Rep. John Martin was accused this week of slapping the hand of a television reporter as she tried to take papers on a committee desk during a legislative hearing. Rep. Martin, a professor at University of Maine at Fort Kent, should know that there are better remedies for stopping such misbehavior — like making the reporter stay after the hearing and write 100 times, “I will not take papers that do not belong to me. I will not take papers that do not belong to me. …”

From one symbol to another, John Glenn, retired senator, heroic astronaut and veteran of the Korean War, returned to Congress this week to offer the most succinct description of what’s wrong with the proposed amendment to ban flag desecration. The amendment, Mr. Glenn said, would “protect the symbol while risking chipping away at the freedoms it symbolizes.” He’s asking Congress to show more interest in the gift and less in the wrapping the gift came in.

It isn’t yet clear whether state legislators will approve a 50-percent pay hike for themselves. But if they do, those lawmakers who claim that an increase in the minimum wage leads to job losses ought to be prepared to say which of their colleagues are to be downsized. Perhaps the public will be allowed to submit a list.

Every right-thinking individual knows that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, on Seavey Island in the Piscataqua River, is in Maine, and also knows that New Hampshire’s persistent claim to the contrary is merely a tiresome annoyance. So when the Library of Congress assembles an exhibit on the economic history of each of the 50 states, what does New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith nominate as the centerpiece of his state’s working heritage? Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, on Seavey Island in the Piscataqua River, in Maine. Apparently, presumption is nine-tenths of the law.

The gazebo at Bangor’s Bass Park, in sight from the windows of this newspaper’s editorial office, has been for four days running an impromptu stage to children, approximate ages 2 to 4. With parents nearby, they run up the gazebo steps, dash across its length a couple of times, then, inevitably, stand in the center and do a little dance, bopping back and forth a few times, before returning to their dashing moves. Probably scientists can explain this urge in biological terms. Probably editorial writers should spend less time looking out the window.