DENIED CANADA

Strange story hit the airwaves yesterday about William Ayres, former member of 60's radical group The Weather Underground, being denied entry into Canada based on his 1969 conviction related to an anti-war demonstration.

William Ayres has visited Canada more then a dozen times since 1969. The 60's radical of the past is now a distinguished professor, champion for education reform, and best-selling author. He also makes good $$$ on the public speaking circuit, which is where he was heading before being denied entry by some dull-witted Canadian border guard.

During the recent American election campaign the Republicans repeatedly tried to paint Obama as a terrorist due to his (very flimsy) relationship to Ayres. No doubt Paul Blart Border Cop had seen a couple speeches by Sarah Palin and decided that a University professor who protested against the Vietnam war nearly 40 years ago was a grave threat to our national security.

This isn't the first time that Canadian border patrol seem to make things up as they go along. There were a couple high profile cases of censorship back in the 80's and 90's, mostly based upon the seizure of books and magazines destined for gay and lesbian-focused bookstores in Toronto and Vancouver. Those cases went all the way to the Supreme Court, and Canada Customs walked away looking like the pack of closed minded and arbitrary decision making fools that they are.