On page 302 of The Silmarillion (Of the Rings of Power and the Third age) Mithrandir speaking to The White Council states: Soon he will be too strong for you, even without the Great Ring; for he rules the Nine, and of the Seven he has recovered three...
It is strange that Tolkien uses the word rules and not holds, keeps or weilds.
In Unfinished Tales (The Hunt for the Ring) we are told: They were by far the most powerful of his servants, and the most suitable for such a mission, since they they were entirely enslaved to their Nine Rings, which he (Sauron) now himself held.
I have the feeling that Tolkien saw Sauron with the Nine, one can hold power in Government and rule at the same time.
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[B]THE LORD OF THE GRINS:THE ONE PARODY....A PARODY BETTER THAN THE RINGS OF POWER.
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