Bristol Palin - Life's A Tripp Episodes 11 and 12 Live Blogging

By Kathleen

What will Bristol whine about this week?

Politicalgates reader Sleuth did such a great job last week of live blogging episodes nine and ten of Life's A Tripp that I have persuaded her to live blog the show again this week. Thankfully and bravely Sleuth agreed.

Sleuth will make her observations in the comments of this post and readers are welcome and indeed encouraged to respond to them. I would kindly request that this post should be on topic and that only comments relating to the show should be made here. This can include comments about previous episodes. 

If you wish to make observations about any other topics etc please click this link to BBT's wonderful new weekly round-up post where you can leave your comment and links both during and after the live blogging session.

KAO has suggested that we should play the word association/drink game. Therefore if you hear the following words or phrases you should have yourself a good long shot of your favourite tipple:

 "Levi"

"I hate you"

"Douchebag"


or

anything that includes a *bleep* sound




For those of you who have work tomorrow hopeforamerica has requested 2 phrases which if heard are equal to 1/4 of a shot:




"Single parent"


"Hard worker"

The comments section is now open to Sleuth who has no doubt fortified herself with a good drink or two or three. Let the games commence. Take it away Sleuth!

Bristol Palin: Life’s A Tripp Episodes 7 & 8 Recap

By Leadfoot_LA

Bella is at her dad’s this week, visiting after our long vacation, so I am flying solo.  This week’s two episodes seemed more painful than usual, but maybe it’s the jetlag.  Here we go…

Valen-Times

Bristol and Gino attend “the fights” (boxing) at the Wasilla Sports Complex.  Bristol says, “Levi cheated on me with that girl” and Gino responds, “Why would you tell me that?” Bristol answers that she was “just thinking it.”  Gino asks her why she is still thinking about Levi.  She says, “I’m not. I’m just thinking about it.”  What?!  My brain hurts already, two minutes in.

In her cut-away interview, Bristol says that there is “absolutely no reason” for Gino to act jealous.  Um, he didn’t act AT ALL jealous.  In fact, he asked her for a kiss.  She is so astonishingly delusional.

Willow and Bristol go to a bookstore to look through cookbooks to decide what to make for the boys for Valentine’s Day.  Willow is mad at Andy for some reason, so she un-invites him.  She says he can only come if he “buys her a bunch of stuff.”  Bristol asks what would warm her heart.  Willow says, “Nothing, I don’t have a heart.”  She says if Andy shows up empty handed, she will “punch him in the face.”

For Valentine’s Day (which he calls “Valentimes Day”), Gino decides to cut down Bristol’s trees at her new house so she can enjoy a clear view of the sunset.  He says that Bristol isn’t materialistic, so he can’t buy her love, instead he just cuts down her trees.  (I would cry if someone cut down my old-growth trees, but maybe that’s just me.)  Bristol appreciates the gift, because nothing says love like deforestation.

Bristol and Willow are in Bristol’s apartment in the turret house, making dinner for the boys.  They start bickering because Willow is doing all the work and Bristol messed up the chocolate covered strawberries.  They call each other “psycho” multiple times.  Bristol keeps telling her she has a bad attitude because she had a fight with Andy (not realizing it is because she is being a total bitch to her!).  Bristol hits Willow with the refrigerator door then says, “you don’t have to be here” and “I’m serious, I do not want you here” and “go, please, I really don’t want you here tonight, you will ruin everything” and “you can leave my house now.”  So Willow leaves. 

Cut to a Bristol voice over:  “When Willow left me hanging with the dinner, I was ticked.  I don’t know how to cook a whole frickin’ chicken.”  OMG, you crazy, evil girl – Willow did NOT leave you hanging – you TOLD her to leave – FOUR TIMES.  

Andy shows up and Bristol lies, “Willow had a meltdown and left me hanging.” Andy is super sad and says he went to the store, bought chocolates, and put notes under each of the little chocolate pieces.  Awww.  Gino comes in and Bristol lies to him too and tells him Willow abandoned her.  Andy leaves the presents for Willow and goes home to spend Valentine’s Day with his mom.  

Andy is constantly either all, "WTF?" or super sad.

Gino, Bristol and Tripp eat the Valentine’s dinner, and Bristol says she is so sad that Willow ruined everything.  Gino tells Bristol she looks pretty and she rolls her eyes.  Tripp says, “I don’t like Gino.”  Bristol tells him that his attitude problem seriously has to change, “or I am going to start calling you Willow.”  He plays with some ugly crystal candlesticks and Bristol says, “Don’t touch those; I’m not going to tell you again.”  Then immediately says, “don’t touch those!”  Bristol, you just told him again.  You are the worst mother ever.

