I'm not following though. So -any user can flag a post without any need to justify his action? Where is the value in that? Only posts that are at least neutral to all get to pass? Then we end up talking about anything but the things that actually matter in fear that they will generate "heat".
The posted article is much more decent than most anti-Trump articles that were the norm in here the past months. Personally I cannot wrap my head around it being flagged. If this is a result of a defective process then fix the process - that is if this is supposed to be a forum of reasonable practical people trying to find solutions to problems (aka hackers).
Multiple users need to have flagged a submission for it to receive a '[flagged]' label.
My initial comment is not meant as arguing for or against flagging in general or for this submission in particular. You asked why it might have been flagged. Another commenter responded similarly:
If you've noticed submissions from the past couple of months, you've likely come across user discussion about flagging and what submissions are appropriate for HN. For example, there was a Political Detox Week: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13108404
As an aside, I think it's a difficult process figuring out how have civil and substantive online discussions. Just asking people to do so, even if they're generally reasonable people, doesn't seem to be enough. Some topics will nearly always result in flame wars of various temperature, and too many of those can drive away those who are willing to be reasonable. I respect your desire to want to dig into topics like this, and they're things that should be discussed. That said, it's a legitimate question if this is indeed the forum where they can be discussed constructively. That's not necessarily a failing of HN or its community, either. It just may not be the right tool for the job, so to speak. There are other forums other there.
The posted article is much more decent than most anti-Trump articles that were the norm in here the past months. Personally I cannot wrap my head around it being flagged. If this is a result of a defective process then fix the process - that is if this is supposed to be a forum of reasonable practical people trying to find solutions to problems (aka hackers).