path_set_alias() called twice per imported node, thus breaking "Create path aliases" url importing

I'm still trying to track this beast of an issue down but by the glory of the dprint_r function, you can see what is happening.

my dprint_rs in wordpress_import_process_post_link()

function wordpress_import_process_post_link($wordpress_import, $context) {
  $path = $context['sandbox']['post']['link'];
  $path = substr($path, strlen($wordpress_import->data['baseurl']));
  $path = rtrim($path, '/');
  dprint_r('pre function $path: '. $path);
  path_set_alias('node/'. $context['sandbox']['node']->nid, $path);
  dprint_r('end of func');
}

my overwrite w/ dprint_rs of path_set_alias()

function path_set_alias($path = NULL, $alias = NULL, $pid = NULL, $language = '') {
  dprint_r('path: '. $path);
  dprint_r(' alias: '. $alias);
  $path = urldecode($path);
  $alias = urldecode($alias);
  // First we check if we deal with an existing alias and delete or modify it based on pid.
  if ($pid) {
    // An existing alias.
    if (!$path || !$alias) {
      // Delete the alias based on pid.
      db_query('DELETE FROM {url_alias} WHERE pid = %d', $pid);
    }
    else {
      // Update the existing alias.
      db_query("UPDATE {url_alias} SET src = '%s', dst = '%s', language = '%s' WHERE pid = %d", $path, $alias, $language, $pid);
    }
  }
  else if ($path && $alias) {
    dprint_r('made it');
    // Check for existing aliases.
    if ($alias == drupal_get_path_alias($path, $language)) {
      dprint_r(' get alias: '. $alias);
      // There is already such an alias, neutral or in this language.
      // Update the alias based on alias; setting the language if not yet done.
      db_query("UPDATE {url_alias} SET src = '%s', dst = '%s', language = '%s' WHERE dst = '%s'", $path, $alias, $language, $alias);
    }
    else {
      dprint_r(' else ');
      // A new alias. Add it to the database.
      db_query("INSERT INTO {url_alias} (src, dst, language) VALUES ('%s', '%s', '%s')", $path, $alias, $language);
    }
  }
  else {
    dprint_r('delete some shit');die;
    // Delete the alias.
    if ($alias) {
      db_query("DELETE FROM {url_alias} WHERE dst = '%s'", $alias);
    }
    else {
      db_query("DELETE FROM {url_alias} WHERE src = '%s'", $path);
    }
  }
  drupal_clear_path_cache();
}

I suspected that the "DELETE FROM"s were being called, so I put a DIE; in there to break batch api, this is what was returned:

<pre>pre function $path: 2009/07/17/portrait-paste-up</pre><pre>path: node/1220</pre><pre> alias: 2009/07/17/portrait-paste-up</pre><pre>made it</pre><pre> else </pre><pre>end of func</pre><pre>path: node/1220</pre><pre> alias: </pre><pre>delete some shit</pre>