Quote from a book not yet finished

There is a book being read here that will not be mentioned today.  It needs to be completed and then some sort of overall comment will be written.  Here are two sentences from the book that appealed to me, one as completely timely and one as completely timeless.

"Americans on the average do not trust intellectuals, but they are cowed by power and stunned by celebrity.  Not only did Dr. Hedd have a measure of both, he also possessed an English accent, which affected Americans the way a dog whistle stimulated canines."