Every one of us in America can take a lesson in what it means to live in a free country from England - they are fighting the government smoking ban there with a passion.

What happened to America? Why aren't more people standing up to fight these control freaks and zealots who enact smoking bans against us?

From England's The Sun paper:

UK -- CAMPAIGNERS for the right to smoke today launched a High Court challenge over the Government's smoking ban.

The ban, which comes into effect on Sunday, applies to almost all enclosed public places including offices, factories, pubs and bars, but not outdoors or in private homes.

The pressure group Freedom2Choose lodged papers at the Royal Courts of Justice in London as they began their campaign for a judicial review.

A judge will now decide whether there is an "arguable case" raising genuine issues of law that should go to a full hearing.

Bob Feal-Martinez, for Freedom2Choose, said the case raised "questions of personal liberty" and highlighted the dangers of "a democracy becoming a dictatorship".

He said: "We are seeing the erosion of the personal liberty in this country people like my father and grandfather fought to achieve.

"Next on the agenda is alcohol, closely followed by food.

"If people don’t stand up for their rights and against governmental intereference, we will get a dictatorship, not democracy."

The Freedom2Choose legal challenge is based on the argument that the new smoking ban violates human rights laws.

And campaigners were not the only ones to lash out at the ban - a billionaire nightclub owner vowed to flout the new rules.

Dave West, who owns the Abracadabra restaurant and HeyJo erotic-themed club in central London, said he would allow people to smoke freely.

He has hired Cherie Blair to challenge the ban and advise on how it could breach the human rights of staff and guests at his club and restaurant.

Mr West, 63, fears the new legislation will force him to close.

He said today: "It will be business as usual at my exclusive restaurant and nightclub and with the backing of Cherie Booth QC in the High Court of Justice and the European Court, everyone - including the press - can smoke as usual, and when the old bill comes in I’ll pay everyone’s fine.

"And not just for the first day, but until hell freezes over.

"When the police come in, as they will, we shall puff in their faces, show them the writ with Cherie’s name on it and tell them to come back another time."