A message to Jonah from someone in the know:
It won’t matter what we question Supreme Court nominees about so long as we have filibusters. In other words, if filibusters are not nuked, which NRO says should not occur, then we need not worry about the Supreme Court. No vacancy will be filled unless the President nominates another Kennedy.
I agree with the prior emailer completely on the procedural point. I think recent events have shown that filibuster reform is absolutely necessary in the current environment. There have been some heated discussions on this page about the advisability of such a procedural device. Ramesh, for instance, has indicated a concern about the Democrats’ argument that it will grind the Senate to a halt. But the Democrats response should be taken head on. They say that “going nuclear,” as they like to call it, will result in the complete shutdown of the government. What they’re not saying is the reason that will happen — they’ll take their obstruction tactics to the next level and will grind the legislative business of the government to a halt. If the Republican anti-filibuster vote is nuclear, what’s that make the Democratic response? The Seven Plagues Option? I say, “Bring it on.” Let’s let the chips fall where the may. If Republicans fix the current system and Democrats throw a temper tantrum in response, I suspect the voters can sort things out.