Though blogger John (Johnny Northside) Hoff told the truth when he linked ex-community leader Jerry Moore to a high-profile mortgage fraud, the scathing blog post that got Moore fired justifies $60,000 in damages, a Hennepin County jury decided Friday. The jury awarded Moore $35,000 for lost wages and $25,000 for emotional distress. The civil verdict culminated a nearly two-year legal scuffle between John Hoff, whose blog, The Adventures of Johnny Northside, has 300 to 500 readers daily, and Moore, former director of the Jordan Area Community Council.

Here's the deal. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is a corporate rag, but this article is fair enough:Here's something Hoff wrote, on the topic, not long ago.

John Hoff is a community activist (not a full-time, paid one) seeking to help improve matters on Minneapolis's North Side, which is the sort of place that is often termed a "blighted" area. (At least, that's how corporate media covers it. It's not, in fact, a bullet-ridden no-man's-land. There are mostly righteous people there, and, by their efforts, it's getting better.) And he uses blogging as part of that. I've yet to have the privilege of meeting Hoff, but I've been a fan for quite some time.

And, from a more selfish standpoint as well, yeah, I'm a little worried, though I want to make it clear that this is primarily about Hoff, not me. I'm an active participant on a progressive Minnesota blog, myself (dan.burns at MN Progressive Project). My favorite target is Tim Pawlenty - a big ol' easy-to-drill bullseye, indeed.

I consider my own blogging to be an infinitesimal mote, in the grand scheme of things. By any rational standard, the notion of Timmy's minions coming after MnPP (or, for that matter, Daily Kos), using the verdict discussed above as precedent, would seem far-fetched. But, as we've been seeing on a daily basis, the righties are terrified and desperate, and they're pulling out all the stops.

I'm not thinking about quitting blogging, or toning it down, because of this. But neither do I have any desire to be a martyr to the cause of blogging freedom, even if I did get to go on Rachel Maddow to pontificate about it. Basically, my intent is to keep my eyes and ears wide open, on this. Thanks for reading.

