I’ve been watching the “America: The Story of Us” series when I've been traveling this summer.  It’s a decent attempt at fitting hundreds of years worth of history into an hour-long show.  It's got a lot of what you should have learned in fifth grade, sprinkled in with some trivia and played out with live action and some very appealing sets.    

My favorite so far is episode two, "Revolution." The show a follows a defiant group of merchants and out-of-work dock-hands as they declare war on the strongest military force on the globe -- and how a group of colonies decided to stand together and become a nation.

How could this group, along with farmers, blacksmiths, and anyone else they could inspire take on the mighty Red Coats?  An innovation to the long rifle, unconventional tactics in battle, and a resolve to change their way of life all played roles in winning our Revolutionary War; lessons that I think we could use today as we free ourselves from the tyranny of bureaucracy.

OK, that’s a stretch. But be prepared: It only gets worse from here.  More from Governing Magazine here.