Re: "this ought to be labelled an editorial."
Actually, "editorial" refers exclusively to content created by or specifically on behalf of the newspaper Editor in a specific column. Which is not the case here.
The most common term for newspaper commentary in the US is "opinion". Editorial is part of it. "Op-ed" is another subset of "opinion" that distinguishes non-editorial commentary written by regular columnists or guest writers (it used to mean "opposite the editorial" - literally published on the opposing page to the editorial). Another form of opinion published in newspapers is "Letters to the Editor".
If you can't extrapolate "opinion" from "comment", your English skills (US English or otherwise) need work.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
