Katherine Dunham Quotes
Frequently producers have partners that they never let the public know about.
Dunham, Katherine. Kaiso! Writings by and about Katherine Dunham. Edited by VèVè A. Clark and Sara E. Johnson, University of Wisconsin Press, 2005.
In the early 1950’s Costello’s Health Minister Noel Browne introduced proposal to provide health care for mothers and children. The Irish Catholic Bishops objected and in the face of their opposition the remainder of the cabinet abandoned the plan. When the public found out, it became a cause celebre. Browne resigned, and the Protestants of Northern Ireland argued that this was an example of Catholic religious control of the Southern Irish government. The President was distressed that the public had ever found out.
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a friend in a hunting accident becoming the first U. S. Vice President to shoot a man since Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton. However, the Vice President and his staff did not make the shooting public till the next day and then by having a member of the hunting party call a small local, friendly, Texas newspaper. Finally, under great pressure the Vice President gave an interview to the Fox News Network, the network who had been most favorable in reporting on the administration.
The main reason that the English or American Freedom of Information Act is not used so much by individuals is that the executive agencies make the process of obtaining documents very difficult and then when the government stonewalls, the requestor has to spend a great deal of time and often engage an attorney. The result is that few individuals can spend the time or money and the field consists mostly of media and non profit organizations which have staff and resources.
Referring to appearances of impropriety with reference to the Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal:
This is a great example of Presidential stonewalling of Congress. The legislative branch is often exercising its oversight role and demanding executive department documents which for various reasons the President does not want the Congress to see. In this case, almost all attorneys would have said that the Congress was entitled to see the documents. This set a precedent of de facto Executive Privilege for war time. However, Congress very often has used their power of demanding documents for political and ideological reasons and not for the better functioning of the government. In the Eisenhower administration the concept of Executive Privilege was formalized to protect President Eisenhower and officials in the Executive Branch from the abuses and excesses of Joseph P. McCarthy who was a fanatic, ideologue and an alcoholic at the same time. See {595900}.
The issue was still not decided by the beginning of the 21st Century except that a certain amount of public disclosure was required if the company raised funds by selling stock to the public, but there were some giant corporations that were private and exercised huge power and influence and yet whose operations were secret.
At the time there was no Secrecy & Classification System nor any laws enforcing secrecy or confidentiality. However there was no freedom of information laws of expectations even on the part of journalists. This was the first Freedom of Information policy of the American government. Some politicians were more open than others but there was no national, governmental before this. There were however leakers and whistleblowers though the terms were not in use. Note that Roosevelt herein created the first whistle blower protection—himself.
Katherine Dunham was an African-American dancer, choreographer, creator of the Dunham Technique, author, educator, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers in African-American and European theater of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance."
