The argument was that he was defending a policy that bondholders are always repaid. Other policy considerations (such as not pissing off the autoworkers) may trump that policy - Geithner is hardly dictator of the US, and even banksters lose upon occasion.

And Ireland is not comparable to the automakers. A better point of comparison would be the foreclosure racket in Florida - something there has been no serious federal effort to stop, despite the fact that it's probably the most blatant violation of basic due process protection that has happened to Florida's citizens since they stopped lynching black people.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.