July 7, 2010

"So is the question of how Palin finally put the screws on Levi."

Andrew Sullivan reacts to Levi Johnston's apology:
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. 
No link on that assertion of blip. I know he's interested in "the Trig question," but really... it's trending upwards?
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. [Levi's sister] Mercede has this to say about Levi's latest statement, which reads like a man who has a metaphorical gun to his head....
Sullivan links to Mercede's blog and quotes it at length. If that's too much crazy psychodrama for you, let's watch Levi Johnston with Kathy Griffin on "My Life on the D List":

73 comments:

Palladian said...

There's only one thing that blips upwards when the "Trig question" is mentioned, and it's in Andrew's sour little panties.

So what's the answer to the "Trig question"? A vaginal solution?

Anonymous said...

One thing Sullivan never considers:

The Palins don't live in the demented world of gay men and fag hags.

Listen, I spent many years in the bizarre world of the gay men and fag hags.

Everything is artificial in that world. You've got to start with people pretending that boinking each other in the ass is the same as marital sex. They've been all lathered up (pun intended) over this demented notion for a couple of decades.

The favorite demented vision of the gay men and fag hags in San Francisco and Manhattan (I lived in both places at different times) was that the armies of the evangelicals were massing up on the border for that final genocidal assault to wipe out the gay ghetto.

It never happened, but it was always just on the verge of happening.

The gay men and fag hags adored this theme. Plays and movies about the great, always upcoming assault by the armies of the evangelicals were the standard fare.

Sullivan has been living inside this demented crap his entire life.

And here's what it's all about: It's an attempt to deflect the blame for the carnage of the AIDS epidemic onto the straights. Gay men didn't commit suicide by the tens of thousands as a result of their own sexual behavior. Straight men are to blame! Homophobia is to blame!

Among the endless binge of propaganda movies that advance this theory that genocidal straights are determined to wipe out gay men: "V for Vengeance," "And the Band Played On," and "Brokeback Mountain."

It's all a lie. What gay men really have to fear is not straights, nor Sarah Palin's vagina. Gay men killed themselves by the score with their own sexual behavior. Sullivan is a prime example.

He's looking for somebody to blame for his own behavior. A very popular hobby.

Original Mike said...

"The Trig question".

Yah gotta laugh.

Synova said...

And of course no one will ever take responsibility for dragging Levi and his whole family into the national spotlight as if they were "fair game". No, of course not, it was Sarah Palin did it. Sarah Palin who did the digging, Sarah Palin who made it national news that Levi's mom got arrested for drugs, Sarah Palin who did it all.

She's insidious that way.

Joe said...

I AM a Palinista and I don't think you have to be a fan of "Excitable Andy" to imagine some screws being applied....

Ole' Levi owes a BUNCHA child support to Bristol...an'if the Palins were to really push it, ole' Levi might be left with a whole buncha'nuth'n after they and their attorneys and the California Atty. General finish(ed) with him.

I imagine when confronted with the very sobering reality that he might have to come up with a SUBSTANTIAL lump sum payment, based on 30% of his earnings for the previous year (figuring that the big goof, like many athletes and strippers) has burned the actual cash OR being allowed to develop a "payment plan" to make good his back child support, I'll bet Levi chose Plan B.

And I imagine that one of the conditions of Plan B, the payment plan, was that Levi STFU and apologize.

Sullivan, like Radley Balko, wants to make martyrs of folks that really AREN'T martyrs. Really guyz just let it go....Levi was a poor choice to become a martyr for the Progressive/Anti-Palin Cause. He’s a red-neck, dead-beat Dad, on his way to an unfortunate “Where Are They Now Piece” in Parade, or a pathetic little Obit in the LAT/NYT, most likely involving drugs, depression, and a failed pRon career.

mesquito said...

Andy's diseased brain:

If she's willing to lie about Trig, can torture and brainwashing be far behind?

Damon said...

Thanks for posting Ann. Came across Sullivan's comments earlier and I was hoping you would post something. I love his post that claiming the screws used were Levi's love for Bristol and the kid. Unfortunately, there isn't much proof, but why let that get in the way?

