Must-Read: WSJ's 50 Women to Watch

Wall Street Journal's "50 Women to Watch" might be a product of the promo/marketing department, but it is still fun to read, and to deconstruct. Start with the title: "Women to Watch" commits them to nothing, so they can scarcely be wrong. Hey, I mean Blanch Figworthy who forgets to close her shower curtain--isn't she, too, a woman to watch?

But when it comes to nitpicking, I yield to the temptation. Start with Number 1, Sheila Bair, the president of the FDIC. A power player and surely deserving of a place on the list, but is she really a bigger deal than Number 4, Hu Xiaolian, who manages China's foreign exchange, or Number 7, Ho Lang, who runs a $134 billion portfolio at Singapore's state-owned investment firm? And does Laura Tyson really deserve her spot at Number 10, or is the Journal simply buying an ojut-of-the-money call option on her future with the Obama Administration?

I must say I am impressed at the number of presidents,. chairmen (sic) or CEOs of public companies: Nos. 2, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20 and then I stopped counting. Keep on like this and someday we will have to stop talking about a gl*ss c**l*ng in corporate board rooms.

The photos are mostly can-do resume types (numbers 2, 10, 12, 25 and 46 even wear glasses frevvins sake). Still, I suppose it is no surprise that we get a bit of the seductress from No. 28, Mary Parent--she is, after all, chairman of MGM (apparently you can blame her for "Meet the Fockers"). And No. 44, Emma Marcegaglia of Confindustria, Italy, sports a hairdo even Sylvio Berlusconi could love.

It would be fascinating to know more about the career paths of any of these women. A few seem to have been born into it (Emma Marcegaglia, for example); a few got there by marriage (Melinda Gates). Many or most seem to have had powerful and influential mentors (this would be true of a comparable list of men also, of course)--No. 1, Sheila Bair, seems to have developed her political skills under the wing of Bob Dole.

I yield to once piece of unambiguous snark about No. 50, Joanne Smith, Senior Vice-President of In-Flight Service and Global Product Development at Delta Airlines. Doesn't that translate into "chief flight attendant?" Anyway, blame her for the "Mile High Mojito;" perhaps you can enjoy it while watching "Meet the Fockers."