Whenever Sarah Palin opens her mouth, she commits a non sequitur or asserts something that's factually wrong. She's very consistent. Examining her comments almost always leads to the premise for another not-for-prime-time skit. It's the danger of taking her seriously.

For instance, take that new video that's got GOP propagandists all aquiver. Sarah says:

Here in Alaska, I always think of the mama grizzly bears that rise up on their hind legs when somebody's coming to attack their cubs, to do something adverse toward their cubs.

Of course, "mama grizzly bears" do no such thing. The sight of a standing brown bear is an unambiguous signal that the bear is curious, not aggressive. If you're the focus of this attention, you probably have time to back away before things turn ugly. Bear country travelers know this well.

What do "mama grizzly bears" actually do when "somebody's coming to attack their cubs"?

They pounce with unbelievable speed, commencing to slash and bite until the "somebody" lays on the ground wounded and bleeding, dead and bleeding, or curled in a fetal ball and bleeding. At that moment, the "mama grizzly bears" bolt for the hills with cubs in tow. This hard-wired, hormone-driven response is very much an "ask questions later" deal. It's what "mama grizzly bears" must do in a world where the male bears eat the young.

Is this really what Palin advocates for American moms? That women savagely lash out against their political opponents -- and then run away? That good-old-boy CEO-type guys with big guts eat babies? That we start acting like bears instead of talking to one another?

Doug O'Harra is a writer who lives in Anchorage.