corrente

Taking the debasement of "fair and balanced" even lower, Illinois Senate Republican candidate Chirinjeev Kathuria has responded to an unflattering article in the Chicago Tribune by filing a lawsuit for defamation against the paper. The press release from the campaign does not dispute any factual errors in the story (though it airily promises an imminent rebuttal), but rather suggests a novel legal theory of defamation: failure of the Tribune to provide "fair and balanced" commentary:

This type of irresponsible trash reporting will never stop, unless someone takes a stand against it. I will carry this fight to save my reputation on behalf of all the people of Illinois and make politics a level playing field for all candidates. May this type of character assassination and negative and biased reporting never occur again.

The article in question points out, inter alia, that candidate Kathuria rarely voted, coasted through the Ivy League, embellished his credentials, and left a highly touted string of business ventures deeply in debt while personally enriching himself. Republicans as powerful as Grover Norquist touted his prospects.

One can understand Kathuria's frustration: after all, the same bullshit story worked for the squatter in the White House.

Meanwhile, the right-wing demonstrates its abhorrence of defamatory character assassination and smear jobs here.

(Via Archpundit.)