Levi Johnston: Hey, Maybe I Mighta Lied A Little About Sarah Palin For Some Headlines

Andrew Sullivan hardest hit, as he of course pronounced he believed Levi Johnston.

"Last year, after Bristol and I broke up, I was unhappy and a little angry. Unfortunately, against my better judgment, I publicly said things about the Palins that were not completely true," he tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I have already privately apologized to Todd and Sarah. Since my statements were public, I owe it to the Palins to publicly apologize."

Among his claims: That the Palins frequently spoke of divorce and that Sarah Palin often referred to Trig Palin as their little baby "retard."

Sullivan took that as fresh evidence that the baby wasn't hers, of course.

Is Sullivan retracting his claim, then? Or at least his endorsement of Levi Johnson's credibility?

No, of course not. He's imagineering up some conspiracy theories:

He seems to have crumbled under the pressure, but the statement is truly weird [quote omitted; it's the one I just quoted -- ace.]

"Not completely true." Discuss. And what exactly was "not completely true"? He sounds like a dissident in a show-trial. I have, sadly, no idea of the reasons for this somewhat out-of-the-blue statement. Is he trying to win Bristol back? Is he trying to gain more reliable access to his son? Or is he just trying to create a better atmosphere for the rearing of Tripp?

I suspect, for what it's worth, that the Palins have used their real weapon against him - his love for Bristol and his kid - to coerce him back into line. For the record, nothing he said struck me as in any way far-fetched. And until he tells us what exactly wasn't "completely true", there's not much more to say.

Oh, and he was awesome on Kathy Griffin.

People tend to be at their most awesome when they're making wild claims up out of whole cloth. See Obama, Barack, 2007-2008 campaign.

More: Now It's Levi Johnston's Sister Who Is The Impeccable Source. Sullivan (no link) now seeks Palin-bashing from Mercedes Johnston.

That's a very good question. So is the question of how Palin finally put the screws on Levi. In Palinland, no one knows what's really going on. But I wonder if this is a somewhat panicked response to the recent blip upwards in web interest in the Trig question. With all these family members able to speak to the public and McGinniss digging deeper, Todd and Sarah may have felt the need to crack down and use Levi's access to Tripp and Bristol as their latest weapon. Mercede has this to say about Levi's latest statement, which reads like a man who has a metaphorical gun to his head...

What blip of interest in the "Trig question," and, I'm sorry, what is "the Trig question"?

Oh, that's right, Andrew Sullivan can't say what it is because his editors forbade him from doing so. So she gets all innuendo-ish.

posted by Ace at 10:43 AM

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