<p>I do find it ironic to bemoan that this is a topic for discussion and then to participate in the discussion itself. </p>
<p>Also, for the same people to critique that this discussion is taking place about young people in the media (who are adults), but then discuss Chelsea Clinton’s wedding…what’s the difference? Can one only discuss happy events and not unfortunate events?</p>
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Congratulations versus snark. Also the salacious history with regard to Bristol/Levi here on the forum. There is no such history with regard to the lovely Chelsea.</p>
<p>Levi and Bristol mutually erred in not taking effective steps to prevent a high school pregnancy. After that, Levi offered to marry Bristol and she said yes, Then she said no (after the election). Then she said yes. </p>
<p>Right now Bristol hasn’t said anything after the totally erroneous report that a an ex-girl friend was pregnant with his child. Has anyone read a report of a direct statement by Bristol, Levi or any “official” spokesperson that the engagement is off?</p>
<p>What more can one ask of this young man? He has acknowledged that the child is his. He has offered to marry the mother twice.</p>
<p>Once Sarah’s campaign introduced him to the public, he has been working on a career. He has an agent. He has had advertizement work. He is expanding into music videos. He has done modeling work. He has been able to appear on TV with some frequency. He has had magazine cover work for a large payday. </p>
<p>If any CC parent has a 20 year old who has achieved as much in their theatrical career by age 20, I’d love to hear it. As far as I can tell he isn’t sitting around doing nothing, sponging off his parents or anyone else. This is an example where not going to college hasn’t stopped a young man from pursuing his dreams.</p>
<p>It is inspirational.</p>
<p>I don’t see the Chelsea thread about congratulations but rather it is commentary about her happy event. Bristol/Levi, who have chosen to be in the news with public stories they were paid to put out, have had some happy and some unfortunate news both, and in both cases, people are commenting about it. The nature of these young peoples’ news is different, but nonetheless, they are in the news (Bristol/Levi by choice, Chelsea tried hard to not be in the news), and thus people are commenting about the news of the day.</p>
<p>Yes that’s right Soozie, but aren’t we all commenting about and to each other at the same time?</p>
<p>Please add: *Congratulations Levi, way to go! *to post #243</p>
<p>Did anyone see Levi’s appearances on “Kathy Griffin - My Life on the D List?” He is obviously very comfortable being the butt of jokes. She even visited him in Wasilla.</p>
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<p>Rodney Dangerfield is deceased, but he made a career off self-deprecation. Mark my words, you just watch ole Levi–he is making lemonade out of lemons.</p>
<p>I think it is possible that Bristol’s indecision on tying the knot can be accounted for by being caught between the traditional American “norm” of getting married for child rearing and the emerging trend toward a more European model of non-married motherhood.</p>
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<p>Apparently, Sarah is now suggesting this European option for Bristol, and Bristol seems more traditional, like Chelsea Clinton. Quite the delimma for Bristol. Of course, Levi seems to favor getting married.</p>
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<p>Actually, I think if they kept their private lives to themselves, the coverage would become so minimal that their lives could return to some normalcy. Look at Britney Spears… used to be she was in the headlines everyday for some pretty unfortunate events. However, with some guidance, she was able to pull herself out of the news cycle. Yet she still maintains a very public personae due to her career. </p>
<p>I do think Bristol and Levi continually add fuel to the fire and unless they shut up, their lives will become a bonfire for the public to watch.</p>
<p>And just like Britney, unfortunately, Bristol and Levi have ‘friends’ who wish to capitalize off their misfortunes. So tidbits are subsequently fed to the media. Frankly, their best opportunity for breaking free of the cycle would be to up and move somewhere away from Alaska where they can start over with new friends and different opportunities.</p>
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What I meant was that everything they’ve done so far will remain in cyberspace for their child(ren) to see someday, no matter what they do going forward. It’s kind of a shame in this day and age that you can’t get out from under the mistakes you make as a young and stupid person.</p>
<p>LOTS of teens get pregnant. Other than that, what is it that Bristol and Levi have done that is a mistake?</p>
<p>I’m not sure one’s kids ever really care about what the parent did when they were young. They simply cannot think of their parents as young and/or think all of it was old history and “so then.”</p>
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I would say the Playgirl thing was a mistake, and a lot of what they have said about each other and their families will remain available for their child to see. I think that’s unfortunate.</p>
<p>What have Levi and Bristol done that is a mistake? I certainly think getting pregnant in high school is a mistake. I don’t care if this happens a lot, or was on purpose; it is a mistake. Kids are not ready to become parents at age 17. They left high school; Levi is a high school drop out. I think heralding the situation on tv and media at the RNC was a mistake too. It is very common knowledge that engagements/marriages at that young age have a low chance of succeeding. There was no reason to bring Levi or even Bristol into the limelight. That is what started all of this. </p>
<p>They are both young and immature. If any of the gossip out there is true about all of this musical beds, and jealousy, the two of them need a lot of work to grow up. Yes, they are making money on these stories, but at their ages, it really isn’t a good career path. They need to start looking at more permanent ways to make a living.</p>
<p>I don’t assume Bristol regrets the magazine spread. I had a relationship end last year with attendant heartbreak. I strongly want to put it behind me and to have no interaction with him. But if US Weekly offered me $100 grand for an hour’s worth of conversation and cover pics of us together…I might well say yes. It’s a lot of money! The experience would be as pleasant as a root canal, but I’d probably be willing to have a root canal for that much money, too. $100,000 would soothe a lot of hurt feelings in my house.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m interested in teen pregnancy stories across the board. I watched both seasons of “16 and Pregnant” and the follow-up series. If there were threads here about that, I’d post on them. I never stop being fascinated by these human dramas.</p>
<p>I may not still be alive to see it, but I would bet money that one day, Bristol is going to have a high political office. Her past will be behind her, and she’ll have a way of using good sense and her well known name to make it in politics. I also am betting that she’ll be a more liberal politician than her mom is.</p>
<p>I can’t figure out why I think this will happen, it’s just a hunch.</p>
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<p>Levi talking smack about SP to the media – that was classless. Levi doing the Playgirl spread – also classless. Levi doing the pistachio ad with the double-entendre about doing it with protection (not recalling what it was for). Having said that, as the mother of an almost 18 yo girl, I don’t like talking smack about Bristol Palin.</p>
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<p>I guess you weren’t impressed with the smack comments against Levi by SP and Bristol and on CC?</p>
<p>^^that add was icky. My jaw dropped when I saw it. Makes you wonder what goes through advertisers heads - surely there was one pistachio bigwig who would have seen that and said “er, no”.</p>
<p>seems there is more to add to Levi’s list…possibly another baby fathered with another girl. feel sad for Bristol, she seemed to believe they could be a family…</p>
<p>[Bristol</a> Palin calls it quits with fiance Johnston - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100803/ap_on_en_ot/us_people_palin_johnston]Bristol”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100803/ap_on_en_ot/us_people_palin_johnston)</p>
<p>I think this is so sad, really. Imagine having to go through all the normal teenage angst, while having a baby at 17, but in the public eye! How awful.</p>