Mr. Anonymous ... Part 1 | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Without This Guy Anonymous, We Would Not Know Anything
    (I published this Foolishness...Or Is It? about Captain Phillips years before Tom Hanks got involved.)
    Mr. Anonymous really gets around. We owe him a lot. Without him, we would all be like Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes. We would be walking around saying, "I know nothing".



    Being sly, cunning and alert, I am beginning to think that there is more than one Mr. Anonymous because he is everywhere.

    Headline: "US hostage fails in escape bid from Somali pirates".

    I read an article about the U.S. Ship Captain (Captain Phillips) who was being held captive by those dastardly Somali Pirates. In this single article, there were all of these instances of Mr. Anonymous' contributions to our collective wealth of knowledge about this riveting news story...

• "They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss sensitive ship movements."
• "...spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals."
• "...according to Defense Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, because they are not authorized to talk about the sensitive, unfolding operations."
• "...who spoke on condition on anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media."
• "...said the man, who asked that only his first name, Badow, be used to protect him from reprisals."
• "...according to a U.S. official who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation."
• "...said a senior U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss operational matters."

    Back in Grammar School, we would have called this guy a Tattletale. The Mafia would call him a Rat. In modern America, we call him a Public Servant.

    If Mr. Anonymous is going around talking about "sensitive ship movements" and "sensitive unfolding operations" about which he is "not being authorized to speak" and "operational matters he is not authorized to discuss" then maybe we ought to tread lightly on the "Public Servant" designation.

    If I were Mr. Anonymous' boss, I would make the news Big Time ...
    Headline ... "Picky Boss Fires Public Servant"

    Would I kid u?
    Smartfella