i say let them go nuclear. seriously, what exactly is at stake here? are they really going to block everything on the lofty principle of hiding the prior administration's war crimes? do they really think that will be seen as a winner to their constituents?
besides, the republicans are already voting lock-step against most of obama's proposals. i expect he'll get just as little support from the GOP for his nominees no matter what he does with the torture memos. (indeed, they were already blocking several before this even came up) this seems to me to be a pretty obvious bluff. the only real question is whether the democrats will just give in, like the weenies they are. i'm hoping they surprise me, release the memos, and then slam the GOP with their own words about an "up and down vote" from 4 years ago if they actually try to filibuster.
on top of that, the GOPers who are making this threat are using the word "nuclear" all wrong. this is really the opposite of the so-called "nuclear option." instead of using a procedural ploy to declare the filibuster unconstitutional, getting rid of the practice, what they're threatening now is to use the filibuster not get rid of it. indeed, if anyone used the nuclear option now, the GOP wouldn't even have this bluff.
