1. It’s Monday, MARCH 2, 2015. That’s right, it’s March. So what if we got another 3 inches of snow last night.

2. What does Benjamin Netanyahu and those welcoming the Israeli prime minister to Washington this week want?

Netanyahu is speaking to Congress at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner in an effort to drum up opposition to any nuclear limitation agreement with Iran. Boehner’s motive is to embarrass President Obama — if Netanyahu was speaking against the Chicago White Sox, the president’s favorite baseball team, Republicans would invite him. 

But what do opponents of an accord want? Do they want the status quo? The status quo is Iran slowly but surely develops nuclear weapons unchecked. I can’t imagine that makes Israel safer.

Now if Netanyahu wants the United States to use force to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, he should state so clearly. Because I don’t know that opponents of the Kerry negotiations realize that would be a possibility. And I’m pretty confident the American people — and most of the rest of the world — are not interested in a fight with Iran, especially if it’s seen as being mostly in Israel’s interest. 

 So what’s the alternative to trying to negotiate a settlement? The American people and Congress can reject a bad deal. A good deal makes the world — including Israel — safer.

3.   I wonder if Netanyahu is bringing that wacky bomb explosion drawing that he used when he addressed the United Nations a few years back. Maybe he’ll resort to cartoon characters to make his point — the Republicans in Congress would like that.

4.   It is probably too much to ask that Ferguson, Mo., agree to what the Justice Department is expected to announce soon — that its police department created racial animosity with its biased traffic stops and disproportionate ticketing. Ferguson could say “Yes, we screwed up” and agree that its actions led to the nightmare scenario played out in the death of Michael Brown last summer.

Settling with the Justice Department would help ease the tensions that have made Ferguson a pejorative. Again, given the climate in this country, I’m not optimistic.