Poshlost in High Places: Simmons on the Board

Kudos to Felix Salmon for getting my blood pressure up out of the midwinter doldrums with his account of Ruth Simmons and her role on the board of Goldman, Sachs. Felix quotes:

Simmons said she originally joined Goldman’s board at the recommendation of ... [the] Board of Trustees [at Smith College, where she was president; she has since moved on to Brown] around the time that she started a center for financial literacy on campus.

“We had a big push to think about how we could improve the knowledge and ability of women to manage their financial affairs,” she said. “At the same time, there was a good deal of interest in the fact that women have not done so well in the financial sector and on Wall Street.” ...

Simmons said her service on Goldman’s board gave her the economic savvy to take certain risks that she might not have taken otherwise, such as the introduction of need-blind admissions.

"Hardly instills in me the confidence," says Felix with heroic restraint. A better response might be: my God, has this woman no shame? Or at least, no press agent? The poisonous cocktail of self-satisfied ignorance reaches at least a 7.5 on the 10-point Sarah Palin scale. She seems to take it as her due that she's been handed a side entertainment like this one--for which by her own avowal she has absolutely no qualifications--along with catered lunches and a quarterly check. She doesn't betray the least glimmer of recognition that she holds one of the (potentially) most important and powerful positions in American finance, with all its attendant responsibilities.

Moreover, she doesn't seem to have a clue that they are making a fool of her. If I were a Goldman executive, I'd be snorting bonus champagne through the nostrils as I reflect on how completely she's been spun and played.