John Cornyn (far right) grins in the presence of his puppet-master

It’s not turtles all the way down after all. It’s elephants:

x Asked for his position on CSR deal, @JohnCornyn responds: Ã¢ÂÂIÃ¢ÂÂm with the president.Ã¢ÂÂ I asked where Trump is and Cornyn throws hands in air — Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) October 23, 2017

This is entirely perfect yet utterly mindblowing at the same time. John Cornyn is the second highest-ranking Republican in the United States Senate, but he’s so incapable of thinking for himself—and so afraid of Trumpist anger toward anyone who doesn’t declare total fealty to the man in the White House—that all he can do is give up his entire sense of self and pledge undying loyalty to whatever it is Donald Trump says, whatever that may be, whenever he gets around to saying it.

It’s as though Cornyn is a reverse Pinocchio: He doesn’t want to be a real senator—he just wants to be a puppet, and he’s made sure we can all see the strings. It’s certainly much easier that way, for him and for us. Cornyn doesn’t have to worry about all those hard things like governing and representing his constituents and respecting the independence of Congress as called for by the Constitution, while we get to know exactly who his master is, Geppetto Trump.

But while we can chortle and snicker all we like, this is grave. This kind of mindless devotion is both what Trump craves and what authoritarian regimes demand, and the sickest part is, the Republican Party is only too happy to provide it.

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