In her new memoir, Bristol Palin describes her first sexual encounter in terms that sound a lot like date rape to some people -- and like a headline-grabbing way of settling a grudge to others. There's been no comment yet from Levi Johnston, who with Bristol later fathered their son Tripp. Jesse Ellison of Newsweek raises the question of sexual assault but notes, "Bristol never uses the word 'rape' to describe what happened, and the passage is couched in vague language" -- thereby discouraging rape-awareness activists from accusing Johnston publicly. Here's a recap of the night Bristol loses her virginity, as described in her memoir, "Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far," and reported (among other excerpts) by The Daily Beast:

Bristol lies to her mother, Sarah Palin, telling her she's "going to stay the night at Ema's house," (Pg. 2) but instead goes off on a camping trip in Point MacKenzie with her "ruggedly handsome boyfriend," Levi Johnston. ... Bristol proceeds to down wine cooler after wine cooler, as she "slowly surrendered to their woozy charms." (Pg. 3) Levi keeps replacing her finished wine coolers with new ones, and soon Bristol hits "that awful wall" that takes her from a "happy buzz" into "the dark abyss of drunkenness." (Pg. 3) The last thing she remembers is sitting by the fire and laughing with friends, and doesn't remember waking up in her tent the next morning "with something obviously askew." ...

Bristol quickly texts her friend to get over to the tent, and she immediately pops over and tells her, "You definitely had sex with Levi." (Pg. 4) Despite being brought up in a Christian household determined to save herself until marriage, Bristol laments the fact that her virginity had been "stolen," and as she surveys the evidence in the tent, soon realizes that "all of my plans, my promises, and my moral standards had disappeared in one awful night in a series of bad decisions."

Read more at The Daily Beast.