The Palin hacker who hacked the Alaska Governor’s Yahoo email account was a 20-year-old college student called David Kernell (An appropriate surname for a computer-whiz-kid.). He turned himself in to federal authorities and confessed.

OK it was a silly college prank that he did for a laugh: He answered a set of security questions and changed the password on Palin’s email account. He posted the new password online as well as posted a few screenshots of the account’s content to a public website.

An immature prank – But here’s where the shit hits the fan: The guy’s only the son of  Democratic Tennessee state representative Mike Kernell. It gets worse: The "kid" is going to be arraigned before Judge C. Clifford Shirley in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. I haven’t delved into any information on this judge; but let’s hope, for the sake of the defendant, that the judge isn’t a staunch Republican voter.

Kernell could face 5 years in jail and a $250,000 fine in a worst-case scenario. His college fees might pale into insignificance in the light of this; despite not getting any further tutelage.

If the Republicans haven’t called "Foul!" then they could well do so, and probably will. How do you think this might change anything? Comment below and give your opinion.

To read the full story of the case so far at time of publishing; click here.