Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), whether you love it or loath it, conjures up some powerful emotions. Some people have demonized the firm, especially in Congress, in a bid to aid their cause of financial reform. Far-reaching reform is often impossible without a villain motivating politicians and generating grass-roots level support. Others have used the firm to demonize their foes.

Meg Whitman, gubernatorial candidate in California, has been tainted for her associations with the company. But a commentary in the New York Times notes rightly: "Despite the political haymaking, the truth is that Goldman Sachs did nothing differently in the years leading up to the crisis than did other firms of its stature. Nothing has come to light in any of the very public recent assaults on the firm that also could not be discovered by looking through millions of documents at every other Wall Street firm with large trading and capital-markets businesses."

That may be true. The commentator argues that it's time to lay off Goldman. The best way to do this perhaps is to expose similar practices at other firms. So far we've seen little from the prosecutors on this. I still maintain that some sort of global settlement is in the works that will involve the top firms, including Goldman. Most likely, that will have to wait until the Goldman Sachs matter with the SEC is cleared up.

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