Janus Democracy
By Brent Regan
Janus, the two-faced Roman god, could look at a situation and have two different perspectives. It seems the politics of the left has embraced Janus, choosing the view that best suits their agenda. They abandon the truth in favor of their preferred reality.
Not long ago the left was chanting “Nobody is above the law” but those same people are now protesting against the removal of criminal aliens who have deportation orders. Not only are they protesting, they are advocating for, and inciting violence against law enforcement. What happened to nobody is above the law? It only makes sense if you understand they are really saying “nobody we don’t like is above the law.”
Then there is “We must save our democracy” but when the democratic process does not go their way it is time for direct action protests against those that were democratically elected. They have no qualms about weaponizing the justice system to achieve their goals. What happens if you ignore a congressional subpoena to appear? Well, it depends who you are. If you are a democrat then nothing happens. If you are a Republican you go to jail.
The early 20th century slogan “Direct action gets the goods” encapsulates the left’s “ends justifies the means” mentality. Get what you want, whatever it takes. Protest, flout the law, incite violence, burn down a police station, take over entire areas of a city and face little or no consequence. They don’t blame the violence and chaos on those committing the violence and chaos, they blame those trying to maintain order and protect life and property.
We see this duplicity daily across the country but we only need to look in our own backyard for a clear example. The headline was that North Idaho College retains accreditation was welcome news, but why was accreditation at risk? What was the issue?
First you have to know that the accreditation agency, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) has a monopoly on college accreditation and receives over one third of its’s funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the form of grants that mandate “institutional transformation for equitable results” and achieving “equitable outcomes” which are the core of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Can MWCCU tolerate an accredited institution rejecting DEI when a critical portion of their funding depends on promoting DEI? Obviously not. Accreditation should be a function of academic achievement and financial solvency, but in the case of NIC it came down to adherence to a liberal agenda.
Because NIC is a taxing district under Idaho law the trustees must be elected by the people. They are responsible to the people and oversee the budget, setting policy and hiring or firing exactly one college employee, the president. The president oversees all the elements that should be under the review of the accreditation agency. But the accreditation agency decided, unilaterally, that it would usurp the power of the voters and oversee the board of trustees directly. They could then use “board governance” to justify a challenge to academic accreditation.
Of course, NWCCU had direct action partners in their efforts. Protestors, students and facility would storm trustee meetings shouting, interrupting, pulling fire alarms and generally causing chaos and then complain about the chaos. One protestor was quoted as saying “When endorsed political chaos put this college at risk, trustees, faculty, staff, students and the community stepped up to restore good governance,” lying about who caused the chaos.
One of the current trustees was quoted “we must remember that the board of trustees is an elected body, chosen by the voters of Kootenai County.” Translation: Democracy is only good when it goes our way.
Janus would be proud.
It’s just common sense.