Spiro Agnew's term for the MSM of his day does come to mind now and then: "An effete corps of impudent snobs." I believe William Safire originated that.
Awesome. I googled the quote and discovered the full version:
"A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals."
What a great quote. It's relevant not only to this thread but to today's pseudo-intellectuals in general. Timeless.
"nattering nabobs of negativism."