Yes, it was fun to read that column by Goldman Sachs apostate Greg Smith, even though most of what he had to say about his former employer had already been reported in one form or another by Matt Taibbi, who years ago famously described Goldman as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”

And I’m not especially impressed by Smith’s self-serving act of contrition — although he gets points for revealing that some of his colleagues in the sales and trading department at Goldman referred to their easily manipulated clients as “muppets” — or by the predictable counterattack against him by Goldman and its allies at places such as The Wall Street Journal.

From ThinkProgress:

…Goldman has been quick to push back on Smith’s claims, portraying him as just a disgruntled employee. Some employees told Fox Business’ Charlie Gasparino that Smith doesn’t know what he’s talking about because he “never made more than $750,000 a year.”

And of course, the financial press has begun reporting anonymous attacks on Smith, quoting “people familiar with the matter” saying that Smith was angry with the size of his bonus and his lack of promotion…”

There you are. You can tell the guy is a loser because he never made more than $750,000 a year and because he only got a “small bonus.” I wonder what “small” means in that racket?

Update: Goldman continues to respond to Smith’s confessional op-ed with its usual arrogance, although its shares dropped 3.4 percent in New York trading on Wednesday.