George Bush = Francois Mitterand

As the revelations about US National Security Agency domestic spying now broaden to include the possibility that reporters' phones were being tapped, the relevance of the French precedent as to what happens when the executive branch runs its own spying operation become ever more germane. Mitterand created an anti-terrorist intelligence unit, run directly out of his office. The necessary anti-terrorist achievements came with the bogus bust of the "Vincennes Irish" but the real purpose was spying on journalists who might run awkward stories about Mitterand. We're a long way from Churchill comparisons now.