from Jacob Weisburg

in Slate:

Must one really argue the case that when the vice president of the United States shoots someone�intentionally or unintentionally, fatally or otherwise�that the public has a right to hear about it? It’s true that there is historical precedent for Cheney’s attempted cover-up. When Vice President Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804, Burr’s second used an umbrella to obscure the wounded man from the view of potential witnesses. Burr went home and mentioned nothing to his luncheon guest about what had happened that morning. After Hamilton died, a public cry went up and Burr fled to an undisclosed location in Georgia.

A somewhat stronger American tradition, however, suggests that high officials are obliged to inform the public not just about the rare violent encounter, but also about their financial interests and the condition of their health, and above all about the workings of the government. In this regard, Cheney’s role model appears to be not Burr, but the belligerent and contemptuous Spiro Agnew.

Read the rest for a nice historical summary of the public’s right to know.

Link courtesy of War and Piece.