Levi Johnston may be an “opportunistic buffoon” and a “grammatically challenged, Playgirl-posing, pistachio-shilling media pawn,” but he’s also a guilty pleasure. He’s hot, he’s cute, and his "unverifiable claims" about Sarah Palin are fascinating, writes Meghan Daum of the Los Angeles Times. Listening to him is like “popping an enormous pimple. You know no good can come of it…but it’s just too satisfying to turn away.”
Besides, “despite being as dumb and bland as he is cute,” Levi might just be “the most necessary player in the Palin media circus.” The former Alaska governor isn’t going near anyone who’ll ask tough questions. But Levi keeps launching bombs, allowing the likes of Oprah and Barbara Walters to "hide behind Johnston the raving wayward teenager" and ask substantive questions. "Fairly or not," Daum writes, "at least he's playing hardball and not softball." (More Levi Johnston stories.)