The Conservative Sage

The financial crisis of 2008 continues to have a devastating effect on the lives of many Americans. However that same crisis has been a blessing for many others- namely lawyers. With each new round of Eric Holder justice department fines and penalties against banks for their role on the crisis, a few New York law firms are reaping billions in Fees. J.P Morgan Chase, which has by far paid the largest penalties, has set aside approximately $23 billion in legal reserves to settle claims and expenses. High powered firms like Sullivan & Cromwell, Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Garrison; and Wilmer Hale represent JP Morgan. Other large banks such as Citi, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo have ponied up an additional $50 billion in fines to the feds. To date, the largest banks have forked over $128 billion in fees and counting. So far the largest chunk paid out by bank of America. No doubt that their lawyers are also enjoying a windfall....

On the heels of last week decision by the grand jury in Ferguson not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of black 18 year old Michael Brown, the country is once again in a state of unrest. A New York grand jury also failed to indict a police officer in the death of a black man. Last August, Eric Garner 43, died due to a police choke hold while they attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling black market cigarettes. The coroner determined the cause of death as a homicide. The officer who administered the choke hold, which is against NYPD policy, officer Daniel Pantaleo was immediately relieved of his gun and badge-essentially ending his career. Protesters immediately gathered in New York and other cities with the typical chants no justice, no peace. Although it is my personal view that the death of Mr. Garner was indeed a tragedy that should not have occurred and it also should have gone to trial. These incidents, are compounde...

Order appears to have been restored with the resounding defeat of the Democrats during midterm elections earlier this month. The Republicans gained the 9 seats needed to regain control of the senate as well as several key Governors seats. Perennial blue state Maryland elected Republican Larry Hogan in a race that further shook the political landscape. Democrats as you could imagine did not take the defeat well, blaming everything from the GOP money machine, Ebola, to low voter turnout for their ouster. Now it's time for true conservatives to return to governance and lift the country out of its economic slumber. Democrats have failed to put any pressure whatsoever on their protected President. The Keystone Pipeline has been left in limbo for two years along with 300 other pieces of legislation that waste away on Harry Reid's desk. When congress begins its new session in January, Republicans will be in favorable position to force President Obama to play bal...

On a relatively quiet street in Tulsa Oklahoma, Jeremy lake was standing outside his home with his girlfriend Lisa Kepler 18. Her father pulled up and asked what she was doing in the neighborhood. Jeremy walked up to introduce himself as Lisa's boyfriend and without a word 54 year old Shannon Kepler shot him. Lake later died from his injuries. Kepler fled the scene and was later arrested. As was his wife Gina for accessory to murder after the fact. What makes this case more shocking is that the Keplers are Tulsa Police offices. Most 2nd amendment advocates take comfort in so called law abiding citizens arming themselves to help protect us from crime. However no one seems to ask the question who will protect us from them? I am not suggesting that most gun owners or even a large number are as unstable as Kepler. Most gun owners are responsible and indeed law abiding. It is also important to recognize that v...

As long as many of us have been alive middle east turmoil has been as normal Christmas, Halloween and the 4th of July. It has also been just as frequent. After vanquishing Osama bin Ladin it appeared that America had gained the upper hand in the war on terror. These terror groups have the uncanny ability to reconstitute and remerge more dangerous. Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or (ISIS) a Sunni terrorist group which has a stated goal of forming an Islamic caliphate across those two nations. Heavily armed and well funded, ISIS has rampaged through Iraq, murdering thousands of Shiites, Christians and other ethnic minorities. ISIS has attracted fighters from Europe, the U.S. and other European countries to join their Jihad. Just two months ago, the world was focused on Nigerian terrorist group Boko haram's kidnapping of 200 school girls. Just as ruthless as ISSI is Boko Haram which rampages through villages killing hundreds of men women and chil...

Recently a USA Today front page featured a glaring headline: Testosterone Valley. The article referred to Silicon Valley as a "exclusive boys club" citing its lack of diversity. The article also pointed out that blacks, and Hispanics make up less than 4% of tech jobs in silicon valley. Racial extortionist Jesse Jackson has once again begun his shakedown of corporate America by requesting diversity records of tech giants Google, Facebook, Twitter and others. This has shined an unwanted spotlight on the tech industry's lack of diversity. However, there is something else awry in America. This week, USA  basketball  roster for next weeks Olympic basketball tournament in Rio. The 12 man roster doesn include a single white player. A check of the rosters for the past USA basketball teams reveals a total of 6 whites have made USA basketball rosters since 1994! Which represents less than 10% of the total number of players. This troubling ...

There are many clichés that we all grow up with. Some of them are true and some are just simply tradition and not very useful. One such example is this "conversation" that blacks must reportedly have with our children as opposed to non black parents regarding police interaction. This topic has been renewed in light of the Michael Brown shooting by a police officer in Ferguson Missouri. There notion that the police are afraid of black men, see them as violent, dangerous and therefore certain protocols should be understood when encountering them to avoid being shot and/or killed. What is more dangerous is the message itself. One that tells young black men that it is law enforcement that is the greatest threat to their lives. Although police misconduct is as real as that of any other profession, the number of lives of black men snuffed out by other black men is incomparable to that by police officers. The mainstream med...