSM observers can quite handle:
Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up. She would say, “So, are you gonna let me adopt him?” We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn’t want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid. (To read the entire article just click the title.)

This is a very important, and revelatory comment by Levi, that has never quite received the attention that it deserves.

Levi, who would seem to have NO earthly reason to lie, says that Sarah Palin wanted to HIDE Bristol's pregnancy with Tripp. Did you get that? Her pregnancy with TRIPP!

But if Tripp was born in December 2008, and conceived nine months earlier, around say March, a time when Palin already KNEW she was on John McCains's short list for VP (By the end of February, 2008, the chorus of conservative pundits for Palin was loud enough for the mainstream media to take note. Chris Cillizza, reporting for the Web site of the Washington Post, interviewed Palin and asked her if she’d accept an offer to be McCain’s running mate. Though she dismissed the notion as a virtual “impossibility this go-round,” Palin, who had been in office for only fourteen months, said, “Is it generally something that I would want to consider? Yes.”), WHY would she even consider faking a pregnancy to cover up for Bristol?

And if we all agree that Palin would not have been willing to fake a pregnancy for a baby conceived after February 2008, then when WOULD she have been willing to do so?

Well we know she announced that she was pregnant with Trig Palin on March 6, the day right after McCain won the GOP nomination for President. (Really? The day after? Yes, really. The day after.)

You can see Alaska's response to THAT news in the video below.



And of course the other question would be, HOW could she possibly fake a pregnancy right after giving birth to Trig?

If Tripp were to be born in December, and Trig was born on April 18, then how could she make the dates work? Well she could have staged a premature birth. (Hey wasn't Trig born prematurely?) But how could she have faked pregnancy while campaigning for VP? Especially since her "sex appeal" was such an important factor in her selection? Yep that is a stumper.

So what we are left with is the possibility that Levi is a liar. (Bad Levi, bad!) Except that he certainly comes off as much more believable than his almost mother-in-law, so my first instinct is to believe him. Or that the dates the babies were supposed to have been born on is WRONG (hint, hint, hint.) Or that reality really does bend to Sarah Palin's will just like she illustrates to effectively in her book, where the facts we know are refuted by the facts she writes about.

Now for a little update on the Levi Johnston front.

Despite what Tank says, as of right now I know of NO book deal pending. They were very close at one point, but then things seem to have fallen apart. So when Tank says there is a book coming out in March, he must be writing it himself.

There is still a lot of interest in Levi's book, but growing fear that he will not tell the whole story. If he does not, then the only thing that will get published is a silly little gossipy paperback that will not even break into the top 1,000 books for sale in 2010.

I still think that Levi retains some credibility, so the only question is whether or not he has the balls. He did not show them in Playgirl, so until he puts them on paper the question still remains. I am still on his side, but very frustrated that things are taking so long. As are many of you.

I have reached out and offered to help him as much as I can. I also know a number of other bloggers, journalists, and activists offering to do the same if he needs their support or protection. All Team Levi has to do is ask for our help and we will provide it.

You know the number, make the call.

Update: Andrew Sullivan has misunderstood my post. I am NOT questioning Levi's honesty. There are those around Levi I am concerned with, but not Levi himself. I sent an e-mail to Andrew, if he answers it I will share a few things that might help him.

Blogger comments is ALL screwed up right now, and if I put comments into moderation they simply disappear, which is why you see so much troll action. If I turn off the comments then THEY win. The best thing to do is ignore them until Google gets their act together. Really.

Somebody mentioned that Levi did not specifically say that Sarah was going to attempt a pregnancy. I guess I felt that was inferred, but for the sake of argument let's say she was not offering to put herself through that. That means she would have had to hide Bristol, from the ever present cameras, whilst trotting EVERY OTHER FAMILY MEMBER before the media. Would that not have raised many questions? And then later when she suddenly adopted a baby, how would the media NOT put two and two together?

As for the threats posted on pro-Palin sites about guns at the book signing. Neither Dennis nor I had any intention of doing anything that could have even remotely been perceived as a threat. So the idea that these lunatics would have been justified in pulling their courage providing pistols is ridiculous. (Dennis and I both attended the Elmendorf signing without any incident whatsoever.) Palin did not ban us because she feared us, or feared FOR us. She did it because she feared what we might videotape or write. And then she gave us much more than we could have ever asked for to work with. Thanks Sarah.

Also I have never used the phrase "Trig was Tripp, before he was Trig". I believe the story is actually more complicated than that.