In a pathetic move against free speech in America, British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith declared conservative talk show host Michael Savage persona non grata and has barred his entry into the country along with a list of other surprising nefarious individuals including Hamas leader Yunis Al-Astal, former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Stephen Donald Black and neo-Nazi Erich Gliebe.

Smith told GMTV that it is "important that people understand the sorts of values and sorts of standards that we have here, the fact that it's a privilege to come and the sort of things that mean you won't be welcome in this country. Coming to this country is a privilege. If you can't live by the rules that we live by, the standards and the values that we live by, we should exclude you from this country and, what's more, now we will make public those people that we have excluded.

She goes on to say that Mr. Savage is "someone who has fallen into the category of fomenting hatred, of such extreme views and expressing them in such a way that it is actually likely to cause inter-community tension or even violence if that person were allowed into the country."

An avid listener of The Savage Nation for three years, I have never connected Michael Savage with any of the views and this appears to be a weak attempt at a national spotlight by a politician that is on her way out. In my 32 years of existence, I don't recall ever when a country actually declares and makes news-worthy a list of PNG'd individuals. When a PNG'd person attempts entry, border control handles the situation quietly, denying entry and sending the person back from where they came.

This act is not reflective of the UK population who I find generally open minded, tolerant of other's viewpoints and share similar beliefs in free speech as we Americans do; after all, England is home to the Magna Carta.

While the drive by networks are giving this story a pass for now, the story made the top of Drudge Report and was covered extensively on WorldNetDaily. It remains to be seen whether Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Joe Scarborough and the rest of FOX Nes & ABS anchors will bring this story to the forefront.

There is also speculation surrounding whether the white house had something to do with the outing of the UK's recent additions to their PNG list. This being a move to rush in the Fairness Doctrine once again to protect America's airwaves from "extremist" opinions. Michael Savage is the 3rd most popular radio talk show host in America, and reresents the concerns of a significant portion of US listeners.

Michael Savage has stated he will attempt to bring Smith to court upon her exit from office for defamation of character.

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Michael Bordash

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