Creepy Politician of the Month: Nadine Morano

Imagine that you're the "Secretary of State for Family" in France, and you're caught fibbing on video. An indignant citizen then comments "Hou la menteuse" (Oh, the liar!) on the website. What do you do?

Why, you subpoena the Internet provider to get the commenter's IP address, obtain her identity, and sue her for "public insult towards a member of the ministry", of course!

That's what creepy politician Nadine Morano did to Dominique Broueilh in France. Her appalling suit inspired Sarkozy adviser Henri Guaino to suggest that scrutiny by ordinary citizens on the Internet represented "the beginnings of totalitarianism". Come to think of it, maybe he deserves the award.

Morano has since dropped the suit, and the comments on the website continue to pile up - the latest victim of the Streisand effect.