In the end, I come to one conclusion. Can these people be any more irrelevant? And on Kathy, a waste of space. It really put the whole apology in the right context – worthless.

Big Mike said...

I think that Jim Treacher has figured out Levi's motive for recanting.

WV: gouth -- what happens when a sweet Southern belle goes Goth.

Moose said...

Man, Sully does not get how this all makes him look.

He is totally off the rails about her. God knows I wouldn't vote for her, but there are reasons more germane to her abilities than her kids and her uterus.

*sheesh*

1775OGG said...

Next, Kathy is going to do a documentary on the "True Story of how T-Bone Steaks are made!" Look for it soon, lots of laughs and chuckles galore, on both MSNBCABCCNN and on BravoStarsTNT!

Lincolntf said...

When is The Atlantic finally going to drop this turd? It doesn't bother me that he writes for them, but he can't possibly be a net "plus" for the mag./website, can he? For every "click" he generates with his creepazoid maunderings, the company takes another jab to the credibility bone. Gotta figure they're gonna cut him loose some time soon.

DKWalser said...

I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to feel sorry for Sullivan. He's crawled so far out on the Trig-isn't-Palin's-child limb that he's in a completely different forest and has no idea how to get back to reality. It must consume a lot of energy inventing interpretations of the facts that make it possible for his supporters to deny that he's been completely wrong on this question from day one.

Anthony said...

I'm frankly not sure why our dear host even mentions Sully anymore. He's like the demented uncle sitting in the corner drooling and muttering about how aliens took his (nonexistent) dachshund prisoner for using symptomatic nerve gas on the daises.

Well, scratch that. A demented uncle would garner some sympathy for a medical condition. Sully's just willfully demented. Please, don't encourage him by giving him a link. Best to just ignore him.

garage mahal said...

Why can't Palin just produce that damn birth certificate to FactCheck like Obama did?

*DUCK*

Phil 314 said...

see my comment previous thread on feminism.

Professor, I knew you couldn't resist. The Sarah Palin discussion sirens cannot be resisted.

The Drill SGT said...

The Trig question

Sin(30) = .5

traditionalguy said...

Sometimes the simple fact is that lots of younger men do not like to work if they can find an older woman who appreciates them and gives them whatever they desire. That coniving often includes a plan for screwing the Family's innocent daughter to get an insider son-in-law's claim. This youth simply wants another try at the Palin family's newly earned money in the bank.

The Drill SGT said...

garage mahal said...
Why can't Palin just produce that damn birth certificate to FactCheck like Obama did?


Garage,

I don't give a shit about either and I'm not a Birther, but there is a fundemental difference between determining one's eligiblity to be President and the basic right to privacy for normal birth to a married couple.

Joe said...

Neither Levi nor Bristol have looked good in all of this; they've been acting like, well, immature teenagers. Perhaps they both grew up a little.

Geoff Matthews said...

Drill Sgt,

Your answer to the trig question made me laugh.

Unknown said...

The traffic blip that Sullivan notes most likely occurred on his own blog. His day to day mish mash is awful, so he leavens it with Palin hate, and from time to time with the Trig question, but he knows he's got to be careful. The suits at the Atlantic know that his craziness drives traffic, but they can't totally trash the brand. It's kind of like pairing Katie Couric and Jerry Springer on an evening news gig. They're both clowns but they play to different audiences.

A.W. said...

So Sullivan doubles down on the crazy.

This kind of thing is why i don't care what he says anymore.

Shanna said...

Crazy. Sullivan is BSC on this topic.

Michael Haz said...

Why not just assume that Levi has had an epiphany of sorts and is now ready to grow up and act responsibly?

In the end, that is the most plausible scenario. The guy was young, came from a home that didn't elevate him into manhood, and got caught up in events staged by people who used him to humiliate the Palins.

Let's hope that for his sake, the sake of his son, and the possibility of creating a husband-wife family for his son.

That Sullivan and others can't find it in themselves to wish Levi well tells us what is in their souls.

