Sullivan suggested that Flynn might be guilty of treason. This reflects an abysmal ignorance of the governing case law. Nothing Flynn did comes even close to satisfying the strict definition of treason.

It is possible that the judge was just making a rhetorical point. He was clearly outraged by Flynn’s conduct (“Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for!” he exclaimed), and “treason” as a term packs a bigger rhetorical punch than “making false statements to the FBI.”

Treason is a very serious charge that is tightly defined in federal law but used more casually in common speech. What we know is that Flynn was an unregistered agent for the government of Turkey while being a top adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign. We also know that Judge Emmet Sullivan felt comfortable saying to Flynn, “Arguably, you sold your country out.” It doesn’t sound as though any great injustice was done to Flynn.

“The Jewish Democratic Council of America opposes efforts to delegitimize Israel through global boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) efforts,” Halie Soifer, executive director of JDCA, said in a statement. “The Israel Anti-Boycott Act is consistent with the 2016 Democratic Party Platform that states Democrats ‘oppose any effort to delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement’ and is also aligned with JDCA’s platform of opposition to global BDS.

…one wonders how Israel hopes to win the future while losing the battle for world opinion. People understand that peace is a desperately hard road; many of us appreciate that olive branches have often been met with rocks and mortars. But to give up on peace, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the West Bank settlers appear largely to have done, is a recipe for further erosion of support. Israel and its friends can win the fight against BDS only through persuasion and example; outlawing dissent will never work.

As Americans, we are committed to the First Amendment. And as Jews, we know that criticizing Israel is sometimes the most Jewish thing you can do. It is we who must lead the way in rejecting the false dichotomy of being silent on Israel’s failings or belonging to BDS.

…by definition, carbon taxes (and the point of the French gas tax is to tax the carbon emissions from using gasoline) do ask everyone to pay their fair share. A carbon tax is designed to make products that emit carbon more expensive by an amount proportional to the emissions released to the atmosphere. If the carbon tax is placed on all sources of carbon emissions, it is, by definition, fair because everyone is paying based on their individual carbon footprints.

…innovation, not new taxes or punishing global agreements, is the ultimate solution… Citizens around the world will continue to reject climate policies that cost them personally, either by direct taxation or by undermining the competitiveness of their own economies. The sooner the world’s leaders accept this reality, the sooner we will be able to put new and lasting solutions in place.

…the British Columbia plan was simple… With a revenue-neutral tax, the government keeps none of the money collected from the levy. Instead, it redistributes all of it – close to $1.8bn in its first three years – back to taxpayers in the form of tax cuts. As a result, the increase in energy costs for residents was offset by a tax cut of roughly equal value.

Nonetheless, the reality is that if the executive branch pushes hard, the Fed backs off. It is not a fourth branch of government enshrined in the Constitution but a creature of Congress. Moreover, by law it is the Treasury department, not our central bank, that sets policy on the dollar.

What to do? The right answer is to ignore the politics, inside and outside the Fed, and follow the signals that suggest a prudent pause in raising rates at this week’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Get the monetary policy that best serves the economy, and the politics will work itself out. Get the policy wrong, and Mr. Trump will be the least of Mr. Powell’s political worries.

But this is also where the political element kicks in. The Fed is no stranger to political pressure. But never has a president been quite so blunt and public in his criticisms of the Fed. Maintaining the Fed’s independence is a critical task for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. It might be tempting to raise rates just to show that the Fed will not accept dictation from the president. But the Fed will probably just try to shut its collective ears, look at the data and make the best decision it can for the U.S. economy.

Many Americans might struggle to identify a single supreme court justice. But Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s face adorns T-shirts, pins and memorabilia found at gift shops across the country. She is the subject of children’s books and a viral Tumblr account, and even boasts of her own pop culture moniker. The “Notorious RBG”, one of nine justices on America’s highest court, has emerged as one of the country’s most unlikely celebrities. Although she is 85 years old, a generation of young women have heralded Ginsburg as a leader of the so-called “Resistance”, deeming her a symbolic foil to Donald Trump and his administration.

I appreciate that steady Ginsburg—who has always toiled within the guardrails of the law and the Constitution—far more than the gangsta-feminist we’ve turned her into… She is real. She is smart. She still believes in the transformational power of the rule of law. That is a lot right now—quite possibly enough.

But no amount of swag or hagiography can obscure the fact that, while Ginsburg is responsible for a great number of landmark legal decisions, her legacy may be sorely tarnished by one truly terrible one: refusing to retire when President Barack Obama could have named her replacement.

It’s only “disgusting” to those who feel revulsion at expressions of theological views that differ from their own. And members of the Satanic Temple don’t engage in “Satan-worship.” They engage in chain-yanking… But the statue doesn’t belong in the Capitol rotunda. And neither do any other displays criticizing or celebrating religion or religious holidays. We have plenty of private property for such things.

it seems strange that no Christian or Jewish organization challenged the State Government of Illinois for allowing this complete mockery of the First Amendment… Hanukkah and Christmas have been celebrated in December for many hundreds of years. Other religions do not have December events that are this significant, and especially the Satanic Temple, which is not even celebrating an event lifted up in the tenets, practices, or texts of its beliefs. Therefore, the requirement that its “snake” be displayed alongside a menorah or a creche is wholly bogus.

The office of the Illinois secretary of state explains that the First Amendment guarantees the right of The Satanic Temple to mount this display. Atheist groups have provided exhibits across the country in past holiday seasons. But a display by a group that calls itself The Satanic Temple has brought about a new round of public attention. Yet, a few clicks into its website will disclose that The Satanic Temple is not truly Satan worshippers.