The Rise of a Republican Star

Tom Cotton...he has been in the Senate for  a little more than two months, but, in the fashion of Ted Cruz, he is more than qualified to take it over and run it as his domain.  And he's been a busy little beaver the last week or so, leading to all sorts of right wing luminaries declaring him to be the reigning star of the Republican party:

The National Journal:  "Is This 36-Year-Old Veteran the Future of the GOP?" 

Red State:  "Tom Cotton: The Most Powerful Man in Washington" 

The New Republic:  "Tom Cotton 2016?  This Dark Horse Could Blow Up the 2016 Republican Primary" 

Washington Examiner:  "Tom Cotton touted as 2016 veep for Walker, Bush, Rubio..."He fills the only real qualification of the job: he can take office if POTUS dies or is killed, and can lead in a crisis immediately. Tom would be a real asset to just about any Republican ticket," said one key Republican." 

Allen West:  "Eureka! Tom Cotton proves the existence of cojones in D.C."

Well, enough of that.  So, Cotton led 46 of his Senate Republican compadres in his act of open betrayal of the country, doing whatever he could to prevent peace with Iran, and then what did he do the next day?  Go to Disneyland?  No, he went to a meeting with defense contractors, who thoughtfully donated over a million dollars to him.  Then today, he delivered his first speech in the Senate, in which he called for a vast increase in military spending:

The Blaze:  "Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Monday called on the United States to return to the military might and capability it had in the 1980s — a plan that he acknowledged would be more expensive, but one that would ensure the safety of Americans, restore U.S. military leadership, and stop inviting power struggles around the world that increasingly seem to befuddle the Obama administration. 

“Our enemies and allies alike must know that aggressors will pay an unspeakable price for challenging the United States,” he said on the Senate floor. “The best way to impose that price is global military dominance. When it comes to war, narrow margins are not enough, for they are nothing more than an invitation to war.”

So here's the thing:  This guy cannot even claim the minimal dignity that might come from actually believing his own nonsense, like Ted Cruz or Louie Gohmert might.  He has only taken one week to reveal himself as a corrupt tool of military contractors, with absolutely no agenda but to divert American wealth into their pockets in return for open bribes,  and presumably will do the same for anyone else who can give him a million dollars for a meeting.  Meet the new star of the Republicans- that's all it takes to walk to the top of the heap in the miserable Republican field.  And our only compensation is the likelihood that, by 2016, the average American won't be able to dredge up a memory of him, any more than they can for Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Tim Pawlenty, and all the others that had their week or two in the clown car, until they were pushed out and it ran them over.