"Just to throw some spice in the pot (bearing in mind, I see both sides of the argument), is graffiti a form of political speech (the act, as well as the content)? Do people feel differently about graffiti if it has some political content, or functions as a counterweight to the mass media's presentation of (real or perceived) social injustice? Think about the Berlin Wall."
You have right to life, liberty, and property according to the constitution, until your pursuit of such rights infringe upon the equal rights' of others. Trashing someone's private property for your speech is thus infringement. However, one could make the case that objects such as the Berlin Wall already violate the right to liberty, and thus could be defaced in acts responding to the alienation of one's constitutional right. I'd be very careful classifying graffiti as political speech, as the appropriateness clause always comes into effect. You don't want a tagger to be able to justify blatant and selfish vandalism as political speech, nor do you want neo-nazis, communists, anarchists, the KKK, Birch society, Black Panthers, gangs, ect. defacing entire neighborhoods as protected political speech.
"Is America the only country in which "intellectual" is a derogatory term? "
It is in any country that has a class of elitist snobs whom get off unconstructively criticizing or outright hating every cultural value or bit of history their country has. Any fool who goes to university and immediately believe it is their sworn duty to tear down their entire civilization because they understand how to do it as one of the self proclaimed erudite betters, more so than the filthy masses, deserves some perspective from the gulag. The utter contempt for the average person harbored by those perched in the lofty ivory tower has become quite appalling.
I'd recommend researching Gramscian damage and marxist teaching at Western Universities from 1930-1970. The KGB and her predecessors were heavily involved in courting intellectuals to teach future generations of westerners to essentially question, loathe, and guilt their nations into self submitting states to the point that the USSR could easily roll over them. Follow the money trail of CPUSA and WWP over the years, through their major spinoffs, organizers, fundraisers, and political initiatives for some whoppers.
