Opinion> Debra Saunders> Levi Johnston Stripped Bare

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Levi Johnston Stripped Bare

Be prepared to see more of Levi Johnston than you ever wanted to see. The 19-year-old who fathered a baby born out of wedlock to Sarah Palin's teenage daughter Bristol is about to pose nude for Playgirl magazine. Also, with Palin's book, "Going Rogue," set for release this month, some publications may follow Vanity Fair's example in October by granting the high-school dropout a byline.

In that piece, Johnston claimed that Palin did not nurture her children — or cook or clean — while husband Todd tinkered in the garage or slept on a black recliner in the living room.

This sort of Vanity Fair piece need not include verification by other sources, but there must be a paragraph with a seedy nugget in it. So Johnston wrote that the former Alaska governor sometimes called her Down syndrome son, Trig, "the retarded baby."

Appearing on CBS's "The Early Show" last week, Johnston released his latest salvo: "If I really wanted to hurt her, I could, very easily, but I'm not going to do it. I'm not going that far."

Not yet anyway. Johnston garners more ink in British than American newspapers. But he frequently is fodder for leftwing blogs and among pundits who concoct phrases like "Wasilla hillbilly" — and cannot let go. He is the scratch for the itch of partisans so anxious to feel superior to Palin that they will consume any negative story about her, no matter how tainted. MSNBC talking heads like to bring up Levi Johnston.

Methinks if Fox News aired similar stories about a Democrat's daughter, there would be news stories questioning the right-leaning network's news judgment.

After all, the accusations of an underemployed 19-year-old — who has a career-incentive to dish out dirt on Palin — are not exactly credible.

Or as "The Early Show's" Maggie Rodriguez wondered during an "exclusive" interview last week, "You really sound like somebody who's dead set on hurting these people the way they hurt you."

Rodriguez also asked, "Why should people believe you versus her?" To which Johnston replied, "I don't know." And: "I mean I was like family in that house." (All the more reason for Johnston to have kept his mouth zipped.)

Granted, Palin doesn't help her case when her spokesperson releases statements trashing the father of her grandson. Such as: "Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies — those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention." This is one of those situations in which "No Comment" would have worked better.

Of course, Palin is outraged because Johnston is behaving like a classic heel. But he's a 19-year-old heel, who clearly is in over his head. No doubt Johnston will come to regret the Faustian choice he has made. TV producers and magazine biggies may woo Johnston in their zeal to discredit Palin. But he can give them what they want only by making things up or betraying confidences — that is by making himself look like a world-class creep. In no time, they'll be trashing Johnston as a hick turncoat/opportunist.

During her interview, Rodriguez asked Johnston if he felt "used and discarded" by Palin. He did — and he failed to note the irony.

E-mail Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@sfchronicle.com. To find out more about Debra J. Saunders, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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Ma'am;....Poor Mrs. Palin would not be the first politician to lay her families on the altar of idealism...It is not because she is worse than male politicians that we think her bad; but because she is not better... She uses the fruit of her womb as window dressing... She uses them... That is what we want not from our presidents, to be users; and yet we know, that some in history were thought better of because they denied themselves normal family life...Hitler was desired all the more because he took no wife... It did not matter that he may have been incapable of managing any true personal relationships, because he had no emotions that were not narcisistic, sadistic, or paranoid... I am certain that Mrs. Palin suffers some paranoia too, and perhaps even narcisism... That does not make her correct, or worthy of political authority...Instead, we ought to judge all these politicians by their personal relationships...If their wives cannot trust them, or if they use their families, but do not love them, then why should I give them anything, least of all, my trust...Running a country is not a larger problem than sharing a relationship... Look at Lincoln who struggled with his love life, but managed the country with the same plodding diligence... Politicians can only do as they are allowed to do given public opinion, and it is that which should first be cornered...Wouldn't it be nice if the candidates would first do the hard work of defining and shaping public opinion that is already in evidence, and then ride the public will into office rather than pimping their children in front of the public lens for the vote of idealists... They should all quit using their children... They should all quit sacrificing their personal relationships to their greed for public power... We should take back our power, and give only authority with continuing consent...Then, any bimbet could be president, and would have the sense to defer to the people who sent her there...Thanks...Sweeney

Comment: #1
Posted by: James A, Sweeney
Wed Nov 4, 2009 5:06 AM

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The whole sick family, except, tragically, for the kids, deserves its own sick brand of self destruction--self-destruction which, of course, is all in the name of money and reality-TV style publicity. End of story.

Comment: #2
Posted by: Masako
Thu Nov 5, 2009 8:45 PM

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