One of the most popular video clips featured on the Huffington Post this week is a comical comparison between former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and a woman who gave nonsensical testimony in front of the Santa Cruz City Council last year.

As of Tuesday, the Post had registered more than 300 comments about the video montage called Sarah Palin v. That Crazy Santa Cruz Lady. The clips juxtapose various comments Palin made about nature during an event in Alaska, and a string of non sequiturs from an unidentified speaker at a May 13, 2008 Santa Cruz council meeting.

A link to the Post video was also the most-viewed and most-shared item on the Sentinel's Web site Tuesday.

Palin, who stepped down as Alaska's governor Sunday, was widely criticized for a rambling resignation speech earlier this month that left many puzzled about what she meant to say. Critics said it was an odd oratory from someone whose sharp one-liners endeared her to Republican voters after she was chosen as John McCain's running mate.

Similarly, in the Santa Cruz video, it's unclear what point the unidentified woman is trying to make, as she discusses agriculture, retail and other subjects.

"Well, the crops are growing very well, and they are organic and some have pesticides," the woman says at the beginning of the video. "And I think that we should make a perfect pesticide for the crops that is good for people and healthy and keeps the crops preserved, too, because we need the food because it's food and stuff, and organic food is good also."

The woman goes on to talk about slavery on the East Coast and growing silkworms. City staff said they are not able to identify the woman because the council does not require speakers to identify themselves.

Jeff Dinnell, a technician for Community TV, which airs the council meetings, said Tuesday he originally posted a video of the woman on YouTube last June as part of a montage of funny clips capturing public comments. While he doesn't know who the woman is, Dinnell said he wishes the Post and its readers hadn't labeled her as "crazy."

"I posted it because it was funny," said Dinnell, who co-hosts a regular program on Community TV called So Wat, where the video was featured in a segment called This Week in Public Comment.

He said the "kooky" speeches that citizens often make at council meetings are "an example of what makes Santa Cruz such a great town."

"We're all about free speech," Dinnell said. "Characters with all sorts of different opinions ... can get up and say anything at council meetings. I hope this woman's feelings haven't been hurt."

In an e-mail to the Sentinel, Mario Ruiz, a spokesman for the Huffington Post, said a comedy editor and an intern came up with the idea of comparing Palin to the Santa Cruz woman. Ruiz did not respond to a second request for additional comment.

Geoffrey Dunn, a Santa Cruz historian and author who has written about Palin for the Post, said the video clips don't provide a "fair comparison."

Dunn, who is leaving today for Alaska to do research on an upcoming book about Palin, said the small town mayor-turned-governor is known for what Alaskans call her "word salad" style of speechmaking -- where she jumps from one subject to another with little coherence. But Dunn said the Santa Cruz woman "takes that art to a new dimension."

"Sarah Palin, for all her flaws, has managed to get elected four times, is the mother of a family, and has her act together enough to have done that," he said. "For all her problems with the English language, and there are many, the comparison is humorous but unfair."