the buzz log

Sarah Palin must be kicking herself. The former Republican vice-presidential candidate made Levi Johnston the poster child of teen fatherhood (He is the baby daddy of her grandchild): Palin paraded him before the world when she accepted her party's nomination. Had he been under the radar, the ex-boyfriend of Bristol Palin might have just disappeared. 

But now he's running his mouth about the Palin fam — and says he's got way more dirt to dish out, and promises a book. The 19-year-old squared off against the ex-governor of Alaska with all kinds of tales that must make Palin crazy. She called her baby retarded! She left her office for money! She and Todd talked divorce! The future presidential contender chose to engage by sniping back at the snarky stories, calling them "mean-spirited, malicious, and untrue," and calling Johnston "desperate." Me-ouch.

Truth or lies, the back-and-forth has caused major interest in Web searches: One-day Yahoo! lookups for "Levi Johnston" soared a whopping 1,992%. Popular queries also included "sarah and levi," and "sarah palin book tour."

Pace yourselves. Johnston made clear on the CBS "Early Show" he is just warming up to this "he said, she said" business. The smooth talking teen let loose this juicy gem: "I have things that can, you know — that would get her in trouble, and could hurt her." But for now, this guy's lips are sealed. Kind of. His handler says he's working on a book, and the bombs he dropped in his recent Vanity Fair piece were nothing compared to what could come out.

That's not all that's being revealed. Johnston confirmed he will pose for Playgirl (on the same day Palin will appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," natch), which will show off Levi's "Johnston," as Gawker put it. We have to admit, this guy knows how to get his sort of ex-mother-in-law's attention, and not in a good way. Who's gone rogue now?