View From The Porch: Today In History: Hey man, nice shot.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Today In History: Hey man, nice shot.

Aaron Burr takes out the trash.

(No, I'm not much of a Federalist.)

17 comments:

phlegmfatale said...: Call me a romantic, but those were the days.; 8:53 AM, July 11, 2007
Don said...: Rather ungentlemanly, wouldn't you say? Be a lot more impressive if he'd taken his shot before Hamilton got rid of his and stood before him unarmed.; 9:30 AM, July 11, 2007
Tam said...: That's the breaks of the code duello.; 11:35 AM, July 11, 2007
BobG said...: I've always thought Burr should have gotten a medal. Hamilton had a lot of good points, but he would have had us in another monarchy complete with an aristocracy if he had gotten his way.; 11:57 AM, July 11, 2007
Anonymous said...: Burr was no prize either. I believe he would have run the goverment for his own benifit. (I guess he was born 200 years early.); 12:20 PM, July 11, 2007
Anonymous said...: If anyone is really interested in the rivalry going on between Jefferson, Hamilton, and Burr, I would suggest looking up the book Ordeal of Ambition: Jefferson, Hamilton, Burr. by Jonathan Daniels

You can get a copy for as little as $0.79 plus postage on Amazon.

As for the duel ... it proved useful. Burr was aquited ... but all of the Federalist appointed judges still wanted his head. One would issue a summons, and Burr would drag them into the Senate for impeachment for judicial incompetence.; 3:24 PM, July 11, 2007
NotClauswitz said...: My favorite Filter song!; 4:07 PM, July 11, 2007
Tam said...: I'm partial to their collaboration with Crystal Method on "Trip Like I Do".; 5:07 PM, July 11, 2007
NotClauswitz said...: Is THAT who's on that too? Great road/driving music and IMO the best thing on "Vegas" - which is the only CM recording I have.; 7:09 PM, July 11, 2007
Anonymous said...: Different remix than the original on Vegas DirtCrashr. Though CM (and the Filter colab) is great driving music.

Think I'll load it all up for my trip this weekend as a matter of fact...; 8:21 PM, July 11, 2007
Anonymous said...: You guys are kidding right? You think Aaron Burr is the one to root for? He was accused of treason in an underhanded deal in order to crown himself King of the Louisiana territories.

The man was an aspiring tyrant.; 2:32 AM, July 12, 2007
Tam said...: Hey, in a perfect world they'd have gapped each other, but I'll take what I can get.; 8:10 AM, July 12, 2007
NotClauswitz said...: An underhanded deal in order to crown himself King of the Louisiana Territories? - so the Huey Long tradition predates him actually, and still continues today!; 12:37 PM, July 12, 2007
Anonymous said...: Burr was .... strange.

He was involved in a conspiracy to invade Mexico and free it from the Dons .... He lived long enough to see the start of the US - Mexico war ... and was crowing about it to his colleges.

All of the "treason" crap is mostly Federalist propaganda. They never forgave him for shooting their tin god, and for using his position as VP to purge nearly all of the fed judges Washington appointed.; 6:10 PM, July 12, 2007
Anonymous said...: OK, I'm a little late on this - probably for the best so as to avoid the flames...but you're all dead wrong. Hamilton risked his life in the fight for independence, and he had a vision of a great nation capable of making its way in a dangerous world. Consider the precarious and weak position of the country when he was advocating a strongly centralized federal governtment; actually sit down and read his essays in the Federalist series. His arguments for centralized power are powerful and clearsighted. Reject them if you like, given 200 years of hindsight...Maybe his admiration for monarchy and advocacy for a strong federal branch laid seeds for the overbearing DC of today. But maybe his influence saved us the fate of balkanized petty States at war with one another and a field for constant intrigue by other powers. And maybe both views are correct. But the man was a cold-eyed realist and a Patriot. Celebrating the result of that duel by the Hudson is about six kinds of screwed up.; 8:29 AM, July 13, 2007
Tam said...: "But the man was a cold-eyed realist and a Patriot."

So were a lot of other people we rightly loathe today...; 2:03 PM, July 13, 2007
Anonymous said...: Hamilton was a statist wanker.

He put all of his cronies in the judiciary, set up an unconstitutional national bank, and used 15,000 federal troops to hunt down and kill his personal enemies in PA AFTER the Whiskey Rebellion petered out and stood down on it's own.

Jefferson and Burr's judiciary purge is exactly why we did not end up as some kind of banana republic ... and their decision to shut down the Bank of America protected our currency until the start of the civil war.

On top of that, Hamilton was slandering Burr for years behind his back, while maintaining Burr as a friend ... which was the ultimate reason for the duel.

Being Washington's ADC does not excuse his behavior, AFAIAC.; 5:33 PM, July 13, 2007