Joe said...


Why not just assume that Levi has had an epiphany of sorts and is now ready to grow up and act responsibly?


Because epiphanies usually require hitting some kind of "bottom" in your life....and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of this, real or rhetorical.

I can say I "hit bottom" sitting on a very nice middle class couch, in a rather nice transient neighborhood...but it was STILL a bottom.

And absent some evidence of enlightenment or realization of degradation, I'm just cynical enough to think, that factors other than altruistic predominate...

True you might be right, or the looming fiscal crisis at Casa Levi, might have influenced his "epiphany." It will be awhile, if ever, before we know.

Unknown said...

The last time I thought about Levi Johnston was about a year ago when Ann showed a motherly concern about what was going to happen to him when the money stopped. It's been twice as long since I thought about the baby.

I think the HIV has finally gotten to Sullivan's brain.

Big Mike said...

...

WV: gouth -- what happens when a sweet Southern belle goes Goth.

And I know somebody from SC who would say it that way.

Revenant said...

In order of decreasing craziness:

1. "9/11 was an inside job"
2. "Oswald was a patsy"
3. "Trig isn't Sarah's baby"
4. "Obama isn't a natural-born American"
5. "UFOs abduct people and probe them"

B.S. philosopher said...

If you really want to know what is wrong with Sullivan all you have to do is google ADC.

AIDS dementia complex.

I'm not saying this to be mean, but he has clearly started to go downhill in the last few years.

I've never agreed with him intellectually, but 10 years ago, he was clearly operating on a higher intellectual plane than he is today.

Fred4Pres said...

Sullivan leaves out the part where the Johnson family confirmed that Trig Palin is NOT Levi Johnson's child. Sullivan just can't leave Trig Palin alone, it is insane how obsessed he is on this subject.

If in fact Sarah lied for her daughter, Bristol, the cat would have been out of the bag a long time ago.

But of course, Inspector Sullivan remains on the case!

Fred4Pres said...

From Mercede Johnson herself. Sully linked to this post back on June 16 but did not mention this part (oops):

Can I say for a fact that Levi is not the father of Trig?

YES! Levi is NOT the father of Trig. He is the proud father of Tripp Easton his one and ONLY child.

jaed said...

Ins't Sullivan's theory that Tripp is actually Sarah's son? Or is he going with the "Bristol becomes first woman ever to become pregnant with her second child three months before her first child is born" scenario?

AllenS said...

5. "UFOs abduct people and probe them"

Well, it's obvious, someone is getting probed, and we know where the probing is taking place. Some place where the sun don't shine.

Anonymous said...

I've always found it interesting to look at this issue through the eyes of a McCain campaign hack.

Let's say it's your job to vet vice-presidential candidates. Let's even stipulate that you aren't very good at it. Is it plausible that even a very inferior campaign hack vetting vice-presidential candidates would not find out that Palin had covered up the birth of a child? (This also assume that Palin did not feel morally compelled to broach this issue.)

Phil 314 said...

Just watched the Kathy Griffin clip (disclaimer: I've despised her before this)

Sad to say but Michael Moore and Sacha Baron Cohen do this schtick much better (and I can't stand them either.)

Does Ms Griffin even recognize how tolerant, if not a tad bit embarrassed for her, the folks in Wasilla that she meets up with are for her. Watching this you can see how Palin would resonate with all of those voters who feel disdain from the "elites". Even Levi has kind of a quiet "WTF" attitude.

It's reminiscent of when Palin went on SNL and played along and sincerely offered for her younger daughter to watch Tina Fey's child. I like Tina Fey but it seemed that she didn't get it. She could only see an object of ridicule.

garage mahal said...

1. "9/11 was an inside job"
2. "Oswald was a patsy"
3. "Trig isn't Sarah's baby"
4. "Obama isn't a natural-born American"
5. "UFOs abduct people and probe them"
---------------
6. "Obama created this recession as payback for racism".

Anonymous said...

Garage -- who other than you says that?

Brian said...

