Counterproductive

Nearly a week after the Cons released their blatantly misleading (and possibly copyright-violating) attack video, the Libs are still trying to figure out how to respond. And it looks like they still have a long way to go.

Just look at their latest threat, offered up today by David McGuinty:

McGuinty said if the ad is aired, he will ask Advertising Standards Canada for an independent opinion of whether it violates Canadian ad standards.

"Although political parties are not legally bound to comply with the code, Canadians are entitled to expect that political advertising, and election advertising, will respect the standards articulated in the code," he said.

It's comical enough that the Libs are only threatening to do more than gripe if the ad is aired elsewhere, given that the Cons have already managed to make it one of the dominant political stories in Canada for the past week.

But even the seeming threat if the Cons do decide to pay for what they're now getting for free looks to be completely useless. After all, the Cons have made clear that they don't have the least bit of shame being caught violating Canadian elections law, and indeed consider themselves entitled to continue doing the same. In light of that background, could anybody paying the slightest bit of attention think the Cons would blink based on the prospect that the Libs might seek an opinion about whether the ad meets standards that don't even apply?