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.) …

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.”

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

66% Say America Is Overtaxed  —  When thinking about all the services provided by federal, state and local governments, 75% of voters nationwide say the average American should pay no more than 20% of their income in taxes.  However, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds …

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 …

IDF order will enable mass deportation from West Bank  —  A new military order aimed at preventing infiltration will come into force this week, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years.

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 …