Unfortunately, this guest "editor" has chosen to waste this opportunity to speak to a wide audience by displaying his ignorance of history. However, there is a silver lining in that, to which I will return in a moment.

First, I'd like to suggest the "editor" obtain a history book and read the part which describes how this poem, which later was set to music, came to be. Here's a hint: the words were inspired by the sight of the US flag still flying over a US installation after an all-night bombardment by a British force. ( i.e. British rockets and bombs falling on US soil. Get it?)

Ironically, one of the great things celebrated by the US National Anthem is that the US is "the land of the free". That means, at least in part, every one of us has the right to make any sort of silly, sophomoric, statements we choose.

And that in turn, I suppose, is the real meaning of this "editor's" words. They are a living illustration of the proposition that we are all free to express our thoughts, however juvenile they may be.