“la trahison des clercs” = the treason of the intellectuals, the willingness to ignore facts, to look the other way, to not speak, to go along with the propaganda ... because the ‘cause’ is SOOOO important.
Whether it’s Obamanomics or Man-Made Climate Change, la trahison des clercs is in full swing right now.
Benda’s book is excellent. And indeed Obama is an exemplar of the sort of “clerk” (intellectual) that Benda described.