Those first 15 minutes were such a perfect example of the Palin pathology.  Bristol chose to do something (kick Willow out) and the result was that she was affected negatively.  So instead of taking responsibility and accepting the consequences, she completely re-wrote history.  She created a new reality in her head, in which she was the victim.  Then she lied over and over to reinforce this new false reality.

Andy and Gino eat lunch and talk about what happened.  Andy says Willow has such a nice side, but then she has a “light switch” that, when flipped, makes her go "completely evil."  That’s called bi polar disorder, Andy, and it is hereditary.  Poor kid.

Bristol and Willow meet for lunch and Bristol insists that Willow apologize and says that she “has to feel like an idiot.”  Willow says, “Do you know what I’d be ok with? Being those sisters that don’t talk to each other for 10 years.”  HA!  Bristol again says that Willow was just upset because of her bickering with Andy and that she is acting 17.  Willow says not to bring Andy into it, and that she IS 17, and that Bristol is “acting 16, and will act 16 for the rest of (her) life.”  How very insightful.  I agree.  Bristol’s emotional development stopped about the time she was traumatized by giving birth to her first son, which her mother stole from her.

What Willow fails to point out is that 1) Bristol had no right to kick her out of a house that belongs to Todd and Sarah and 2) Bristol KICKED HER OUT.  And here I had Willow pegged as the smarter sister.

These days are long gone.

They all have a bonfire on the lake (is that a good idea?) to burn the tree debris.  Willow dumps snow into Bristol’s boot and Bristol says, “I swear to god, I will hit you with that shovel.”  They re-hash the ENTIRE fight, all over again.  Bristol says, “are you sorry now?”  Willow says she has nothing to be sorry for.  Bristol says, “you ditched me!”  Please just kill me now.

Bristol’s voice over says that her life with Gino is great, but her relationship with Willow is problematic, however she knows it will withstand anything, because they are sisters.  Yah, until Willow decides to cash in and make millions by telling the story of your FIRST pregnancy.  If I were you, Bristol, I’d be much, much nicer to her.

Reindeer Games

Gino and Bristol try to teach Tripp how to drive a snow machine.  Bristol says Todd has won the Iron Dog 4 times, so she really wants Tripp to race in the Iron Pup this year, to carry on the family tradition.  Tripp is having none of it.  He says he doesn’t want to.  Bristol tells Tripp that she is going to give his snow machine to someone else.  He shrugs like “ok.”  HAHA.

Bob Lester, radio host, asks Bristol to participate in the celebrity Running of the Reindeer for charity.  She says that she is “not a celebrity and is terrified of reindeer.”  Um, idiot, in the very first episode of YOUR OWN SHOW, you took Tripp to a reindeer park and were in the pen with all of them encouraging Tripp to touch and feed them.  You never once expressed any fear.  

Andy and Gino take Tripp to a snow machine expo.  Todd is there.  They all try to get Tripp to look at snow machines and he is completely disinterested.  He just wants to jump in the bounce house.

Bristol goes on the Bob and Mark show and they talk her into at least coming to the Running of the Reindeer.  They also ask her about Levi.  She says she doesn’t know anything about him and that she never hears from him anymore.  She says, “I don’t care, I don’t pay attention, I don’t follow him on Twitter.”  Somehow I get the distinct feeling she does all three of those things.  Bob asks Gino if he’d fight Levi in theWasilla boxing matches.  They all laugh about it. 

Andy visits Willow while she is working at a coffee shop (Didn't she quit her job in the first episode?).  She invites him to the running of the Reindeer and says she “hopes (he) gets trampled.”  Then laughs and says she is kidding.  He is the saddest kid with the saddest face ever.  I want to give Andy a hug.

Gino and Andy (who seem to be in charge of watching Tripp A LOT) finally get Tripp to ride his snow machine by himself.  They call Bristol to tell her, and she is very proud of him.

They all go see Todd off on the Iron Dog race, and then sign up Tripp for the Iron Pup.  The official says that he can have a co-rider as long as it is an adult.  So they pick Andy.  WTF?  Andy is 17.  I guess adulthood starts earlier in Wasilla.  We get a close up of Tripp’s eyes and they are as big as saucers.  He is terrified and starts bawling.  Bristol says, “all of a sudden Tripp just changes his moods like that and wants his mommy.”  OMG!  He has been telling you for this ENTIRE EPISODE (which I assume was filmed over the course of several weeks) that he DOES NOT want to do it!  He didn’t just change his mood, you  DON’T listen to him, because you are ALL ABOUT YOU!  Argh!

 

"Drop dead, Diva."

At the Running of the Reindeer, Bristol plays up her supposed fear of reindeer for attention.  She ends up running with them anyway.  During the running scene, Lifetime puts a graphic in the corner of the screen that says “Drop Dead Diva.” Bwahahahahahahahaha.  Now, I realize the graphic is a reminder for one of their other new shows, but it is one comma away from telling Bristol what they want her to do.  And there is NO WAY that was a mistake.  The timing was just too perfect. Lifetime hates Bristol!  Tee hee!

