All Eyes On Alabama

By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone )

NOTABLES

  • ANALYSIS - ABC's RICK KLEIN: Rainbow flags are prominent in the images now, ensuring that they look nothing like the familiar courthouse stills that are now staples in history books. But the echoes of defiance are unmistakable in Alabama, in state and local judges who are ignoring a federal court order (as tacitly endorsed by the Supreme Court), in a governor who is taking sides by staying on the sidelines, and in the states-rights' language encouraging all those actions. It is in some ways an understandable political - if not legal - reaction to a dizzying decade of social change that's taken gay marriage squarely into the mainstream, in law and in public polling. It's a reminder that, for all the change, close to half the country continues to disapprove of gay marriage, with regions like the Deep South more firmly opposed. What remains to be seen is the lingering political potency of gay-marriage opposition. Even Supreme Court justices are saying publicly that they know where the court will ultimately come down, well in advance of 2016. There's opposition and even anger to be channeled here, as Alabama is demonstrating. But here's guessing Republican presidential candidates will tread carefully.
  • WATCH ABC's STEVE OSUNSAMI's interview with Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. From "Good Morning America" today: http://abcn.ws/1M9cKfP
  • CHRIS CHRISTIE HAS NO REGRETS IN IOWA: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke in in Des Moines, Iowa last night to the Dallas County Republicans as part of the Dallas County Spring Speaker Series. He noted it was his 13th trip to the first caucus state, ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE writes. After his address, The New York Times asked Christie about their story last week detailing his lavish trip with his family to visit King Abdullah of Jordan. Christie answered, "The King and Queen are good friends of ours and I have no second thoughts about it at all."
  • IN CASE YOU MISSED IT - BOB CORKER ISN'T RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT: For of you who had Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., as your dark horse candidate for 2016, he's officially ruled out a presidential bid, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ notes. "I have no plans to pursue that," Corker said in an interview with Nashville Public Radio on Monday. "I'm very challenged with my current role as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. It's involved me in things beyond what I ever anticipated. … I haven't thought of it by the way, in months and months and months, as I saw the field shaping up in a good way." http://bit.ly/1Dd6kIo

THE BUZZ

with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

ON VIRAL PORTRAIT, BOBBY JINDAL CHANNELS RICHARD PRYOR: 'YOU MEAN I'M NOT WHITE?' Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal had a pithy response to a widely circulated portrait of him that made his skin tone look white - and quickly turned it into an attack on liberals whom he said are "obsessed with race." "You mean I'm not white?" Jindal, who is Indian-American, said at a breakfast session organized by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington, D.C, ABC's RICK KLEIN notes. The line was famously uttered by Richard Pryor in the 1989 film, "See No Evil, Hear No Evil," where Pryor played a blind man opposite Gene Wilder. The portrait in question, which currently hangs in the capitol building in Baton Rouge, was tweeted by a liberal blogger in Louisiana last week. It went viral online, even though - as Jindal's chief of staff pointed out - it's not the governor's "official" state portrait. Jindal said Monday he doesn't recall even having met the artist: "The painting in question is owned by a constituent. It will go back to the constituent." Jindal also suggested that liberals were behind mockery of him and the portrait. "I think this whole thing is silly. I think the left is obsessed with race," he said. "I think the dumbest thing we can do is to try to divide people by the color of their skin. The left is devoid of ideas and this is unfortunately what they're resorted to - name-calling…. This is nonsense. We're all Americans." http://abcn.ws/1zOUcuP

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I WILL BOYCOTT NETANYAHU SPEECH. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who is flirting with a 2016 presidential bid, became the first U.S. senator to officially announce he will skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before Congress next month, ABC's STEPHANIE EBBS notes. Sanders, the longest-serving Independent in Congress, said it was wrong that the president wasn't consulted about the prime minister's visit. His statement came Monday during a Q&A session after a speech at the Brookings Institution. Three House Democrats have said they will boycott Netanyahu's speech, according to the Associated Press, and some Senate Democrats said they are considering it, including the number two Democrat in the Senate Dick Durbin, R-Illinois. Vice President Joe Biden also will not attend the speech because he will be traveling abroad. Netanyahu will address Congress on Tuesday, March 3. http://abcn.ws/1xZwkR4

WHO'S TWEETING?

@JebBush: When I was governor, I often used email to correspond. I hope you find these notes as interesting as I did: http://jebemails.com

@bethreinhard: . @JebBush to meet w @FLGovScott today while in Tallahassee for fundraisers and education summit.

@DavidMDrucker: Are Republican presidential candidates prepared for a 'national security' primary? Good stuff from @ByronYork http://washex.am/1KDYs52

@ajjaffe: Obama forgave Michael Jordan for his trash talk. But will Jordan forgive Obama? http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/10/ …

@thehill: WHIP LIST: Dems skipping Netanyahu speech http://ow.ly/INHUL