Maxine Kumin Quotes
... people get confidential at midnight.
Kumin, Maxine. The Designated Heir. Viking, 1974.
At the time Holland was a republic and a confederation of different states. There was an assembly of delegations from each of the States but most important decisions tended to be made by the Prince and a few of the representatives in his sway. See {620056} for a contemporary justification. This battle goes on in almost every country including the United States where there are many matters in which only a few members of Congress and the President make decisions with national security given as the reason. In many cases there has been such a reason, but it is very easily corrupted into a pretext as only the people on the inside who get to make the decision know what the secret material was.
In 1971 New York Times published the Pentagon Papers which had been obtained from Daniel Ellsberg much to the distress of the administration. Two Nixon aides requested permission to break into the offices of Ellsberg's psychiatrist to obtain confidential medical records.
The Secretary of State had obtained an agreement of Israel and the Palestinians to open Peace Talks. The press immediately wanted to know who was saying what to whom and what positions the parties had. However, this was a classic example where transparency would make successful negotiations impossible—it would end the negotiations before the parties could even discuss possible alternatives.
Maxine Kumin was an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1981–1982.
