"Liberal media elite" initially was a code that evolved from the early 20th century Western-European anti-semitism. At the end of the 19th century much of the major media in Germany, France, Austria and England was taken up by the Jews who found it to be one of the few intellectual outlets that had become available to them as a consequence of partial emancipation. When Pat Buchanan says "Hollywood elite", he does not mean it literally, but, to a great extent, he means "those Hollywood Jews". When he talks about the "media elite", he does not mean Rupert Murdock or even Ted Turner--he means "the New York Times" (a.k.a., in his circles, as "the Jew York Times"). This code was still valid in the 1960s, but has gradually come to acquire more diverse meaning.

Note that McCarthyism was not mere anti-Semitism under a new guise, even though its victims were disproportionately Jewish. But the current attacks on liberalism are nothing more than a combination of the 1950s anti-Communism crusade with long-standing anti-Semitism and the identification of Communism as "Jew politics". Ironically, capitalism and imperialism functions as the focal point for the anti-Semitic Left. This is almost a running joke among Jewish political historians--no matter which side you choose, there are plenty of anti-Semites there. It has become unfashionable to make claims about Jews in politics or in the media, but Pat Buchanan and his friends have already broken that barrier as well (recall the Buchanan and Donovan anti-Hollywood drivel on MSNBC only a couple of months ago.

eriposte - I've been reading your series from the start, but had little to say. It's been comprehensive, articulate, and respectable. Thank you for your work.