"BBC has gone mad of late"? This is a public poll in which, if you read the article, half the respondants are from the US. How can you blame the BBC for the outcome of a public poll?
Whether you like it or not Chomsky is a hero around the world - In another public poll this year BBC listeners voted Marx the worlds greatest philosopher.
Shocked? You shouldn't be - how can you be shocked by writers you have never read for yourself?
marx' Capital is the definitive book on capitalism, and capitalists dont disagree with the analysis, but disagree on conclusions drawn.
Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival and Manufacturing Consent stand up to the toughest of critical analysis. He is a thorough and hardworking academic, who makes great effort to read government documents and stand up for the constitution. US should be proud to have such a rigorous academic mind devoting himself to their own national issues.
Critical self-analysis is the sign of a mature nation.
-As for the poster who called Mandella a terrorist, you will be interested to know that a statue of Nelson is going up next to Nelson's Coloumn in London's Trafalgar Square - he truly is a British hero - and the people of Britain led the call for the end of apartheid right there in Trafalgar Square with regular demonstrations throughout the 1980's.