How I would check Iran's nuclear ambition  —  Beginning Nov. 4, 1979 , dozens of U.S. diplomats were held hostage by Iranian Islamic revolutionaries for 444 days while America's feckless president, Jimmy Carter, fretted in the White House.  Running for the presidency against Carter the next year …

Axelrod: Romney gave ‘cowardly answer’ on Limbaugh controversy  —  Top Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod on Monday blasted Mitt Romney, accusing him of failing to appropriately criticize radio host Rush Limbaugh for his attacks on a college student who testified before Congress.

U.S. Representative Donald Payne dead at 77  —  U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, the dean of New Jersey's congressional delegation, died after a months-long battle with colon cancer today, according to three sources close to the Payne family.  The longtime politician was 77.

Holder Explains Threat That Would Call for Killing Without Trial  —  WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asserted on Monday that it is lawful for the government to kill American citizens if officials deem them to be operational leaders of Al Qaeda who are planning attacks …

Leaked: Bin Laden not buried at sea, body moved on CIA plane to US  —  Osama bin Laden (Reuters / Stringer) … The body of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was not buried at sea, according to leaked emails of intelligence firm Stratfor, as revealed by WikiLeaks.

Super Wednesday: GOP establishment lays down the law to the right  —  When the rooster crows on Super Wednesday, the insider establishment that runs the GOP will lay down the law to Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and all true conservatives: It is time to unite behind the candidate …

Ann Romney: 'I Don't Even Consider Myself Wealthy'  —  Apparently “Romneying” — defined as “accidentally bragging about your place high up in the economic stratosphere” — runs in the family.  —  His wife, Ann Romney, inexplicably talked about her wealth this afternoon during an interview on Fox News.

Filmgoer takes stand on costly snacks, sues AMC Livonia theater  —  Rebecca Motley emerges from the AMC Star Southfield after seeing “Good Deeds” on Friday morning — and paying $11 for pop and popcorn on top of the $5 ticket.  “The prices are ridiculous,” she said.  / ERIC SEALS/Detroit Free Press

EXCLUSIVE: Infamous international hacking group LulzSec brought down by own leader  —  Hector Xavier Monsegur is “Sabu,” the unemployed, 28-year-old father of two who allegedly commanded the loosely organized international hacker team LulzSec.  —  Hector Xavier Monsegur is “Sabu,” …

A Guide to Super Tuesday Possibilities  —  With only 10 states voting on Super Tuesday, it would be easy to dismiss it as a little wimpy compared to past years.  —  But nearly 20 percent of the delegates to the Republican convention will be chosen on Tuesday night — and the outcome …

If Murkowski calls herself moderate, her votes should be too  —  Back from Washington, D.C., for the start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, Sen. Lisa Murkowski learned the hard way not to get between women and birth control.  She said she now regrets her support for a measure …

Black Students Face More Discipline, Data Suggests  —  Black students, especially boys, face much harsher discipline in public schools than other students, according to new data from the Department of Education.  —  Although black students made up only 18 percent of those enrolled in the schools sampled …

Santorum Can't Get to 1144  —  ...and neither can Gingrich.  —  FHQ has been saying since our Very Rough Estimate of the delegate counts a couple of weeks ago that Romney is the only candidate who has a chance to get there.  But, of course, I have not yet shown my work.

NBC's Chuck Todd on the geographic bias  —  In a recent conversation on matters mostly but not altogether unrelated, NBC News political director and White House correspondent Chuck Todd argued that the partisan nature of our national discourse is driven by geographic — rather than ideological — biases:

Why Paul Krugman Doesn't Like Us.  And Vice Versa.  —  Paul Krugman attacked me this morning, more or less out of the blue.  His attack-or attempted attack, anyway-consisted of a quote from a post I wrote in 2005, and a link to another post that I also wrote in 2005.  Mr. Krugman, apparently, is a man with a long memory.

OBAMA ALLY WON'T RELEASE ALINSKY TAPE  —  Sources inform Breitbart.com today that Pam Dickler, director of the 1998 production of The Love Song of Saul Alinsky in Chicago that included a panel discussion featuring then-State Sen. Barack Obama, has a video tape of the play.  —  And she won't release it.

Angus King entrance shakes up Maine Senate race  —  The independent Senate candidacy of former Maine Gov. Angus King is having a chilling effect on the potential bid of Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree.  —  King's Monday entry into the race for GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe's seat dramatically alters …

Fanning the Flames of Class Warfare  —  Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul.  He is the author of “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform - Why We Need It and What It Will Take.”

The Economic Impact of the Pill  —  The recent controversy over contraception and health insurance has focused on who should pay for the pill.  But there is a wealth of economic evidence about the value of the pill - to taxpayers, as my colleague Motoko Rich writes, as well as to women in general.

Women vets want Limbaugh off of AFN  —  WASHINGTON - Advertisers have been bailing on conservative talk radio king Rush Limbaugh since his caustic comments about a female student, and now a progressive veterans group is taking aim, urging the Pentagon to kick Limbaugh off American Forces Network airwaves.

Bernanke Needs Some Bounce in His Tail: Stevenson and Wolfers  —  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is trying out a new communication strategy that has the potential to dramatically change the outlook for the economy.  The idea: By telling people more about its longer-term plans …

Cato Institute Caught in Rift Over Direction  —  WASHINGTON — From its perch in a spacious brand-new headquarters blocks from the White House, the Cato Institute has built on its reputation as a venerable libertarian research center unafraid to cross party lines.