And with that, I am off to do something more fun, like clean the hair out of the drain.

Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tragedy

by Leadfoot_LA and Bella, age 9

Tonight's misadventures in reality TV began like this:

Leadfoot: "Bella, since there's no school tomorrow, you get to stay up late tonight!"

Bella: "Yay! What can we do? Rootbeer floats?"

Leadfoot: "I will make you a rootbeer float, but you have to watch Bristol Palin's show with me and give your opinion for the Internet People."

Bella: "Mooooooommmmmmmmmm! Noooooooo!"

Leadfoot: "But Honey, they are counting on us. This is called taking one for the team."

Bella: "FINE!" (grumble....)

And, we’re off….

The very first line of the theme song gets me going – “”Life will try to break you…”  Here we go with the victim-y “everyone who disagrees with me is a hater” meme.  Ugh.  Why does this crappy reality show even need a theme song?!

Bristol says, “I’m a 21 year old single mom from Wasilla, Alaska” and it is delivered in the most forced, stiff voice you can imagine. I say, “come on, Bristol, you KNOW THIS PART,” and Bella giggles.

She says her life was turned upside down during the campaign when it was revealed she was 17 and pregnant. All of a sudden her personal life was “front page news.”  HA!  What publications were you reading, Bristol?!  (“All of them, Katie.”)  Even thought the “media was trying to tear her down,” her faith, friends and family held her up. Seriously?!  SERIOUSLY?!  Try being on this side, Bristol. We have been trying in vain for FOUR YEARS of our lives – without being paid – to get anyone, ANYONE in the media to give a critical eye to your mom’s B.S. lie about your son Trig being hers.  There are mountains of evidence.  But the media PROTECTED you!

Bristol introduces everyone in the fam-damily and Bella says, “Willow is pretty, but chubbier than before” and snaps me out of my anger.

Sarah has taught Bristol to “work hard, be humble, and take risks – and I have.”  Bwahahahaha.  What?!  What is hard working, humble or risky about selling stories to tabloids, barely dancing on Dancing with the Stars, having a ghost writer pen your autobiography and giving speeches about abstinence while you slut it up (ok, that one actually is kind of risky)?  She says her book became a best seller.  Bella asks if that is true.  I am too annoyed to look it up, so I just say I don’t think so.

Bristol says about a million times that Tripp is her “whole life and means everything” to her.  If that were true, she would let him see the other 50% of his family.  She takes him to a reindeer farm while explaining that a baby isn’t just an accessory on your hip.  “It needs work. It needs attention 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”  Yes, she just called her son “it.”  

Five minutes in and she says “it’s really hard being a single mom.” I notice she is saying this through her old face, so I tell Bella to remember what she looks there and tell me when she notices a change.  Tripp “gives (her) life purpose and direction.”  She says she is moving to L.A. to work for a charity. Except the we know that she didn’t just do this out of the goodness of her heart, or she wouldn’t have filmed it. The ONLY reason she went to work for a charity in L.A., was as the premise of a reality show.  (A premise that was stolen!) So the purpose and direction that Tripp supposedly provided her was, “be a reality TV star?”  Mmmm, ok then.

She wants to “show Tripp what is out there.”  Bristol, that’s called a road trip. Or a 2-week vacation – not picking up your son and moving him away from everything he knows and loves to suit your own vain purposes, idiot!  Piper doesn’t want her to go because she will miss her basketball games. This makes Bristol sad, but she again says that she needs to go show Tripp another part of the world.  Sarah comes in (Bella says “oh GOD!” and rolls her eyes) and in the most cheesy, rehearsed voice tells Bristol that life is supposed to be an adventure, and if she doesn’t like it, home will always be waiting for her. Nice message, but it sounds SO insincere coming from Sarah.  They all agree to pray about it.  Piper says she wants Willow to go and not Bristol. Ha!

Bristol tries to talk Willow into coming with her to watch Tripp while she “works.” (Who wants to bet we never actually see Bristol set foot inside this charity?”)  She again says that “being a single mom is the toughest job.”  Bristol, you dumb ho, you CHOSE to be a single mom!  Levi wanted to marry you, not once, but TWICE, and YOU dumped HIM both times.  So STFU!

They tell Sarah that Willow is going with Bristol to California. Now, I actually have had this conversation with my mom. After college, I told her that I was moving from home in Cleveland to L.A. Had I told her that I was taking my 17-year old sister with me, she would have said, “Over my dead body! Your sister’s job is to finish high school!”  But Sarah being Sarah, she says ok, “So Willow’s mission will be taking care of Tripp while she is there, right?”  WTF?!

Sarah sings (incorrectly) the Beverly Hillbillies theme song to them and they all laugh.

