DaTruthSquad isn't just an odd exception somewhere in New Jersey.

Wise Law Blog of Toronto, Ca., took an enlightening look at three recent cases involving what I think of as serious bloggers.

All were reporting and commenting upon matters of legitimate public interest and came under direct fire as a consequence.

Apparently, they all survived, not one of them simply because he or she was right, and one of them perhaps not in good condition.

They all attracted support from the larger community of bloggers -- one of them from this blogger.

The Public Citizen Litigation Group provided legal defense in one case and secured a just outcome.

The third, a law school student, came under withering pressure from a large corporation, didn't back up a step and his blog was not functioning when I tried to access it today. If it comes back to life again soon, or I find out he's blogging somewhere else, I'll add a footnote.

This is where the argument about whether bloggers are journalists loses meaning and the story becomes a very old one about how power sometimes responds to criticism.