As far as we know, David Kernell, the University of Tennessee student suspected of hacking into VP-wannabe Sarah Palin’s email account, isn't thought to have done anything near the scale of HP's pretexting efforts that yielded the private records of its directors, employees and journalists. Nor did he order physical surveillance of Palin. Or seek to obtain her father's or spouse's records. Or hatch plans to infiltrate the governor's office with stooges. Or go through her trash. Or eavesdrop on her instant messaging. Or bug her email.

So why did the HP execs and investigators get off scot-free (or with a 96-hours-of-community-service slap-on-the-wrist), while Kernell is having FBI agents raid his apartment? Ahhh, yes, money walks. Kernell may not.

(Photo by AP)

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