Last night Charlie Rose had General Wesley Clark on as his guest for a half hour of his PBS TV show. At one point Rose asked Clark a blunt simple question; What's the defining struggle of our time? Immediately before that they had finished talking about the Middle East and were talking about the rise of China. I wonder if Charlie Rose expected the answer he got from Wes Clark:

In discussing the causes of the American Revolution, we are all familiar with the American colonists desire to break away from an "oppressive" and "tyrannical" British grip over modern day New England. We ALL know about the red coats, the Boston Massacre, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the tea parties, and the overriding trend of increasing democratization of American society. What a comprehensive modern understanding of the American Revolution often lacks however, is a general understanding or awareness of the importance of nature's role in the conflict. It is often forgotten that man's interaction with nature and nature's impact on man are necessary factors in creating that class of hungry, dissatisfied peasants which are pre-requisite to any good revolution!

Public Citizen has released a report (warning pdf file) detailing how "18 families worth a total of $185.5 billion have financed and coordinated a 10-year effort to repeal the estate tax, a move that would collectively net them a windfall of $71.6 billion."