Gino comes in (OH MY GOD – hahahahahahahahaha.  Gino fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.  He is the poor man’s Levi, and that is being generous.)  Bristol asks how much he will miss her and tells him she might find a new guy in L.A. He says he will still be there when she gets back and that he loves her.  I wonder how much she had to pay him to say that on camera.  Bella says, “gross.”

Bristol, Willow and Tripp move into a hideous mansion in Beverly Hills.  Bristol reads a Mother Goose book to Tripp (while he sucks on a pacifier!! For God’s sake, woman, he is 3!  Get rid of the pacifier!) and after reading “Humpty Dumpty” she says, “that one is too long.”  Bella and I look at each other and both bust out laughing.

Bristol and Willow go shopping (um, who is watching Tripp?) and make fun of all the clothes. She says, “People here are a lot more into their image than they are in Alaska. The image thing, to me, doesn’t mean much.”  Yes, folks. She actually said that.  LIAR!

She leaves Willow with Tripp and goes with her friends Jacob and Marissa for a night out on the town.  Bristol rides the bull and the heckling incident ensues.  They do not blur Stephen Hanks’ face.  Now, granted, Hanks was rude.  But Bristol could have ignored him.  She ran over to him and confronted him.  They leave in the “is it because you are a homosexual?” line, but not the “because you look like one” and “is that your wife?” lines.  Hanks tells her he met Levi and that Levi has so much more class than she does. She shouts back, “He hasn’t seen his son in a year!”  Whose fault is that, Bristol?!  You moved out of state!  Twice!  I want to punch her in the vagina.

Bristol starts bawling on the phone to Gino, telling him she wants to go home. That she was attacked and “there were a ton of paparazzi on (her)” – no, honey, that was your own camera crew for this ridiculous show I am losing brain cells watching.  Then she calls Sarah and cries about the “hate that (they) go through.”  Blood libel anyone?  Targets on Gabby Giffords’ district?  Nobody in the U.S. has spread more hate than that family.  

Bristol goes to have lunch with Mark Ballas (without Tripp) and complains about how she has to travel all the time and that Willow teaches Tripp bad things (um, then don’t leave him with her!).

Ok, I was wrong – Bristol actually does go to Help the Children.  They take her to Skid Row.  She says “what is Skid Row?”  For a second I think, "please let someone on bath salts eat her face."  But then I remember that it's full of silicone and Restalyne and Botox and realize that it probably looks unappetizing to even the hungriest drug addict. I have no idea what Bristol does for this charity, because the extent of the scene where she is supposedly working is her being driven in a car down Skid Row.

Willow calls Andy and says she hates L.A. and that Tripp is a brat.  She is wearing a “girls with guns” hat. Keep it classy, Willow. They ask Tripp what he thinks of California, and he says, in the cutest voice you can possibly imagine, “Cay-fo-na is too far way.”  Bella and I look at each other with sad eyes and both say, “awwwwwww.”  Poor Tripp.

Bristol tries to guilt Willow into staying to help her. Willow tells Bristol she is not fun to be around. Bristol tells her everyone will be disappointed in her and think she’s a quitter.  BITCH!  She is your sister not your servant! Bristol says, “you think you are invincible because you are, ridiculous, just ridiculous.”  Bella screws up her face and says, “What?!”  Bristol starts crying because Willow is leaving and “Tripp doesn’t have a father figure.”  What one has to do with the other, I have no idea.  “It’s not normal that he doesn’t have a dad,” she whines.  I yell, “he DOES have a DAD, in ALASKA, where you are REQUIRED BY THE COURT to let that dad visit him!” Bella is checked out and playing with the kitten.

Bristol says that she was Willow’s age when she got pregnant and she “never thought it would happen” to her.  I choose to believe Levi’s story that she wanted to get pregnant and did so on purpose.  It fits much better with the level of emotional maturity she is displaying.  She is obviously a very sad and angry young woman who is too stupid to see how bad she looks.

Willow leaves and Bristol is pissed.  She can’t hire another babysitter because they will sell stories about her to the tabloids.  Bristol – this is HOLLYWOOD.  Don’t you think that celebrities MUCH, MUCH bigger than you deal with that issue every day?  It’s called a non-disclosure agreement.  I’m pretty sure you are familiar with those.  In fact, I’m pretty sure those are what saved your ass from the truth about Trig being revealed.

Bristol says she never expected to be forced to take care of Tripp on her own in L.A., and the show ends.

And now, because I am a REAL single mom, without a nanny or a reality show to pay my bills, I have to go put my own precious daughter to bed. 

Goodnight all.  Try not to have nightmares!

xoxo

Levi Johnston slams his former lawyer Rex Butler on Facebook and defends himself against "deadbeat dad" claims - Read the full facebook exchange

By Patrick

Levi Johnston, who, according to Bristol Palin's frequent public accusations, is a "deadbeat dad" and doesn't pay child support, has now started a public facebook community page.

