Things sure don't look too good for Martha Stewart. Her little buddy at Merrill Lynch has copped a plea and is singing like a bird. Now the NYSE's dumped her. And the jokes keep on coming.

Does she deserve this persecution? Assuming that she broke the law -- and she's not even formally accused of that yet -- it was just over a few hundred thou. That's chump change for this lady. If she lied to the public and/or to the authorities about her supposed little stop order, though, now that would be her tragic flaw. Very much like "I did not... have... sexual... relations with that woman... Miss Lewinsky," and "It depends on what 'the' means."

Moral: When you're busted for something small, cop to it and move on.