Alexander: ‘Fringe,’ ‘feelings’ court nominees could provoke filibuster  —  Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) stressed Saturday that he could exercise a filibuster of President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee “if the president picks someone from the fringe or somone who applies their feelings insted of applying the law.”

UPDATED: Mississippi Gov. Barbour defends McDonnell's Confederate proclamation  —  Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) might have gotten the exactly the help he didn't need from a friend this morning, as Republican Governors Association chairman Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) …

In Event of WMD Attack, “All Bets Are Off”  —  Clinton, Gates Say New U.S. Policy Puts Other Countries “On Notice” to Avoid Nuclear Path Taken by Iran, North Korea  —  (CBS) The Obama administration's nuclear posture review may have removed some of the intentional ambiguity from U.S. nuclear policy …

Worlds Without Women  —  When I was in Saudi Arabia, I had tea and sweets with a group of educated and sophisticated young professional women.  —  I asked why they were not more upset about living in a country where women's rights were strangled, an inbred and autocratic state more like an archaic men's club than a modern nation.

Senator: Dropping ‘Islamic extremism’ term is ‘Orwellian and counterproductive’  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Sunday called the administration's proposal to avoid the term “Islamic extremism” in national security references “absolutely Orwellian and counterproductive.”

CASUAL ACCUSATIONS OF TREASON.... Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana, a relatively obscure Republican freshman lawmaker, published a piece this week on the Obama administration's nuclear policies and counter-proliferation efforts.  Fleming, apparently, isn't impressed, and rehashed a variety …

Met allows Islamic protesters to throw shoes  —  SCOTLAND YARD has bowed to Islamic sensitivities and accepted that Muslims are entitled to throw shoes in ritual protest — which could have the unintended consequence of politicians or the police being hit.  —  News of the concession …

SENATE POLL: Lowden leads Republican pack  —  Numbers show front-runner would beat Reid  —  Sue Lowden has established herself as the far-ahead GOP front-runner in Nevada's U.S. Senate race and the Republican most likely to beat Sen. Harry Reid, even with a Tea Party candidate …

Brooks: Let Them Eat Work … I know, I know, I was supposed to lay off David Brooks for a while.  But how can this latest gem of his possibly be ignored?  I'm beginning to absolutely love this guy — for sheer comedy value, he really doesn't have any peers at this point …

No One Is to Blame for Anything  —  “I was right 70 percent of the time, but I was wrong 30 percent of the time,” said Alan Greenspan as he testified last week on Capitol Hill.  Greenspan — a k a the Oracle during his 18-year-plus tenure as Fed chairman — could not have more vividly illustrated …

Ron Paul: President Obama Is Not A Socialist  —  Near the end of the third day of this year's Southern Republican Leadership Conference, it was time for Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) to take the stage.  Paul, fresh off his victory in the CPAC straw poll, gave a characteristically fired-up speech …