OK, though this is not a one-off op-ed by someone with no connection with the newspaper. Frankly, the distinction between columnists' views and the "official" line of the paper seems to me to have lost importance. Who cares today what the NYT's "official" editorial view is (for example), when the tone of commentary is set by Friedman, Brooks, Kristof, with counter-firecrackers from Krugman and sometimes Dowd? It's the newspaper that chooses the columnists and the balance between them, and that has more effect on opinion (imho) than pontificating official editorials.