@garage:
7. The Republicans are nothing but a regional party now with no hope of overcoming the Democratic majority, because there can be no legitimate argument against the Democratic agenda.

Brian said...

8. The stimulus will create jobs, and the recovery will occur in time for the mid-term election of 2010. Along with Obamacare, Democrats can't lose.

Peter Hoh said...

Seven, that would be Rush.

Anonymous said...

Peter -- I have to imagine there's more to the critique than that. If not, it's a tremendously silly argument.

Peter Hoh said...

Seven, here's the cite.

Eric said...

Man, Sully does not get how this all makes him look.

I don't think he cares. These kind of posts bring lots of hits and lots of attention. "[H]ow this makes hime look" is wealthier. Who knows what he actually believes at this point.

Anonymous said...

It's difficult to judge what someone says when you only see it throught the prism of negative propaganda. Imagine, for example, reading only about some leftist Limbaugh on some right wng hothouse.

JAL said...

c3 -- I heard Tina Fey tell about Sarah Palin offering one of her kids to babysit for Fey's child while they were on. (She had already arranged for someone to come pick up the child.)

My take was that it took Fey off guard and she thought it was a really nice thing to do. For a nanosecond Fey was humanized by it .. but then she couldn't acknowledge it on camera for what it was and had to roll on with ridiculing the person she despises
who is actually a better, more grounded person than most of the crowd she hangs with. (Was it Leno or Letterman she was talking on?)

Peter Hoh said...

Seven, this is true. I didn't listen Rush speak those words. Perhaps there is another way to view what he said.

You asked about Garage's remark. I'm offering an explanation.

Peter Hoh said...

JAL, Fey despises Palin?

I think you don't understand how celebrities make money.

garage mahal said...

7M
Trust me, the context of Limbaugh's remark is worse.

Anonymous said...

Garage -- my guess is that the context is not that Obama caused the economic collapse to punish white people. My guess is that Limbaugh is in fact drAwing no correlation but suggesting that Obama is happy to spread both wealth and misery.

I don't agree with that. Never ascribe complex motives to what can be explained by mere stupidity -- in this case Obama's ivory-tower lack of understanding about how an economy works.

Anyway it's sort of sad that you people have sunk again to berating Limbaugh. Never a good sign for your side's prospects if you think about it. Not exactly controlling the narrative. But go ahead. Throw Limbaugh into the briar patch again.

Andrew said...

Google indicates a February blip on "the Trig question"; been flatlined since then.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=palin+trig&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0

Unknown said...

garage mahal said...

---------------
6. "Obama created this recession as payback for racism".


There's a new one, never saw it anywhere Conservatives blogged. Since Conservatives are the first to say the recession began on Dubya's watch, the only ones who buy it must Lefties.

JAL said...

Heh. I am looking to document Fey's opinion of Palin and came across this headline from the Washington Times, October 9, 2008:

As Palin's star dims, Fey turns superstar

tim maguire said...

I did a google search for "trig question" and I got one post by Sullivan and a large number of high school kids blogging about their math homework.

If you include questions about trigonometry, then Sullivan's right--there has been a lot of recent posts on the "trig question."

JAL said...

peter -- she was dying to have McCain-Palin lose so she would not have to keep up the schtick. Of course it made her money. That she also mentioned.

According to New York, Fey and the SNL crew loathed Palin.

No surprise there. "Likeable" or not.

cf said...

I'm old enough to remember when the Atlantic was not a showcase for insanity.

Sydney said...

Since he developed his wild Trig obsession, I've been convinced that Andrew Sullivan is trying to copy Mickey Kaus - and doing a damn poor job of it. He started this shortly after Mickey Kaus kept blogging about John Edwards' affair. Kaus turned out to be correct, but he's a smarter man/blogger than Sullivan. Suspect his pride won't let him give it up now. Hah!

Anonymous said...

I did a search using "trig question" nude and nothing remotely good came up, even with the safe search function off.

Peter Hoh said...

Seven, next time, try doing a search in your pajamas.

Anonymous said...

Rim shot!

Revenant said...

