Remember Levi Johnston? He's the father of Sarah Palin's grandchild who, after the 2008 election wrapped up, lobbed inflammatory attacks at the Palin family and posed for Playgirl before (briefly) getting engaged to Bristol Palin and then falling off the map entirely. He's someone that America easily could and probably should forget. The only problem is that Sarah Palin won't let us.

The Associated Press reports today:

Sarah Palin isn't done with Levi Johnston. And she isn't crazy about “American Idol,” either.

The former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate writes in her new book that it was “disgusting” to watch Johnston, the estranged father of her grandson, exploit his sudden fame after she was chosen as U.S. Sen. John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election. She alleges that he was absent when her daughter Bristol Palin gave birth to Tripp and that he disgraced himself by repeatedly criticizing the Palins.

“Of course, we all had to bite our tongues -- more than once -- as Tripp's father went on a media tour through Hollywood and New York, spreading untruths and exaggerated rhetoric,” Palin writes. “It was disgusting to watch as his fifteen minutes of fame were exploited by supposed adults taking advantage of a lost kid.”

There are a couple of things to point out here. First of all, the title of Palin's forthcoming book is America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, and I'd be curious to know where score-settling attacks on the “lost kid” who criticized her fit into that framework.

Secondly, she most certainly did not “bite” her “tongue” while Johnston was out on his publicity tours. After one CBS interview she released a scathing statement on Johnston's “mean spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family,” and chastised CBS “for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies -- those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention.”

That's well and good, but now, long since he's ceased to have any sort of relevance, Palin is the one paying Levi Johnston the attention she says he doesn't deserve. Why would she do that?

Oh, right, because she has to be the victim. Always.