Call me suspicious, but in Les Barker's case, I can't help wondering whether the US authorities have listened to the mp3 on the Mrs Ackroyd home page, pointed out by GUEST,Jack Campin, early on in this thread - blue clicky here. The 'lack of cultural uniqueness' could be just an excuse to cover up the real reason for excluding him.

(Or maybe they think Les's views as expressed in the mp3 are so widespread already in the US that they don't need to 'import' more people who don't agree 100% with GWB's policies re the 'war on terror'?)

[And maybe Grant and Hilary by association with Les? Hilary has performed with Les in the Mrs Ackroyd Band. That's a bit more tenuous, but who knows? It would take a US bureaucrat a few minutes to look them all up on the web and decide they're all no longer 'culturally unique' which may be a new euphemism for (you decide what).]