Levi Johnston Edited Sarah Palin's 2009 State of the State Address

Levi Johnston has never been known for his way with words, he was once called "practically monosyllabic" by a national reporter. Bristol made fun of his grammer and spelling in her memoir. So why would the governor who prides herself on her journalistic and political prowess email Levi Johnston her 12 page 2009 State of the State address to be "edited"? 

That redaction goes on for 12 pages. There is nothing more to see.  The State of the State is not personal nor private. This is clearly an abuse of the system, and we won't get to see Levi's  three-minutes-before-midnight "editing," but we can find the final product on US4Palin.com.  I looked,  it was 12 pages (but barely - the last page having only one line where Sarah gives everyone God's blessing). The word count, finalized at 3743.

There was nothing in there about Levi. There was nothing in there about Tripp. What was it, then, that Sarah forwarding this at one o'clock in the morning, told Michael Nizich to "squeeze in"? Well, unless Levi was a consultant on education, energy or taxes, it must have been this:

One of the great privileges given to me last year was the chance to be a witness for the truth that every child has value; to say to special needs children that they are beautiful and loved. And needed. We learn more from them than they from us. Across America, a great change is coming in public policy affecting these children, and Alaska can lead the way. This is a part of the culture of life where every child is cherished and protected.

If this is what Levi edited, and it must be, he did not allow Sarah to say she was the birth mother of Trig. That would be my best guess of what he edited out. She was "a witness."  Sarah probably did witness Trig's birth, from the bedside, not the bed.

And just because it's so fitting, here's a picture from that same website,  showing Todd, Trigg, and Mike Nizich and Kris Perry during that speech.  

If Trig weren't a prop, he wouldn't be at that speech. He'd have been home with his real mother and his new baby brother.  Or with his real father, whom I suspect is 18 year-old high school dropout who was consulted as an editor for the governor's speech.

There's more to glean from this. How did Sarah explain having Levi edit the speech to her staff copied on the email?  What are Mike Nizich and and Kris Perry and Katryn Morgan to think about that? Until now, I thought people turned a blind eye to Sarah's poorly faked pregnancy and Bristol's absence from the public eye. 

But by being forwarded the Levi Johnston email, right out there for them to see his involvement and his edits, Sarah shows that they knew. They knew!  That "open secret" we hear about sometimes - yup, they knew.

I wonder if the staff also knew on that day in January, 2009 that Levi had been kicked out of the Palin house 10 days earlier.  Levi was not important enough to be allowed to bond with his newborn son Tripp,  but yet he was important enough to have a say in what the Governor of Alaska would present to the public in the annual state of the state. 

Redacted or not, this email is a smoking gun. What it implies about what Levi thought his relationship was to Trig, what Sarah wanted Levi to think his relationship was to Trig, and what Sarah's staff thought of that relationship, too is the stuff Babygate is made of. 

Is there any other way to interpret this?  

(If you haven't yet read yesterday's post, I encourage you to do so. It's an important one.)