There is an interesting lesson on “daas Torah” (even if this principle is not in the Torah or Talmud) in this parsha and midrashim – Moshe goes to zekenim first, they follow him but jump off one-by-one during the trip – and due to this lack of leadership, their further role is diminished, including not receiving Torah at Sinai directly. They still stayed as zekenim, right? Or was there an election in between?
Related in Pesachim 50: one should marry daughter of (1st perference) – talmid chacham, 2nd – gedolei hador (politicians?). Somehow, some people in our generation call talmidtei chachamim gedolei hador. Seems this is insulting both categories – lowering T.Ch. to the next category and disregarding Ged. H. as a group.