Can you hide behind that keyboard?

A judge in Idaho is now considering whether an anonymous commenter will be outed for posting an allegedly libelous comment about a local political figure.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking, the whole point of the Internet is for anonymous commenters to post allegedly libelous comments about political figures.

But Tina Jacobsen, the head of the Kootenai County GOP, says what this person posted about her goes too far.

Last February, on a blog hosted by the local paper, The Spokesman Review, a reader going by the name “almostinnocentbystander” posted a comment questioning whether $10,000 allegedly missing from the Kootenai County Central Committee might be “stuffed inside Tina’s blouse.”

It was apparently intended to be humorous because Mrs. Jacobsen is not a small woman.

But she found it malicious and embarrassing, in addition to being untrue — and demanded that the newspaper reveal the identity of the commenter, so she can sue that person for $10,000.

The paper of course has refused.

In the meantime, even though the original comment was quickly removed, the suit has attracted a whole crop of new comments:

>Strange, the suit is asking for 10K in damages; the same dollar amount that was claimed to be missing…

>How’s your Nixon impersonation? You might have the jowls for it.

>Please, no more pictures of the… plaintiff, especially not after dinner.
If this subpoena goes forward, and if it sets a precedent that on-line trollers can be sued for libel, I predict America night actually run out of lawyers.