The resignation letter from Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, to Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of A.I.G., has to be one of the most talked about news items of the day.

The letter was published this morning as an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times.

What comes across first is DeSantis’ anger. Anger that no one stood up for him and other employees in the financial products unit who were not responsible for the meltdown. He had nothing to do with the credit default swaps, he says.

And he goes on to defend his receiving a retention payment of $742,006.40 after taxes (which he plans to donate to the needy.) He worked up to 14 hours a day, he says, and was receiving $1 as salary.

I haven’t heard much sympathy for DeSantis today.

Even if you think AIG should have defended its employees, the amounts are too large. The world has changed thanks to the mess created by DeSantis’ co-workers.

My salary is not the same as it was last year. It’s been cut.

The stock market has plummeted.

Why do men like DeSantis think they should still receive large payments? Because they had contracts? What if the company had gone under? What would that contract have been worth? Anything? If AIG kept assuring them that the contracts would be honored, they should direct their anger at AIG.

As Barney Frank keeps saying, the public owns the company now and the public wants those contracts re-negotiated.