The flag burning was more than just dumb.

The November issue of the Free Press featured on the front page a photograph of Jesse Maloney buring a U.S. flag. And.......then what?

Did tyrants fall? Did the money system reform? Did the holocaust of innocent babies even slow down?

Of course not! Nothing good comes from such childish tantrums.

What did the flag do wrong? For most Americans, of whatever political pursuasion, the flag symbolizes what is GOOD about America: the unalienable rights, freedom of belief and religious practice, economic opportunity and limited government.

That anarchists should be iconoclasts is like butter on bread. They just seem to go together.

It is obvious that the Free Press did not just report the matter, but FEATURED this political blunder. I say "blunder" because, for all of the important issues that this paper addresses and for all of the gutsy activism I see covered, this "story" offended more than it informed. It discouraged rather than inspired. And it tarnished the medium whose editorial favor it clearly enjoyed.

If your goal is to disaffect most of your readers and incur the antipathy of those of us who are patriots and love our country, then stories like these will probably do the job.

I have a suggestion, though. How about an apology?

Michael J. Walsh, J.D.