Holy Wow

As most of you know by now, former Kaupthing chairman of the board Sigurður Einarsson is now wanted by Interpol. Yes, that's a big story. I honestly can't remember an Icelander who's ever been wanted by Interpol. Then again, I'm American by birth, and our concept of Interpol is this shadowy secret police that hunts down international jewel thieves with underground lairs. Maybe this sort of thing is more common than I know.

However, what I found particularly stunning is that the newspaper Fréttablaðið not only got an interview with him, but just how clueless and arrogant his responses were.

For example: his take on the special prosecutor seeking out the bankers and investors who played Vegas with other people's money and ruined the nation is "I am absolutely flabbergast at recent events. It really surprises me that men are being arrested upon their arrival in Iceland."

Of course it surprises him. White collar criminals don't get arrested; they get escorted. They don't get put in prison; they're slapped with a flight ban. They can still roll up to court in their Land Rovers, and strut into the building in their finest clothes, sipping their bottled water. Real criminals - you know, people who steal cash the old fashioned way - they're the ones who get cuffs and jailcells, who get led into court with their jackets over their heads. In other words, crooks steal thousands; businessmen steal billions.

But my favorite quote from this guy would have to be this:

"I find these arrests and jailings absolutely unnecessary, and will not at least take any part in this drama, which I believe is being put on to soothe the anger of the nation."

You see? He's the victim here, people. The decent, hard-working former bank managers of Kaupthing are being scapegoated to placate us angry peasants. It's all just one big circus to distract us from the real culprits behind the economic collapse: plain ol' bad luck! Or the Rosicrucians. I don't think anyone's mentioned them yet, which I think is very suspicious.