Sarah Palin Jinxed by Kate Gosselin?

Ever since reality-TV drama queen came a-calling in Alaska, former veep's family has been in meltdown mode—coincidence or not?

One week, all is right on the Sarah Palin homefront. The next, Bristol Palin's nixing her engagement, and Levi Johnston's allegedly mocking his coulda-been mother-in-law in a music video.

What happened in between?

Kate Gosselin.

Let's review the timeline:

• July 7: Good news! Johnston apologizes to the Palin clan for being an unrighteous dude. 

• July 14: Miraculous news! Johnston and former sweetheart Bristol Palin put aside their differences, and announce plans to marry.

• July 16: Lucrative news! It's learned the young love birds are headed toward an exciting and new joint career in reality TV.

• July 18: Exciting etymology news! Sarah Palin invents "refudiate."  

• July 22—mark the date, July 22: Gosselin and her brood show up in Alaska for a made-for-TV camping trip with the former veep candidate and her brood.

• Pretty much any day after July 22: Wasilla goes all Jon & Kate Plus Hate.

Coincidence? Is it coincidence that Johnston and Palin are now un-engaged? That Johnston and the Palins are back on the outs? That Johnston's accused—wrongly, his camp says—of being one of Wasilla's more prolific baby daddys? That refudiate isn't catching on, except among people who don't know better?

Is it possible that Gosselin is a jinx, a woman whose drama-queen life rubs off on others, not to mention Dancing With the Stars? 

Uh, no.

"From any kind of rational of scientific standpoint, that's nonsense," noted skeptic Joe Nickell of the New York-based Center for Inquiry told us.

OK, but what if because Gosselin showed up at the Palins, Bristol was (we're making this part up here) late for a date with Johnston, and while Johnston was waiting, he took a phone call from a music-video producer who pitched him a great idea…

You get where we're going.

Now, in that case, can we blame everything on Gosselin, you know, like we usually do?

Said Nickell: "That's a causal event, and therefore not a jinx."

Refudiated again.

Well, at least now we know how Johnston usually feels...