He's my idol. Although I found some of the remarks he made about Smokin Joe needlessly offensive and not always tounge in cheek.

He stood by his principles and risked losing everything (whether you agree for what he was standing up for or not is irrelevant) - very few people do that who have far less to lose.

The problem with giving someone hero status is that you expect them to be perfect and the simple fact is we are all human and none of us are perfect.

I'm English so can't really answer the original question but yep in my eyes the guy is a legend and a hero.