American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Norman Ornstein has this excellent column on what a disaster invoking the nucular option would be for the future operation of the Senate (hat tip: HB). The AEI is a very conservative outfit whose list of regular authors includes right-wingers like Lynne Cheney, David Frum, Newt Gingrich, Irving Kristol, and John Yoo. But Ornstein has previously debunked the myth of the "unprecedented" judicial filibuster, and now he’s taking his fellow Republicans to task over their apparent intention to wreck the Senate by turning it into a smaller version of the House of Representatives.
It’s nice to know that there are at least a few Republicans out there with some principles remaining intact. Let’s hope that six of them are US Senators.
Great find, David! It’s good to see that someone on the conservative side sees the potential damage the nuclear option could do, and is willing to speak out.
Norm Ornstein works for AEI, but I don’t think he’s a Republican. He’s friends with Al Franken. He’s more of a professional centrist.