Weblogic

As President Obama traveled to the Gulf Coast where oil from recent off-shore rig explosion continues to wash towards the shore, Rush Limbaugh has once again fanned the flames of political debate by putting forth his theory that “environmental wackos” opposed to off-shore drilling were responsible for blowing up the British Petroleum oil rig in the Gulf this week with this gem: "What better way to head off more oil drilling than by blowing up a rig?"  

Limbaugh neglected to mention that a failsafe switch that shuts the flow of oil off at the source would have prevented this catastrophe and that such switches are required in off-shore drilling platforms in most of the world -- except for the United States. Why not the U.S.?  This was one of the first pieces of deregulation to the oil industry that took place at the beginning of George W. Bush's first term.

Question: Should the U.S. take a serious look at making the failsafe switches mandatory on all off-shore rigs once again?

Yesterday on Oprah, Rielle Hunter defended herself telling the Queen of Daytime TV that she does not believe she "wrecked" John Edwards' home life.

"I have been unfairly judged," she said, adding, "A lot of people bought into the myth of the marriage, the Edwards' marriage, as being a storybook story and it was so perfect and so wonderful and I destroyed it," Hunter said. "It fits into the two-dimensional story line."

Hunter told Winfrey she met Edwards at a hotel and she "just turned to him and said 'you're so hot' and he practically jumped in my arms." She really wanted to help him "see his authentic self" and "be more of his authentic self so people could see who he really is. My heart felt I could help him." She didn't know how she was going to accomplish this, she told Winfrey, but when he gave her the number to the hotel room he was staying in, she did call later that night. Hunter said she was aware that he was married, but didn't know anything about his relationship, and didn't see anything weird or wrong about going to his hotel room.

Question: What do you think about Hunter's latest revelations about her relationship with Edwards?

Three years after comprehensive immigration reform collapsed in Congress, about 10.8 million illegal immigrants still make the USA their home, and businesses across the nation hire them in droves. Many states and communities, fed up with Washington's inaction, have taken immigration enforcement into their own hands — often with draconian measures of dubious constitutionality. The latest is the law enacted in Arizona last week that requires local police to question the legal status of anyone they "reasonably suspect" of being in this country illegally.

Legal challenges might ultimately overturn the law, but they'll do nothing to dent the legitimate frustrations behind it. Arizona and other border states bear the brunt of the nation's failed immigration policies. It's sad, but not surprising, that 70% of Arizonans favored the law, according to a Rasmussen poll earlier this month. Even during the recession, illegal immigrants made up nearly 10% of the state's labor force.

Arizona taxpayers spend hundreds of millions of dollars to educate and provide medical treatment for illegal immigrants and their children. And violence by smugglers and Mexican drug cartels has reached such proportions that Arizona's U.S. senators last week called for the National Guard to protect the state's southern border.

Question: How do you feel about Arizona's new immigration law?

Last week Sarah Palin testified against University of Tennessee student David Kernell who is accused of hacking into her private email account during the 2008 presidential campaign. Kernell is facing up to 50 years in prison if convicted. Asked outside court whether she thought the charges against Kernell were excessive, Palin said, "I don't know, but I do think there should be consequences for bad behavior."

Question: Did Kernell commit a crime or pull a prank, and does he deserve to face up to 50 years in prison?