On going nuclear - A personal view

Recently, my friend Rod Adair had an interesting post on Facebook concerning this issue.
This was my comment:

I have mixed feelings about changing the 60 vote cloture rule. I was on Senator Domenici’s staff in 1975 when the rule was changed from 67 to 60. Those of the conservative persuasion at the time were adamantly opposed to the change. It was a tool to stop or slow down the left’s agenda. Without it we would have had higher taxes, more spending and additional gov’t agencies and programs. It was those who wanted to expand the role of gov’t who were for the change, just like in more recent times it has been the goal of Tom Udall to do away with the 60 vote rule. So it does seem a little weird that it is the Republicans who may take an action that leads to its demise.

On the other hand, the world hasn’t tumbled down around us, and in the case of Gorsuch, I do smell the scent of sweet justice if the nuclear option is used. I was a close friend of his mother when we both served during the Reagan administration, and the House used their form of a nuclear option to besmirch her reputation. They found her in contempt for doing the President’s bidding on executive privilege. For me, that makes it much easier to see another type of nuclear option place her son on the Supreme Court.

McConnell now says this doesn't apply to the legislative filibuster, it only applies to nominations. Over time, they will breech that tradition also.