Star Magazine is focusing this week on the supposed marital trouble between former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd. Judging by the teaser article on their site, they’re relying heavily on quotes from the sister of Sarah’s daughter Bristol’s former boyfriend, Levi Johnston. If you had trouble following that, you’re not the only one. They also quote from a brief interview in which Levi confirmed that there was trouble in the Palins’ marriage. In that original interview, conducted by Radar Online, Levi doesn’t volunteer the information that the Palins are having marital problems, and has to be goaded by the reporter into giving those quotes. When he’s first asked why Sarah resigned her position as governor, Levi says she is “following the money,” presumably from her book deal. Then when he’s asked directly if Sarah’s rumored marriage problems led her to resign, he’s like “Oh, yeah.” It’s a pretty weak reassurance from a guy who has an axe to grind. I’m not saying the Palins aren’t having marriage problems, but they deny that they are and Levi’s quotes aren’t exactly enough to base a story on. The quotes from Levi’s sister, Mercede, are also suspect.

Sarah Palin’s husband Todd smiled happily and stood lovingly by his wife’s side last year during her vice presidential campaign. But behind the scenes, their marriage was in turmoil — and now they’re on the brink of a shocking divorce!

In the Aug. 24 issue of Star, on sale today, we have world exclusive details about Alaska’s former first couple and their disintegrating union: They’re sleeping apart, arguing non-stop and losing control of their party-loving daughters!

“Sarah and Todd are fighting all the time,” Mercede Johnston — sister of Levi Johnston, ex-boyfriend of Sarah’s eldest daughter, Bristol — tells Star in an exclusive interview. “When they do, Todd often ends up sleeping on the couch at their home in Wasilla. Bristol used to tell Levi that her parents would argue and bicker over the littlest things, like who was supposed to take out the trash or wash the dishes.”

Levi, the father of Bristol’s 7-month-old son, Tripp, recently told RadarOnline.com that Sarah and Todd have had marital trouble “from day one,” and that he believed their escalating problems were the reason behind her mysterious decision to resign as governor of Alaska last month with more than a year left in her term.

His sister Mercede predicts: “If they ended their marriage within the next year, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. It really seems to me their marriage is just a sham for the cameras now!”

Another possibility, an Alaskan insider tells Star, is that with Sarah’s multi-million-dollar book deal in place, “she might even come to some financial agreement for him to stay with her and give the impression of a loving husband, at least through her book tour next year. In that respect, they’d be like the Jon and Kate Gosselin of politics!”

And like the TLC reality stars, Todd and Sarah have their brood of children to worry about — and their worries keep growing with a new family scandal. Star has an eyewitness account of their 15-year-old daughter Willow drinking vodka and smoking pot at a wild house party! “Her eyes were getting more and more glazed as the night went on,” says a source.

[From Star Magazine]

How much did Star pay Levi’s sister Mercede to support the story they wanted to run? How does Mercede have any inside information on that family? I buy that it could be second hand from Levi, but it sounds like they just got someone to tell them what they wanted to hear. We’ve seen a few interviews with Levi over the past few months and I’m pretty sure the only time he mentioned that the Palins were having trouble was when Radar asked him specifically about it. In an interview with GQ in May, Levi said that visiting the Palin’s house “makes me pretty darn uncomfortable,” so that seems to mean that he avoids it when possible. How would his sister know then that Todd Palin was sleeping on the couch?

It’s possible the Palins are staying together for the sake of the media and that they’ll wait to announce a breakup until after Sarah’s book comes out. Several bloggers out of Alaska reported this story last week and stood by it after receiving legal threats from Palin’s lawyers. Star Magazine isn’t going to convince me, though, and I doubt they have much more than we’ve already heard.

Also, if Willow is drinking and smoking pot at 15 I feel badly for that family, but I don’t think it’s Star’s place to mention it. It’s like they have this supposedly juicy story about the Palins breaking up and they have to go and throw in all the dirt they find about them. You can always count on Star to ruin good gossip by going overboard.