Who Do Americans Blame for High Gas Prices?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Price Problems

A majority of Americans blame the oil industry, not the market for rising oil prices, but an even larger majority thinks environmental regulations are the problem. According to the latest FOX News poll, 52 percent of those polled say oil companies are setting the high oil prices that are costing Americans at the pump.

Meanwhile, 55 percent think that the U.S. is falling behind other countries in energy production because of strict environmental regulations. A plurality of Americans — 46 percent — think relaxing environmental standards will help the nation's long-term energy situation and 68 percent say drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge would be helpful.

Rejecting Rice

Nearly 100 faculty members at Boston College are objecting to the decision to grant Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice an honorary degree when she speaks at this month's commencement ceremony.

The faculty signed onto a letter of complaint from two leading theologians at the college, who wrote that Rice's approach to international affairs is "in fundamental conflict" with the Catholic tradition and is inconsistent with the college's "humanistic values."

Rice's defenders say the school should be honored to host such a distinguished graduation speaker and say her critics are selectively applying Catholic values. Rice served as provost at Stanford University prior to taking a position with the Bush administration.

Back to the Drawing Board

One day after he indicated that he would sign a bill decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs like marijuana, cocaine, LSD, heroin, and ecstasy, Mexican President Vicente Fox says the law will be sent back to Congress for changes.

U.S. critics had charged that the measure could create a culture of drug tourism across the border and FOX now says the possession and consumption of drugs "are, and will continue to be, crimes."

Super Scoopers

ABCNews.com today published what it called an "exclusive leaked memo" from incoming White House press secretary and former FOX News host Tony Snow.

In the memo, which ABC said it obtained from a disgruntled Republican source, Snow recommends that the spokesman's podium be a platform for making news, not just answering questions — and suggests spicing up the briefing with graphics and video, adding that the president should make himself more available to the general public and the press.

But despite those plausible suggestions, it turns out that the memo was a phony written by staffers at ABC's political newsletter "The Note" and the network insists its writers intended it as "satire."

—Fox News Channel's Aaron Bruns contributed to this report.