That phrase has become a synonymous with everything that is wrong with our political culture. It was made so by the very talking heads that have brought our country into disrepute. As someone who has lived in greater Washington, DC for most of her life, I resent it.
The truth is that it is the worker bees of greater Washington who are saving our democracy. Just this week the worker bees of the World Bank drove out Wolfowitz. It should not have been possible for Bush to nominate him. The Democrats should have put a stop to that. But when the opposition party failed to do its job, the worker bees stepped up to the mark.
This is just one example of worker bees who have put their career on the line when their political masters and the press who covers them let American down. Other examples of worker bee heroism:
Larry Johnson
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
The Project on Government Oversight
When the history of our times is written, it will show that when our political elite, press, and judicial elite failed us, the worker bees of the civil service saved democracy.