If Associated Press tried any harder to manufacture a non-article for the sole purpose of having a pop at Sarah Palin then they’d need corrective surgery to untwist themselves.

“Mom of Bristol Palin’s former fiance pleads guilty.”

So, a story about a person only loosely connected at this time to Governor Palin doesn’t even get named in the headline but Palin does? We couldn’t see a more tortured headline if AP had written: “Governor Palin’s hairdresser’s friend’s dog bites child.”

Yes it is a sad story that Levi’s mother was caught up in this drug bust and yes Levi was once going to marry Governor Palin’s daughter, Bristol, but in truth Sherry Johnston’s plight has nothing at all to do with the Palin family. But interestingly so much of this story on Johnston is centered on Governor Palin and her family. The Palins formed a much larger part of this story than necessary. A mention of how Sherry is connected to the Palins might be relevant to justify writing about the mother in the first place – it wouldn’t have made the local paper otherwise – but some parts of this story were only meant to enable a scoffing at Palin.

The following, for instance, was a legitimate part of the story:

Johnston, 42, is the mother of 19-year-old Levi Johnston. He and 18-year-old Bristol Palin were engaged but called the wedding off after their son, Tripp, was born in December.

If that was all that was said of the Palins in the story on Sherry Johnston’s misfortunes, the story would have been a more legitimate, journalistic effort. But the whole end of the AP story exploited the Palin connection with little justification.

What the following has to do with Johnston’s legal troubles is anyone’s guess:

Johnston was arrested in mid-December and charged with six felony drug counts. Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin’s baby was born a short time later.

Sarah Palin announced on the first day of the Republican National Convention on Sept. 1, 2008, that her unwed daughter was pregnant. The McCain-Palin campaign issued a statement saying Bristol Palin “and the young man” would get married.

Sherry Johnston eventually disclosed that her son was the father. The following week, Levi Johnson attended the convention in St. Paul, Minn., when Sarah Palin accepted the vice presidential nomination.

Palin resigned as Alaska governor last month.

Why can’t simply report the news without pushing its anti-Palin message?