palin v polar bear

Palin might point out that her beef is with the Interior Secretary (for listing the bears as threatened) and not with the bears themselves, but here's a witty analysis from the Guardian on how Palin might fare in a battle with a bear -- pretty well, it concludes, "unless the Alaska Legislature suddenly decides to uphold the right to arm bears." Read the whole thing here.
The polar bear listing is a legal mess right now. Palin has sued Secretary Kempthorne in an effort to overturn it completely. The oil group API (et al.) and the Center for Biological Diversity have both sued over the special rule Kempthorne wants to use, although with different requests. The CBD also wants the bear listed as endangered rather than threatened, which would require stronger protections.
The special rule was implimented immediately at the time of the listing in May, but only on an interim basis because it hadn't gone out to public comment. The public comment period is done now, but the Interior Department has yet to issue a final special rule.
I wrote a summary of the bear listing last week for Petroleum News.