Huckleberries Online

Brand X: Nipp Shouldn’t See Revenge

Posted by DFO

March 6, 2009 8:20 a.m. • 23 comments

In the Coeur d’Alene Press today, the Editorial Board takes Charlie Nipp to task for trying to discover who asked the attorney general’s office to investigate possible conflicts of interest during his tenure as LCDC chairman. Quoth the finger-wagging editorialist: “Nipp’s reaction is disappointing. He should be thanking Sen. Jorgenson, rather than trying to squeeze the name of a concerned citizen out of the senator. Jorgenson requested an investigation so that questions, doubts and rumors about Nipp’s personal business dealings and place at the head of the LCDC table could be answered and the community could then move forward.” Full Brand X editorial here.

Question: What should Charlie Nipp do in this situation?

23 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Phaedrus on March 06 at 8:55 a.m.
Mr. Nipp should file a Freedom of Information request to obtain all of Senator Jorgenson’s correspondence on this issue. Guess which Pachyderms’ names will be in that file.
Kage_Mann on March 06 at 9:26 a.m.
These people live by a different set of rules.Why does Mr.Nipp need to know the name of the concerned citizen?
Aliasjax on March 06 at 9:29 a.m.
UN BE LIEV A BULL!

Mike Patrick ought to write a letter to himself demanding that THE PRESS make the FOIA request to reveal the name of the accuser so citizens can decide if the accuser was making a politically motivated attack, or has any axes to grind with Mr. Nipp…back in the day, that’s what journalists did. Instead we get the lightly-veiled additional accusation that Mr. Nipp is only seeking the name so he can exact venegence???

The not-so-subtle irony is that what MP has implied is that Mr. Nipp’s wanting to know the name of his accuser will have a chilling effect on dissent and criticsm, but MP’s editorial intends to have a chilling effect on those who would expose the motives of critics.

Both the Spokesman Review and The Press should file FOIA requests and report…that’s what Jesus would do, if he was a reporter, anyway…
Kage_Mann on March 06 at 9:35 a.m.
“that’s what Jesus would do, if he was a reporter, anyway”…Aliasjax on March 06 at 9:29 a.m.

You can’t presume what Jesus would do.
keithincda on March 06 at 9:38 a.m.
Aren’t we in a country where we have the right to stand before our accuser? Hell yes he should know who it is.
Aliasjax on March 06 at 9:57 a.m.
Not to change the subject, Kage, but yes, I can presume anything I wan’t about Jesus whether he is Lord & Savior or my gardener…but my point was that honest and faithful reporting demands the story be told…or are you suggesting that Jesus was less than forthcoming in reporting the, ah-hem, Good News???
florined on March 06 at 10:12 a.m.
What a big to-do about not very much. My real questions would go to motive, not the acts themselves. Should Mr. Nipp have recused himself when votes came up that could have involved any hint of conflict of interest? Perhaps. Could a good-intentioned legislator/prosecutor/attorney general have advised Mr. Nipp that an investigation had been instigated? Maybe. Shouldn’t, in a free country, one be allowed to know the name of one’s accuser? Surely. The skullduggery aspect, the suspicions generated, involves the motive of each, not so much the action.
nic on March 06 at 10:13 a.m.
I don’t think Nipp should seek revenge, but he does have a right to know who accused him.

“Jorgenson requested an investigation so that questions, doubts and rumors about Nipp’s personal business dealings and place at the head of the LCDC table could be answered and the community could then move forward.” HA! That’s funny.

Doubts have been answered and rumors have been cleared. Yet, the accuser’s community is refusing to move forward. The rest of us would like to move forward. IMO, revealing the accuser would be moving forward. If the accusation was political posing… it might reveal who NOT to vote for in upcomming elections.
Joker on March 06 at 10:19 a.m.
Two things for Mr. Nipp to consider.

1. Help the Mayor and current council get reelected. Winning is the best revenge. Breakout the checkbook and then find others to do the same.

2. Sue the Coeur d’Alene Press for harrassment or defamation of character. Sure, he has absolutely no chance at winning, but it would force the Press to spend time and money defending itself. It would be fun to watch them squirm a bit.
Charlie on March 06 at 1:10 p.m.
I feel that Mr. Nipp should know who his accuser is and I could guess a few names. Call them out, rats don’t like the light of day.
Kage_Mann on March 06 at 1:27 p.m.
There is no legal obligation for Mr.Nipp to know who his accuser is.Why? He was never charged or convicted of a crime.If he was charged then there would be a legal obligation
for him to know who his accuser is.This legal standard protects people and if they weren’t protected, nobody would want to come forward with information.
Bent on March 06 at 3:12 p.m.
“that’s what Jesus would do, if he was a reporter, anyway”…Aliasjax on March 06 at 9:29 a.m.

You can’t presume what Jesus would do.

— Kage Mann

Actually, Kage & Aliasjax, the disciples were journalist if you really think about it, and they most probably would have made a FOIA request… I don’t think Christ would have had to go through FOIA though…

/just sayin’

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.