Levi Johnston–the father of Sarah Palin’s first grandchild, former boyfriend of Bristol Palin–appeared on the Tyra Banks Show  Monday. And wow, he’s cute. And kinda–well it’s good he has hunting to fall back on. He’s seems very sweet and shy and really not capable of lying…because—um like I said, it’s good he can hunt for his food. By the way in case you were wondering, Levi says  moose tastes like

Moose.

In the first segment, he explains what happened after Tripp was born and why he and Bristol broke up:

Things got all complicated, uh we started fightin’. We just weren’t seeing to eye to each other anymore and we thought it’d better to be friends.

I think the friends thing might be not an option any more, given the harsh words Gov GILF has issued in statements. Comments like these don’t really make for warm Thanksgiving get-togethers:

We’re disappointed that Levi and his family, in a quest for fame, attention, and fortune, are engaging in flat-out lies, gross exaggeration, and even distortion of their relationship. 

It is unfortunate that Levi finds it more appealing to exploit his previous relationship with Bristol than to contribute to the well-being of the child

Unfortunately, my family has seen many people say and do many things to `cash in’ on the Palin name.

Levi admits that since the break up he can’t see cant see Tripp as much. One reason Bristol put her foot down:

Her and my sister don’t get along.

And part of that is because Levi’s sister Mercede (Mer-say-dee) is friends with a lot of the girls Levi used to date and Bristol doesn’t want "previous girlsfriends" to see Tripp.

While he says never felt  pressured into getting engaged to Bristol, Levi did feel a bit pressured about going to the RNC convention. Mercede told Tyra:

Levi told me [Bristol Palin] called and said that, ‘You’re going,’ and he said, ‘I want to go hunting,’ and she said, ‘You’re going.’

Maybe that should have been a clue this relationship was doomed…

So why are the Johnstons breaking their silence? And for free!? As Tyra points out, they weren’t paid for their appearance!

Well, they want to let America know that they’re good people and underneath it all comes out that the Johnstons are genuinely expressing their hurt at not being able to see baby Tripp. But also there’s "so much bad stuff" being said in the media, that they want to clear up a lot of the stories which get distorted.  Oopsie. Maybe posting personal stuff on Myspace isn’t a really good idea.

"Gram" Sherry Johnston, baby Tripp’s other granny, explains that things changed and once Palin was nominated for vice president and are now a nightmare. The Johnstons

Never expected this to happened, the media…media everywhere, never being able to say anything…

Mereced explained thatduring campaign all questions were  to be refered to the McCain campaign and then answered "no comment," which was really hard for her.

The saga just gets just gets sadder: Sherry, Mercede and Levi have been denied access to baby Tripp by Sarah and Bristol.  Sherry naively/tactfully/like a good conservative blames the media because she doesn’t know who else to blame–and because frankly if she blames Sarah Palin’s stuck up self-righteous attitude, things will just get worse. And really, so what if Sherry was arrested for distribution of oxycontin? Gov GILF’s semi-sister-in-law was busted for breaking into a house. Twice. In one week. With her 4 year old in tow.

The real heart breaker for Gram Sherry, and for any grandmother?

I don’t get no pictures. I’m not wanting pictures to go sell.

Levi and his family now get to see Tripp about once a month, and while they haven’t gone to court, he’s

Looking like it, I don’t want to go that way…

Heck, surely there’s a father’s rights group that will help him out wiht the legal fees, because this could get ugly. And expensive.

Levi’s biggest piece of advice (and not it’s not using condoms!): When it comes to getting a name tattooed on your finger:

I don’t recommend it.

As part of statement issued by the Frost Lady of Alaska’s office in an transparent attempt to make Mommy Dearest look good, Bristol Palin said that she "obviously" discourages teen pregnancy. But whoa, check out the pro-contraception message:

Teenagers need to prevent pregnancy to begin with — this isn’t ideal. But I’m fortunate to have a supportive family which is dealing with this together. Tripp is so perfectly precious; we love him with all our hearts. I can’t imagine life without him now.

The Anchorage Daily News has more from Gov GILF who spent the last day of the year, emailing the Associated Press and Anchorage Daily News and calling People Magazine to counter the impression that Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston, Tripp’s 18 year old father are a high school drop-outs. In October, Johnston told the AP he had "left" high school to work as an apprentice oil field electrician. Previously Palin had said Bristol had taken high school correspondence courses as well as attending high school.

Then just to make sure her frantic spin was received, Palin issued a statement :

Bristol begins her final semester of high school next week where she’ll get her last credit needed to graduate. Levi is continuing his online high school work in addition to working as an electrical apprentice on the North Slope.

The gubernatorial grandma went on to say:

When Bristol and Levi first told us the shocking news that she was pregnant, to be honest, we all at first looked at the situation with some fear and a bit of despair. Isn’t it just like God to turn those circumstances into such an amazing, joyful blessing when you ask Him to help you through?

I wonder what Bristol is going to do with all those baby gifts from around the world? Will she sell the baby pics of Tripp?

The statement ended with Palin stating she preferred to keep the baby a private, family matter. However she admitted about Tripp:

We are over the moon.

Palin’s spokesperson Bill McAllister said:

Palin chose to break her silence on the birth because of the volume of questions coming from the press, and because of "erroneous information that was published."

Palin had a few weeks between the end of the election and Tripp’s birth to frame how she’d handle Tripp’s birth.  Her lack of both foresight and insight into how the media and the public work is further proof she doesn’t have the chops for 2012.

Four days have passed since the birth of her first grandchild, and Gov GILF has yet to issue a formal statement about the blessed event or casually comment on the arrival of Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston. Yet she jumps up and calls People Magazine, leaving a phone message about Bristol and Levi’s educational standing:

You need to know that both Levi and Bristol are working their butts off to parent and going to school and working at the same time.They are certainly not high school dropouts.

People further reports that the Frost Lady of Alaska:

wanted to be clear about their continuing work toward high school degrees because any suggestion otherwise "harms Bristol’s reputation and Levi’s reputation and their chances for good work opportunities." 

Kinda veiled threaty, dotcha think? And so weirdly illogical, jobwise, since either a job requires a a certain degree or it doesn’t. Maybe Palin is concerned about her own reputation and "chances for good work opportunities."

Levi–who told the AP in October he had left high school (that would be "dropped out" in the vernacular) to apprentice as an oil field electrician–is now attending high school via correspondence courses,  according to what his potential future mother-in-law told the Associated Press today.  She also explained that Bristol is enrolled in regular high school and has taken correspondence courses in the past.

And no mention of  her feelings about the birth of her grandchild. Which sorta explains how she’s feeling.