Let's see -- Obama was an associate at the Miner firm when the Roberson case came about. It was not about getting sub-prime loans, it was about redlining -- a much different issue. Redlining has nothing to do whether an applicant is credit worthy. It is about banks refusing to do ANY loans in certain neighborhoods.

Mr. Roberson did have the points to qualify for a loan. As a matter of fact, he was an A+ borrower. Had he applied for a loan in another neighborhood, he would have had no problem qualifying and getting a loan. However, Citibank deemed his neighborhood to be unworthy and refused to give him a loan on that basis.

From the sound of the article, Obama really was nothing more than a flunky at the Miner firm -- that's what associates are, until they are close to becoming a partner. They do the grunt work. They rarely appear in court except to carry the boxes (the paralegal is the one who pulls the papers out of those boxes -- not the associate). They do the research, do the frst few drafts of a pleading or appeal, take the depositions, draft the settlement agreemnt. They don't decide which cases they will or will not work on. They don't decide what position to take. They are the gofers and God love 'em -- they put in incredible hours with few rewards and sometimes for cases that they totally disagree with but they understand it is doing well on those cases that will give them the option as a partner to do the work they want.

That Obama even spoke before the Court of Appeals is pretty impressive. This is something associates rarely do. They must have had a lot of confidence in him even then. Being a behind-the-scene negotiator is a good thing and it sounds like Obama was good at it.

Sorry, I don't see your issue on this article. At least use the correct brush when you tar him.