The brazen kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on charges he abetted drug trafficking has brought into evidence a pandemic no one knew existed. It is called sycophantism. Aside from America’s traditional rivals Russia and China, few global nations have chosen to decry the move. This is because they fear the American president, who is the lord of their manor, a president who has placed plutocracy where democracy once was. If they vex him, they face sanctions, trade problems, and even visa restrictions on their citizens, so all bow before him rather than express any form of public criticism.

This pandemic is likely to get worse before it gets better — and there is no vaccine in sight.