It's Just an Opinion

The headline reads from a recent New York Times Op-Ed

It has created quite a ruckus online
likely through households
()

around office water-coolers

do they still have water coolers in offices?

over airwaves
(Are there still airwaves? Does anyone 'member calling in to radio station dj's requesting songs?)

Someone brought this article to my attention moments after it was on tv, saying it was going to be a huge deal. I wasn't giving it much attention, because politics and MSM News are not only boring and highly offensive since my eyes have been opened to their true agenda, but it was just an Op-Ed which, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary online is " an essay in a newspaper or magazine that gives the opinion of the writer and that is written by someone who is not employed by the newspaper or magazine" It's just someone's opinion, right? It shouldn't be considered 'news', right? But later that evening it's all over the news, like it's 'news'. Now people are running around shouting 'treason' and everyone has to know, who is this source?

I'm just wondering why our media is paying so much attention to an Op-Ed?
()

There are some interesting questions and answers to be found at Zerohedge.com here

Why did you publish this piece?
How did you find this writer?
How do you vet a piece like this?
What does ‘senior administration official’ really mean?
Would you ever reveal your source?
Were the writer’s motives considered?
Why now?
Has this happened before?
Did you consider the effect this piece might have?

Who benefits from this attention? Five days have passed as of this posting, and the anonymous article is still headlines all over media.
What does this mean for future anonymous sources and Op-Eds in general?
What effects could this have on governmental transparency? How do our government officials carry out upcoming meetings of national security without wondering if the person sitting next to them plans on sharing the notes they're taking with media under a cloak of anonymity? How much incentive is this attention to become that person?
What possible changes could this bring to journalism in general, and what does this do to an already unstable trust in media when compounded with the constant threat of 'Fake News', rampant censorship (just ask Alex Jones) and the widely forgotten Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012

By the way, does anyone know what's happening in this picture?

There is always the possibility that this is just another bright-shiny 'Stormy' thing to distract us from other, more important

Things that effect how we communicate
Will we ever #AuditTheFCC ?

Things that effect our most precious Will we ever learn how Jesuits have infiltrated our Catholic church and corrupted it's core?

Things that could destroy nations
Will we ever recognize how much control the US has given to Israel?

There is a lot happening in our world...why do they want us paying attention to an opinion provided by an anonymous source?