Interesting that you mention Charles Murray. The Times's hit piece on him (by Jason DeParle, in 1994) has always been for me the benchmark for smug journalism:

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THE MAN WHO WOULD ABOLISH welfare was flying to Aspen, Colo., sipping Champagne in the first-class cabin and spinning theories about the society unraveling 30,000 feet below. In the past, he says, people were poor because of bad luck or social barriers. "Now," he says, "what's holding them back is that they're not bright enough to be a physician." It is precisely the kind of statement that makes Charles Murray so infuriating to so many people: sweeping, callous, seemingly smug. The words are harsh, but the voice is genial and oddly reassuring, suffused with regret. He switches to a Bordeaux and recalls his last approach to Aspen, on a private jet sent by Rupert Murdoch.

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Metz probably learned at DeParle's knee. Whether the student has become the master is up for debate...