As I watched Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs offer an unconvincing defense of Treasury Secretary-in-waiting Tim Geithner's tax-challenged ways during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, I found myself thinking: if this were a Republican nominee, liberals (e.g., me) would be rightly incensed.

But as the Globe's Joan Vennochi notes today, the double standard that Geithner is benefitting from might not just be about party.