Oh my. You had to figure this might happen when Sarah Palin, one-time best governor of Alaska, started pallin' around with those journalist types there at Fox News. Or any of those journalist types there in the lamestream media, you know. The makin' things up and gettin' things confused is dangerously contagious.

So here is Alaska's ex-governor addressing a California State University-Stanislaus fundraiser over the weekend:

"...this is Reagan country and (applause), YEAH! And perhaps it was destiny that the man who went to California's Eureka College would become so woven within and inter-linked to the Golden State.'' (You can watch it yourself at about minute 4:30 into a rockin', rollin', rollickin' speech.)

Well, as Reagan liked to say, California is the Golden State, and he did become inter-linked with it. And yes, as Reagan also liked to say, he did go to a Eureka College, but it wasn't in California.

No, Eureka College is half a continent away in the flatlands of Illinois. Reagan attended school there from 1928 to 1932. He was the school's top collegiate swimmer, a three-year letterman in football, and appeared in 14 plays. He left after graduation in 1932 to take a job as a sports announcer in Davenport, Iowa, which is closer to California but still a long way from it.

Reagan would need another five years to make his way West. The Ronald W. Reagan Society, however, remains at Eureka College in Eureka in Illinois. But there is a Eureka, California, too. It is a community of about 26,000 some 270 miles north of San Francisco. It has no college of its own, but College of the Redwoods is just south of the city, and Humboldt State University is just 8 miles north in Arcata.

The Chicken Wing Fest is also planned in Eureka, Calif., in Sept. It is sponsored by BAMU -- Businesses Against Meth Use -- which, according to its website, "has come together to help stop the meth problem in our area." All of which might give California's Eureka more of a connection to Sarah's hometown of Wasilla than to the late president and/or his old college.

Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com.