Letter To The Editor: With "Friends" like that, who needs enemies? — One Reader’s Perspective On NIC
We received this from a reader who anonymously submitted their letter to the editor through our contact page. The Author signed the letter “Publius.” We thought it was interesting, and worth letting everyone read and research for themselves.
“If you can’t have it your way, break it and blame your enemies.”
Many people in Kootenai County have heard about the issues North Idaho College has been dealing with, but have they heard both sides? On one side, you have a group of people who claim to be “Friends of NIC” who are closely associated with Antifa, have allegedly threatened one of the newly elected trustees with poisoning his well, assaulted people they disagree with at meetings, pulled fire alarms falsely, and whenever possible, shout as loudly as they can that the board of NIC is trying to shut down the school so that the land can be sold to friends.
On the other side, you have a group that is mostly quiet, has been recommended by elected officers, and is currently in the majority at the college. When this group does speak up, they provide evidence of wrongdoing, often financial, other times their evidence is of professors teaching students how “evil” the people in Kootenai County are.
Now, you are probably thinking to yourself, “Surely this can’t be the case; there must be some wrongdoing from both sides. After all, when you have two extremes, the middle is often the truth.” Or perhaps you are thinking, much like one side likes to proclaim, “There are no radical leftists in North Idaho!”
When you are trying to figure out the truth of a situation and you have two or more groups claiming different things happened, your first step is to establish what the facts are. This means you do away with the claims from both sides that are riddled with opinion.
When doing this, you will find a group of people who, when they have made mistakes, acknowledge those mistakes and do so publicly, even to the point of censuring themselves. They then, in some cases, entirely undo where they made mistakes and start over, doing it properly the second time. All of this in front of the public.
The other group is an interesting contrast. When they make mistakes, they refuse to acknowledge them, to the point that they will shut down the public comments of anyone who disagrees with them. Their mistakes often benefit them, like, for example, a “scrivener's error” on a contract that had already been signed that ended up changing the contract in such a way that made it almost impossible for the contract to be backed out of from future elected officials, or ignoring policy and not allowing the other board members time to read proposals before voting for the organization ran by a friend who would “give the college a sweet deal.”
Meanwhile, one group stays silent, and the other accuses that group of ignoring policies, writing lopsided contracts, and getting too friendly with their friends.
In the words of Saul Alinsky in his book Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals: “Accuse your opponent of what you are doing, to create confusion and to inculcate voters against evidence of your guilt.”
Or perhaps you would like to hear from a master of propaganda, Goebbels: “Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty.”
The question then is, are the “Friends of NIC” trying to destroy the college? Do they have some other goal?
If you want to save a college, what should you do?
Complain to the agency in charge of accrediting the college that can only force the college to take action by threatening to revoke its accreditation if it doesn't comply.
Resign from your position of leadership so that an external agency can appoint new members to replace you and two others, thus creating a new majority that is not beholden to voters.
Create a culture of fear so that students are afraid to speak out.
Purchase land from your friends using college funds at a price that heavily favors your friends.
Every chance you get, tell students, staff, and faculty that NIC is going to go under.
That’s right! According to the "Friends of NIC" you should do all of them!
In contrast, the other group tried to solve their problems without going to NWCCU and instead tried to resolve them through elections. When they found themselves in the minority, they stayed in their positions instead of “giving up” and resigning. They repeatedly stated that colleges receiving warnings were not unusual, concerning, or likely to lead to the college being destroyed. They got shouted at by students when they wanted to start a new program to allow students to anonymously make complaints without fear of reprisal. They didn't purchase new land for the college in a time of turmoil and stated that the college was doing excellently financially.
So, according to the "Friends of NIC" when things aren’t going your way, threaten to bring down the school unless you get what you want. With "friends" like that, who needs enemies?
— Publius