On this facebook page, Levi, who often has been silent when he was slammed by the Palin-family in public, makes some first attempts to show that he is is a different type of father and that the constant Palin-propaganda is not accurate. We are on Levi's side here, as it is absolutely believable that the Palins play dirty with him - as they have played dirty with many other people before who got in their way, may it be Mike Wooten, Walt Monegan or John Bitney - just to name a few examples.

It is regrettable that Levi did not defend himself more vigorously in the past, especially since Bristol Palin made a fortune out of exploiting his son Tripp via magazine articles, TV adverts and now a tacky reality TV series.

On May 22, Levi posted on his facebook page a picture of a text message to Bristol, apparently in order to prove that the claims that he does not want to see Tripp are wrong:

However, there might be other reasons why Levi has been "handicapped" as far as his dealings with the Palins are concerned. It is obvious that Levi's anger runs deep. Evidence for this can be found in the comments below the above picture that Levi posted. The following exchange has been posted in a shortened version already on another blog - but we have the full exchange, as "Dorothy Marriott", who commented there, is the facebook-name of our very own Kathleen. The complete exchange is not visible any more, as Levi deleted his last comment.

We did not publish this exchange so far, as we first tried to get into touch with Levi directly, but unfortunately we received no response.

So here is now the full exchange:

Dorothy Marriott 
More action like this, Levi. I hope you have a decent lawyer now.
39 minutes ago

Levi Johnston
 I ask for Tripp twice a week. It's kinda hard going up against a family that can afford to bribe a lawyer a million dollars easily and make it so I lose my son forever.
 21 minutes ago

Dorothy Marriott 
That is terrible. Do you know this for a fact? Now that is big news.
17 minutes ago

Levi Johnston
 No I don't.. just saying that they could easily of they wanted to and are definently like that. Found out my last lawyer was on their side the whole three years he was working for me. That's why I have to find the right lawyer this time so this doesn't happen again.

Screenshot:

These comments by Levi did not surprise us. However, it should be noted that Levi did not claim as a fact that the Palins bribed Rex Butler. He clarified in the second comment that he does not know this for a fact and adds that "they could easily if they wanted to and are definitely like that." This is a very important difference, and should be reported also for Levi's own protection, as the "shortened version" of this exchange reads very differently.

Over the years, there was more than enough evidence that Rex Butler and Tank Jones did not act in Levi's best interest. From the public information alone, witnessing the poorly conducted custody trial with Bristol, one could see that Rex Butler achieved very little for Levi Johnston.

The old days: Levi Johnston, Tank Jones and Rex Butler

An inside source also let us know several months ago that Rex and Tank were not happy at all that Levi decided to tell his own story in his book "Deer in the Headlights." This behavior by Tank and Rex is very puzzling indeed.

Tank Jones had been Levi's constant companion for years, his "handler", being together with him virtually all the time during public appearances. Officially, Tank was a bodyguard. But it also might have very well been the case that Tank's role was to make sure in the first place that Levi did not do anything "stupid." But at this point, we can only take guesses.

Then there is "Sarah Palin's big elephant in the room" - her faked pregnancy with Trig. Rex Butler certainly knows much more about this topic than is known in public. He once said to an Alaskan journalist, strictly "off-the-record", as he stressed, that he "doesn't know for certain" that Sarah Palin is Trig's mother and then showed no desire to discuss this topic further. Levi Johnston on the other hand always seemed convinced that Trig is Sarah Palin's biological son - a fact which many of our readers did not like in the past, but which could be explained, as I am convinced, by the fact that Levi himself was duped by the Palins regarding this matter.

The Palins made sure that their big deception was guarded as carefully as possible - and made sure that Levi right from the start had no doubts about Sarah being the biological mother of Trig. As it turned out, this plan worked. It is a shame that Levi does not really want to talk about this topic. We surely would be very interested to talk to him about this, as it could solve some open questions, but also raise new questions. Regardless, it would most likely bring us closer to the truth about Trig.

Levi Johnston, who is still very young and whose anger about the whole situation is more than understandable, is in a very difficult position right now, but his only possibility is to try to take charge of his own life. We wish him lots of success, and he surely has our blessings.

Levi Johnston, We are Fighting --- Deer In The Headlights

By Leadfoot_LA

There is no easy way to say this, so here it is: Levi Johnston did not tell the truth about the Trig pregnancy in his book, Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs.

I had planned to write a fun,snarky, 4^th grade-style book report for you all. But I’m no longer in the mood. I just spent this afternoon pouring over each word, trying to figure out if Levi is lying, or just doesn’t know the truth.

