Since Trump came to power, cowardice seems contagious

Do you remember Julian Assange’s catchphrase,“Courage is contagious”? I think he may have borrowed it from the old Bible basher the Reverend Billy Graham, but no matter: it had a catchy ring about it. Sadly, there is something even more contagious: cowardice.

- ALAN RUSBRIDGER

There is a lot of it about. In the US today, it is spreading very rapidly, and there seems to be no known cure.

An enterprising journalist at Politico has called it the Great Grovel. In a recent piece, John F Harris chronicled how a parade of the wealthiest and most elite institutions in American life have capitulated to a series of unprecedented demands from Donald Trump and his brutish team of retribution-seekers.

Where to begin? Maybe with some of the wealthiest people on the planet. I’m looking at you, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, who were among the first to “take the knee” before Trump had even cleared his throat. Or maybe the bosses at ABC who, rather than telling the president-elect where to shove his lawsuit, agreed to pay him $15m (£11.5m) to settle an eminently defendable defamation claim.

Or how about the lily-livered drips covering the White House, who – in solidarity with their banned colleagues at Associated Press – are seriously considering wearing badges that say “First Amendment”. For one day only, you understand. Trump must be trembling at the prospect.

And then there are the crybabies running the great universities. Specifically Columbia, whose interim president hoisted a white flag high above the hallowed halls of learning. Katrina Armstrong promptly stepped down, to be replaced by an acting president, Claire Shipman, who has already been warned that it’s only a matter of weeks before she’s forced out.