From the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi,
5/23/03:
"I'm for the nuclear option, absolutely," Lott has said. "The filibuster of federal district and circuit judges cannot stand. ... It's bad for the institution. It's wrong. It's not supportable under the Constitution. And if they insist on persisting with these filibusters, I'm perfectly prepared to blow the place up. No problem."
Many folks have come up with excellent citations regarding use of the term "nuclear option" by Frist and others. Also some have cited reports that Lott originated the term (in this context). This comment has helpful citations that link early use of the term to Lott. Armando's recent diary has other very helpful citations. Likewise for Bill's.
However, so far on Kos (or other blogs) I've not seen a fairly complete quote showing Lott's very explicit and inflammatory use of the term, so I was happy to discover the quote I cited above.
Here's some terrific irony: according to this diary, Chris Reid of MSNBC recently said "Democrats have promised to quote, blow up the Senate."
Here are some other citations showing use of the term by Republican officials and conservative commentators. In each case, the use is documented in the form of a direct quote:
National Review, 5/13/04:
GOP leadership first seriously discussed the 51-vote solution in the Republican cloakroom during the floor debate over Miguel Estrada. Excited, leadership staff kicked into high gear studying the possibilities. Trent Lott (R., Miss.) dubbed the solution "nuclear."
The preceding citation is especially interesting because the author (Miranda) is former counsel to Frist, and he "formerly worked in the Judiciary Committee office and now is the chief judicial nominee adviser in the Senate majority leader's office." That description can be found here. (This latter article is itself interesting because it accuses Miranda of dirty tricks.) Anyway, given Miranda's resume, he's in a position to be considered a reliable source when he says Lott "dubbed the solution 'nuclear.'" In other words, in some quarters he might be considered to have more credibility than someone else (such as a writer for the WaPo, NYT or the New Yorker) making the same assertion.
Arlen Specter, 6/9/03
John McCain, Susan Collins (link)
Unnamed Republican quoted in National Review (link)
Dick Morris (link)
Susan Collins, Rush Limbaugh (link)
Sen. Larry Craig (link)
This link has been cited elsewhere on Kos, but it bears repeating. Safire quotes the Washington Times as saying Lott "declined to elaborate, warning that his idea is 'nuclear."'
Finally, this quote is particularly colorful (11/14/03):
Earlier this year, Frist, himself, spoke to me about the nuclear option, saying, "I carry it in my pocket." ... Asked about the long-term wounds it might inflict on the Senate, the former surgeon deadpanned: "Remember-I used to cut people's hearts out for a living."
So we have Lott threatening to "blow the place up," and we have Frist suggesting he's willing cut out the Senate's heart. Now these folks want to run away from their own extremist language. Let's not let them.
Update, 4/25, 2:20 pm
Above I mention Chris Reid. As far as I can tell, he did not accuse Democrats of saying they'll "blow up" the senate (and therefore I think the diary I cited is incorrect). He did accuse Democrats of saying "if you're going to do that than we are going to pull the trigger on what we call the Nuclear Option, meaning we are going to shut this place down." Reid is obviously practicing revisionism regarding the origin and meaning of the term "nuclear option," but we should be careful not to put words in his mouth. The words that are already there are bad enough.
Update, 4/25, 2:35 pm
I guess the Reid situation is murky. This comment claims Reid did indeed, in a video piece, accuse Dems of saying "blow up." Maybe someone can come up with further clarification or a transcript.