That's a very slippery slope, 'old and respected' should not matter when posting off-topic stuff.

I've seen content that was much more on-topic killed off ruthlessly, it creates a sense of class-justice.

Whoever posted it and how long they have been a member should not be the deciding factor in killing stuff or letting it be.

Anyway, of course it is your call, but that's how I feel about it.

I think the problem is that there are very few 'hops' between "trusted, respected person writes something intelligent" and "flame wars" when the topic is emotionally loaded/political/economics/etc... Fluff articles aren't quite so bad, but I think they still beget more fluff.