Why, in 2003, did Vice President Cheney suddenly become so dead-set against reporting how his office handled government secrets? Cheney's refusal to abide by reporting requirements that apply to everyone else in the Bush administration — and the audacity of his excuse, that because he is also president of the Senate, his office is not really within the executive branch — led to a bunch of unflattering front-page headlines this morning.

But let's assume there's a method to his madness. Perhaps Cheney is rejecting this oversight because he doesn't want people to know what he and his aides have been doing with classified information. Or perhaps he believes in principle that he shouldn't be subject to constraints that apply to others in the executive branch. Maybe both. I'm betting on both.