It’s like trying to sort out a giant ball of tangled yarn. There are SO many inconsistencies, it’s nearly impossible to unravel. For example:

In Going Rogue, Sarah Palin says that Levi Johnston was not present for the birth of his son Tripp. But in Bristol’s book, she says Levi and her mom were there. Levi says he was there. Obviously, somebody is lying. (I’m going to give this lie to Sarah).

Unless…they are mixing up details of two different birth stories. We know Levi was there when Trig was born:

Do we have any photos of him holding a newborn Tripp in the hospital?

Levi describes Tripp’s birth:

Once I got inside the lobby, I headed straight forthe Birthing Center. I had taken this same route eight months before,for Trig’s birth. This was different. This was Bristol’s and my baby. Sarah’s head swiveled when I walked into Bristol’s suite. I walked over to the other side of the bed. Sarah looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. Levi’s here, she said, leaning over Bristol and patting her hair. Isn’t that great? Bristol shook her mother’s hand off her head. I didn’t know it then, but it would be another five hours before my son was born. Sarah, Bristol, and I were the only ones there. No one had called my trailer-trash father, mother, and sister.Why didn’t I? I guess I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers. Levi, Sarah broke into my thoughts. Thank you for getting here so fast, she said, leaning over Bristol to touch my arm. I was John Wayne who had just ridden in to rescue the pretty lady in distress. Sarah could have been the one in labor. She looked a mess, hair stuck to her forehead, glasses askew. A little like the librarian who just let down her hair. Poor Bristol was twisting and turning, throwing her body side to side. She grabbed for me, hit my chin. I kissed her forehead. She smiled up at me, and then she screamed. Oh my God. My babe was in serious pain. It was her first delivery and she was only a girl. She screamed again. I mean flat-out screamed. Where was the epidural? I called the nurse. Bring that epidural in here right now. Bristol was wailing, cussing up a storm, bitching at her mother. We need that damn epidural! Now I’m yelling,too. Sarah and I were trying to talk Bristol down and it made her angry. Again, she went after her mom, verbally and then physically. Sarah ducked. Calm down, babe. Calm down. Breathe. Breathe. Bristol lay back and squeezed my hand until it was bloodless.

The doc came in and gave her the epidural. Then she was all sweet and nice and messed up out of her mind. Then she passed out, asleep. Sarah and I looked at each other, took a deep breath together, and smiled. We’d broken the filly with good teamwork. I was starving. Sarah suggested I run over to theTaco Bell. It was her favorite fast food. I knew she loved their quesadillas and asked if she wanted me to bring one back for her. I don’t think I could manage it, she said. When I got back fifteen minutes later, Bristol was still sleeping. She woke up an hour later with me at her side. She was sweaty, exhausted—and so beautiful. It would be three more hours before the doc said those wonderful words to me: She’s good to go. Bristol wanted to push. Together we were panting that baby out. How the hell does anyone manage to do this all by themselves? Tripp took his time, finally arrived after six hours of labor.

The cord had been wrapped around his short, little neck twice. One look at this baby boy—a miracle!—and I knew my life would never be the same. I was given scissors to cut the clamped cord. What I needed was an oxygen mask. My fingers were jelly. I was overwhelmed, grabbed on to the rail of Bristol’s bed with one hand, and passed Sarah the scissors. Snip. Baby Tripp was on his own. I would have loved a little Piper of my own, but when we found out we were going to have a boy, we already had the name picked out—actually way before Bristol had even conceived. Trip was a character in one of those psycho scrambler motocross films. Trip Carlyle. It had a nice ring to it. Bristol added the second “p.” Easton Mitchell? Easton was my favorite hockey-stick supplier.

You know what stands out to me? (Keeping in mind that I am trained in messaging and "spin" and I can spot a well-crafted message a mile away.) "I had taken this same route eight months before, for Trig’s birth." -- Why would he even mention"eight months"? In natural conversation, he would not. But he had to get that in there to reinforce the Palin story.

Also: "It was her first delivery and she was only a girl." -- Um, it was her ONLY delivery. It is REALLY strange to say it was her "first" -- unless it wasn't and he is lying about it.

Now let’s examine what he has to say about the Trig pregnancy:

Mom thinks she might be about to go into labor, Bristol said into my ear. We’re meeting her at the hospital. Sarah had been telling Bristol during the past month that her water was leaking once or twice a day, in drops. When she left for the lower forty-eight, though, her baby wasn’t due for another five weeks. I had told Bristol it was nuts for her mom to be traveling here and there,giving speeches. I sure as hell wouldn’t have let Bristol do that. Now Sarah was telling Bristol that the drops were pretty much constant. Sarah had felt she had plenty of time to get back to Wasilla.She wanted to be home rather than deliver in Texas so that her new son could be a true-blue Alaska boy. She wanted this child, possibly a Down’s baby, to be delivered by her doc, who knew the deal, in our new medical center in Wasilla.

