New mom, Bristol Palin, appeared on Fox News last night to talk about what it’s like to be a new mother, in an interview she scheduled without giving her famous mom, Sarah Palin, much warning. Then she and Greta Van Susteren got to talking about abstinence and Bristol dropped a bomb, saying, “abstinence is not realistic at all.” So much for Mommy Knows Best!

Today is Sarah Palin’s 45th Birthday! Have a heckuva birthday, Sarah! In honor of the former VP nominee, we’ve pulled together a list of the 13 most wonderful things we can thank the Alaska Governor for.

Bristol Palin and her baby daddy Levi Johnston gave birth to healthy boy on Sunday. His name? Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston. Say what? Is that the name of a new nail polish color? Was little Bristol trippin’ when she bought her baby books? Or perhaps she was paying homage to many “famous” “Tripps” on TV and in movies. After the jump, check out some famous “Tripps” that could have inspired Bristol and Levi…

2008 is almost history, and it definitely made some. We saw plenty of highs—the election of the first African-American President—and lows—the stock market dip—but as we look back at a year of extremes, our jaw still drops at these unbelievably shocking moments…

Oh Levi. Will we ever see your handsome face again now that YOUR road to the Whitehouse is over? Something tells us your 18-year-old patience will not keep you around long enough for a potential Palin Presidential run in 2012, which is why we’re thinking about what you’re doing RIGHT NOW. After the jump, some of our theories about what’s currently on the young lad’s agenda.

Last night, I went to bed proud to be an American! But this afternoon, other issues on the ballot, like Proposition 8, made me extra blue, and not in the cool way. Sadly, some of our fellow Americans in California, Arizona, and Florida think they have the right to discriminate against homosexual love and ban an entire community from marrying. WTF?  Did you people not see how adorable the Portia and Ellen wedding pics were?! Well, looking at heterosexual divorce rates, perhaps marriage itself is the lost cause.  So, if America can’t support a partnership based on love, whose relationships should we really be concerned about? [San Francisco Chronicle]

Tina Fey was on Conan O’Brien last night and had a funny story about meeting Sarah Palin during their mutual “Saturday Night Live” taking.

“Governor Palin was like, ‘Oh did Alice go home? Oh, cause Bristol woulda babysat.’ She offered Bristol Palin to babysit Alice… And it was Bristol’s birthday, too. I was like yeah, that’s exactly what 17-year-old Bristol Palin wants to do at SNL is babysit the toddler of the lady that goofs on her mom… but they’re a nice family.”

Clip above!

Halloween is fun and all, but it can also be expensive, especially since you’ll probably only wear your costume once. So we put together Palin family costumes that can be shopped from your own closet, a thrift store or from the websites we’ve suggested. The trick is to make sure you can reuse certain items, that way the costume is cost-effective and you’ll have a treat for later.

Levi Johnston has been laying low since his big appearance at the Republican National Convention, but, at last, he speaks! Levi had a chat with the Associated Press the other day while standing in his parents’ driveway, saying he isn’t being forced to marry Bristol Palin, and that he’s “looking forward to having him”—the “him” in question is his baby with Bristol, due Dec. 18. But some of the things mentioned in the AP article got us thinking about whether he’s really ready for fatherhood.

1. He’s Forgetful: While some might say Levi getting Bristol’s name tattooed on his finger is a really sweet sign of his devotion to her, he really did it because he lost the promise ring she had given him and thought he’d lose other rings if he replaced it. So, he might lose other important things, like his child.

“We both love each other. We both want to marry each other. And that’s what we are going to do….“We were planning on getting married a long time ago with or without the kid. That was the plan from the start.” —Levi Johnston [CBS News]

Did Bristol Palin get married? According to her Facebook page, the pregnant daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is now going by Bristol Palin-Johnston. Did Bristol marry her fiancé and baby daddy Levi Johnston? One would have to imagine a quickie-wedding might be a tidy boost to Palin’s messy run for the VP seat.

Nice tattoo, Levi! We know that will last, just like these inked celebrity couplings did! [Republican National Convention, 9/3/08]