The Obama Mythology

The editor of the Washington Examiner defends his paper's revisiting of Obama's rise in Chicago politics against a Washington Post blogger who claims there's nothing to see here.

Stuff we learned...

• Contrary to the mythology of Obama as idealistic defender of the poor, attorney Obama helped a famous Chicago slumlord get off with a $50 fine after the guy failed to turn the lights and water back on in the affordable-housing complex from which he had also thrown out the residents in the dead of winter.• Contrary to the mythology of Obama as the principled speaker of truth to corrupt power, Obama's 1997 Valentine's Day speech pointed the way to uniting Chicago's infamous Daley political machine with its longtime nemesis, the city's liberal activists. Key to the deal: using tax dollars and credits to build affordable housing. Developers got rich, liberal activists got jobs and influence, politicians got campaign money, and poor people got the shaft.• Contrary to the mythology about Obama as "rock-star" law professor, his students at the University of Chicago Law School often ranked him in the bottom half of the faculty. During Obama's final years teaching, only a minority of his students said they would recommend his course.

Interesting. But of course his class was obviously chock full of racists.