Two hundred and thirty-six years ago today, a group of revolutionary colonists known as the "Sons of Liberty" disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded three English ships and pitched more than 300 crates of tea overboard to protest British Parliament's new tax-heavy Tea Act.

The Dec. 16, 1773 demonstration, which came to be known as the Boston Tea Party, was a defining moment in American history, as it marked the beginning of the colonists' struggle for independence. Two and a half years later, on July 4, 1776, this fight would culminate in the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In the past year, the Boston Tea Party has taken on a new meaning for conservatives in 2009. The election of President Barack Obama in 2008 ushered in a new European socialist model of governance in the US, creating a backlash among taxpayers on the right.

The lack of bipartisanship following the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka "The Stimulus Package") in February outraged many conservatives, as did the rumors that Obama planned to raise taxes significantly to pay for more social programs. The first Tax Day Tea Party protest was subsequently held on April 15 in more than 300 US cities.

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Looking back over the last decade, there is only one thing conservatives can say:

Thank God it's over.

This isn't to say the 2000s didn't have their high points. They did. Trouble was, none of them were in the world of politics.

In fact, the only remotely positive development from a conservative perspective was the election of President George W. Bush. Social conservatives were elated. Unfortunately, with the advent of 9/11 and the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, that elation quickly turned to despair.

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For years, many conservatives have doubted the science behind the global warming "crisis."

Whenever conservatives express these opinions, they are mocked and ridiculed mercilessly by liberals who insist  "sound science" supports the conclusion that mankind's activities are causing the planet to grow warmer every year.

Remember the Oscar-winning film An Inconvenient Truth, starring former Vice President Al Gore (the inventor of the Internet), who took his case for global warming to the movie-going public in 2007? That film underscores the inconvenient truth for environmentalists -- that the global warming debate is big business. Forget the film. Gore himself is testament to this; he's made millions from the debate.

The recent -- and it should be mentioned, highly illegal -- release of hacked e-mail exchanges between prominent scientists seems to indicate that engaging in political activism is as important to modern-day climatologists as gathering favorable data. In one particularly interesting e-mail, a leading researcher laments that he "can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't.'"

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WHO WILL IT BE?

The end of 2009 brings to an end the first decade of the 21st century. To commemorate this special occasion, we'll be looking back over the next three weeks at a variety of people and events that made 2000-2009 a decade to remember.

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