Let’s ignore for a minute the ridiculous assertion that Sarah was leaking amniotic fluid throughout her seventh month of pregnancy and went on about her business like nothing was happening.

Levi, the circumstances you describe aren’t even possible. If they suspected that the baby was a “Down’s baby,” the new medical center would never have accepted Sarah as a maternity patient. This was a high-risk delivery (advanced maternal age, earlylabor, Downs Syndrome) and that medical center is not accredited to handle high-risk births. They would have put her in an ambulance and shipped her off to Anchorage. If they didn’t, they could be fined, liable for any damages to mother or baby and lose the accreditations they do have.

But what is even more interesting than these new details to the Trig fairytale, are the new details to the Tripp pregnancy story:

I was worried though about leaving Bristol. I told her I wasn’t going to go, but she insisted, wanted me to get some time with Todd. I don’t know whether Bristol was trying to get rid of me or really hoped Todd and I would become closer. I didn’t care at that point. I was just happy for a break. I also was getting a reprieve from the wedding series she loved to watch with me. It had been getting worse, this fascination with marriage. I saw so many of these shows that I could be a wedding planner, doing anything from divas to redneck weddings—with the bride and groom wrestling pigs in a mud pit. Before I left that morning, I made Bristol lunch and left a surprise box of her favorite candy, Almond Roca,under her pillow. I loaded my machine in my truck. Bristol wasn’t due for another three weeks. At least that was the plan…

Chuck Heath originally announced that Bristol’s due date was Dec. 18. Levi says that Bristol gave birth"3 weeks early" on Dec. 27. (date changed by Kathleen) Three weeks later would have made her due in mid to late January. Does this mean Levi never believed the date the family publicly released? Why doesn't he confront this discrepancy? Does this mean the Palins lied to America about Bristol's due date? If so, why?

And for the love of God, WHY ALL THE INCONSISTENCIES?!?! When you have a baby, your due date and labor story is BURNED ONTO YOUR BRAIN forever!! They were OBVIOUSLY lying, and trying to revise history, while struggling to get the story straight on Tripp’s birth. WHY? Why would they have to do that unless they were covering up for a previous pregnancy?!

Well, that should give you some discussion points. Overall, Levi throws in just enough "Sarah is a liar" examples in his book to remain credible and seem like he is anti-Palin. But I'm telling you, my Spidey Sense is tingling like crazy -- the kid is lying.

We’re in for a very busy and exciting week here at Politicalgates, with lots of coverage coming up on Joe McGinniss’ book as well. I will post a full review of Levi’s book later in the week. But for now, I’m going to go cry on my pillow.

UPDATE: Levi's televised publicity schedule.

“DR. PHIL” – September 20

“The INSIDER” CBS – September 2

“THE JOY BEHAR SHOW” HLN – September 21

“THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCW O'DONNELL” MSNBC – September 22

CNN “NEWSROOM” – September 22

“WENDY WILLIAMS SHOW” – September 21

“INSIDE EDITION” CBS – September 21or 22

CNN “SHOWBIZ TONIGHT” – September 22

EXTRA – September 22

Bristol Palin on the View -- Full Interview - BONUS: Hugh Grant owns ex-News of the World editor Paul McMullen

By Kathleen

Bristol Palin appeared on The View to discuss some of the claims that she made in her book Not Afraid of Life. I think that it should have been better titled Not Afraid of Telling Lies..........

During the interview Bristol talks about losing her virginity whilst drunk and her custody battle with Levi Johnston, the father of her son, Tripp. She also claims that she would not have had sex if she had been sober, and moreover, because she had already crossed her "moral code" she figured at the time that she would just keep right on doing it. Now she is the princess of abstinence.

Next, Jo Behar asks Bristol "Does Levi not want custody?" and Sherri Shepard wants to know "Did you ask him to sign over his parental rights?" Sherri may have been referring to the following interview with Bob and Mark in which Bristol in January, 2011 reveals that she has asked Levi to give up his rights over young Tripp.

Please keep in mind that little Tripp is sitting in the audience when Bristol responds that "When you see your child only a couple of times a year um I think its acceptable to ask something like that." Not content with dissing Tripp's father in print Bristol further vents her spleen in front of her young son. Not cool Bristol, especially because Levi claims that he has requested access on frequent occassions and has been told that Bristol is "out of town."

Which she usually is!

Levi has also claimed that he has not given Bristol permission to take Tripp out of state and that he will not sign over his parental rights over Tripp to Bristol. Although he has remained quite quiet up until now I'm absolutely sure that Levi will reveal more about his constant struggle over access to his son in his new book, Deer in the Headlights. I am certainly going to buy a copy because I want to read his side of the story. Only Levi can tell his story, not any other person, and in my opinion it is his story to tell.