8. The stimulus will create jobs, and the recovery will occur in time for the mid-term election of 2010. Along with Obamacare, Democrats can't lose.

I have to disagree with your numbering. I think at this point, that belief is considerably crazier than belief in UFOs. :)

Eric said...

I'm old enough to remember when the Atlantic was not a showcase for insanity.

Sullivan is the only out-and-out nutter. MacArdle is actually quite good on occasion, but she can't reconcile her green eyeshades with the leftward pull of her social circle. The others are better writers than thinkers, which I guess you could say is Sullivan's problem.

Eric said...

Besides, the NYT has Bob Herbert and Krugman, so it's not like the Atlantic is alone in bringing the crazy.

Michael Haz said...

Joe said: Because epiphanies usually require hitting some kind of "bottom" in your life....and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of this, real or rhetorical.

None that you can see. Don't interpret that as there actually being none.

garage mahal said...

There's a new one, never saw it anywhere Conservatives blogged. Since Conservatives are the first to say the recession began on Dubya's watch, the only ones who buy it must Lefties.

I'm not surprised you didn't see it on conservative blogs.

And what you only thought objectionable about the quote was when the recession started?

Anonymous said...

Garage -- The only racists here are Cedarford (a Jew-hating, national health-insurance loving fascist) and a few (other) leftists.

You bait like your grandma fucks. Give it up.

damikesc said...

To pretend Obama is not racist as all heck is to ignore the handling of the Black Panthers voter intimidation case.

It was racism that led him to have charges dropped.

No other answer has reached the level of remote possibility after a year now.

AC245 said...

'There's a new one, never saw it anywhere Conservatives blogged. Since Conservatives are the first to say the recession began on Dubya's watch, the only ones who buy it must Lefties.'

I'm not surprised you didn't see it on conservative blogs.


OLD: "All you right-wingers are brainwashed Rush dittoheads!"

NEW: "I'm not surprised you right-wingers have no idea what Rush is saying!"

chickelit said...

JAL, Fey despises Palin?

I think you don't understand how celebrities make money.


Tina Fey has that awful scar on her face that she'll never get rid of. She knows that she'll never be as good a person or as good-looking either. That's why she loathes Palin.

Fred4Pres said...

jaed said...
Ins't Sullivan's theory that Tripp is actually Sarah's son? Or is he going with the "Bristol becomes first woman ever to become pregnant with her second child three months before her first child is born" scenario?

7/7/10 3:25 PM


Trig is older than Tripp, but beyond that, yeah basically Sullivan's theory is Bristol had a Downs Syndrome child (extremely rare for a young mother), Sarah Palin faked it was her's, and then Bristol got pregnant six months later to have Tripp.

All I can say is trippy.

Revenant said...

And what you only thought objectionable about the quote was when the recession started?

Well, I don't object to describing Obama as racist or suggesting he dislikes white people; his own history indicates both of those things are true.

As for suggesting he deliberately wrecked the economy, the observation that it was already in bad shape before he took office is an implicit refutation of the idea that he "wrecked" it.

Certainly he's done lasting harm with his spending spree, but it is safe to say that was done out of ignorance; plenty of otherwise intelligent people take Keynes seriously.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

A.W. said...
So Sullivan doubles down on the crazy.

mesquito said...
Andy's diseased brain:

Shanna said...
Crazy. Sullivan is BSC on this topic.

edutcher said...
I think the HIV has finally gotten to Sullivan's brain.

B.S. philosopher said...
If you really want to know what is wrong with Sullivan all you have to do is google ADC.

AIDS dementia complex.


Two years ago on these pages I made the case for HIV-induced dementia as the cause of Andrew Sullivan's strange descent and I was treated like I'd called Mother Teresa a tramp. I'm not a homophobe-- some of my best friends are gay!-- but this is just the most proximate cause of AS's weird psychosis. I'm pleased to see it gaining a little more currency.

Phil 314 said...

Well this IS a positive sign; a Palin post with less than 100 comments.

TIME MARCHES ON!

LordSomber said...

Sullivan is hysterical.

"hystera" = Greek 'uterus'

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

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