Cheney Speaks Clearly on Nuke Option

It's easy to see why the Left so dislikes Dick Cheney: He speaks clearly and forcefully, making it so hard for them to justify their positions. That's why their attacks against him are so personal. From today's WashTimes:

"For more than 200 years, the Senate has exercised this responsibility by voting either to confirm or reject nominations sent up by the president," he told a gathering of Republican lawyers yesterday. "Recently, however, a minority of senators has turned away from two centuries of practice and begun filibustering judicial nominees."

Mr. Cheney confirmed what many already assumed: He supports the so-called nuclear option and will perform his parliamentary duty to override the filibusters against judicial nominees, if it comes to that.

"If the Senate majority decides to move forward, and if the issue is presented to me in my elected office as president of the Senate, and presiding officer, I will support bringing those nominations to the floor for an up-or-down vote," Mr. Cheney said. "On the merits, this should not be a difficult call to make."

Gotta love that "on the merits." On shameless political grandstanding, it's a difficult call to make. On fall-on-the-sword defense of abortionists, it's a difficult call to make. On amoral, secular values, it's a difficult call to make. But on its merits, it's a no-brainer.