There seems to be a lot of commentors who disagree with the article ideologically. I'm guessing some of them flagged it. Would that be a misuse of the flag button? If so, can a mod unflag it?
This article probably did get flagged by many people as well, since it did seem more like a political fest than something that gratifies intellectual curiosity.
The whole "flag bad political articles that you disagree with" tends to even out in the end. Both US sides are well enough represented here that both left and right things get flagged. HN just tends to have fewer political articles as a result, and that's fine with me.
[Edit: Hmm. I don't see a "vouch" button available there. Maybe this means the mods themselves flagged it, rather than a user?]