Moving on with the interview, and setting custody issues aside for the moment, everything is A OK for Bristol because she is right with God and right with her family. If she has to make personal attacks on Cindy and Meghan McCain it is only in order to make her own family look real in comparison to the rich McCains. She left the rest unsaid but I think that we all know that she meant that they were different from the real Americans. Real Americans like the Palins. (Vote for my mom because she is awesome and cool and so normal and we are so unspoilt.)

On a positive note Joy Behar, behaving like the adult in the room, urges Bristol to give Levi a chance because he may want to have more to do with Tripp in the future. Bristol responds that "absolutely" she "welcomes him in his life all the time." As I wrote above Levi has a different tale to tell.

Bristol, all child experts agree that keeping a child from his father will more than likely result in disastrous effects in the future. Think of your cute little son, not yourself, and please, please, please stop talking about these issues in front of Tripp.

+++

BONUS UPDATE - By Patrick:

Actor Hugh Grant stands up to former editor of the now infamous and almost deceased tabloid "News of the World", Paul McMullen - simply a pleasure to watch. Many thanks to our reader zane1 for posting the clip!

Raw Story writes:

In April of this year, Grant published an article in Britain’s The New Statesman describing the tactics used by the British tabloid media and how each Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher has known that they can only be elected with the help and consent of Murdoch’s NewsCorp, Inc. empire.

Grant had a run-in with former News of the World editor Paul McMullen in which he found out that the tabloid was listening in on his phone messages. As a retaliatory gesture, he made a visit to McMullen’s pub with a recording device and got the editor on tape admitting to many of the paper’s most dubious practices.

The two men met again on the BBC News Channel and while the discussion began cordially enough, it quickly escalated. Grant’s parting shot to McMullen is not to be missed.

It's refreshing to see people like Hugh Grant - who has nothing to be ashamed of by being a highly paid actor and has a right to privacy like anybody else - standing up against these crappy people from the Murdoch empire who behave like little self-righteous Kings and Queens.

Very interesting to read the transcript of the secretly taped conversation between Hugh Grant and Paul McMullen - some audio excerpts here. The conversation proved that something is rotten in the state of David Cameron, and that his former communications chief Andy Colson was arrested with very good reason - excerpt:

Me (Hugh Grant) So, how's the whistleblowing going?
Him (Paul McMullen) I'm trying to get a book published. I sent it off to a publisher who immediately accepted it and then it got legal and they said, "This is never going to get published."
Me Why? Because it accuses too many people of crime?
Him Yes, as I said to the parliamentary commission, Coulson knew all about it and regularly ordered it . . . He [Coulson] rose quickly to the top; he wanted to cover his tracks all the time. So he wouldn't just write a story about a celeb who'd done something. He'd want to make sure they could never sue, so he wanted us to hear the celeb like you on tape saying, "Hello, darling, we had lovely sex last night." So that's on tape - OK, we've got that and so we can publish . . . Historically, the way it went was, in the early days of mobiles, we all had analogue mobiles and that was an absolute joy. You know, you just . . . sat outside Buckingham Palace with a £59 scanner you bought at Argos and get Prince Charles and everything he said.
Me Is that how the Squidgy tapes [of Diana's phone conversations] came out? Which was put down to radio hams, but was in fact . . .
Him Paps in the back of a van, yes . . . I mean, politicians were dropping like flies in the Nineties because it was so easy to get stuff on them. And, obviously, less easy to justify is celebrities. But yes.
Me And . . . it wasn't just the News of the World. It was , you know - the Mail?
Him Oh absolutely, yeah. When I went freelance in 2004 the biggest payers - you'd have thought it would be the NoW, but actually it was the Daily Mail. If I take a good picture, the first person I go to is - such as in your case - the Mail on Sunday. Did you see that story? The picture of you, breaking down . . . I ought to thank you for that. I got £3,000. Whooo!

Also good to know that, according to Paul McMullen in this secretly taped conversation:

Cameron must have known - that's the bigger scandal. He had to jump into bed with Murdoch as everyone had, starting with Thatcher in the Seventies . . . Tony Blair . . . [tape is hard to hear here] Maggie openly courted Murdoch, saying, you know, "Please support me." So when Cameron, when it came his turn to go to Murdoch via Rebekah Wade . . . Cameron went horse riding regularly with Rebekah. I know, because as well as doorstepping celebrities, I've also doorstepped my ex-boss by hiding in the bushes, waiting for her to come past with Cameron on a horse . . . before the election to show that - you know - Murdoch was backing Cameron.

Hugh Grant, I feel that I never really knew you! Respect! Very well done!

+++

SECOND UPDATE:

I would like to add another very impressive interview by Hugh Grant, this time given on the UK Murdoch-channel Sky News. Hugh Grant is not only highly intelligent, he has real guts as well, as he proves again:




+++ More videos about the News of the World scandal can be found on this youtube-channel +++

The newest video is a taped speech by News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks addressing her staff.