The Washington Post's Matt Miller says the "Goldman schadenfreude that began erupting with news of the SEC's fraud suit Friday has become as large a force, in its own way, as the volcanic ash over Europe" and that he himself is not immune to it:

"I can't wait to open the papers or troll online to see what fresh shoe has dropped. Gordon Brown says Goldman seems 'morally bankrupt'? More fraud charges on Wall Street look imminent? Some days it's just good to be alive!"

Suzy Welch, business and economic issues contributor for ABC News, also focussed on the public anger the profit could incite. She told Good Morning America that Goldman Sachs' reputation was at stake.

"What makes people mad in the first place is Goldman makes so much money. Could it get more outrageous?"

Mike Lux writing in the Huffington Post also comments on the growing momentum to "do something real to take on the big banks on Wall Street". He says that people are taking to the streets.

"We have to keep the pressure on these bank behemoths in many different ways. The SEC action against Goldman Sachs is very encouraging, but we have to keep pushing both the SEC and the Department of Justice to be very aggressive in taking on what prosecutors call control fraud: fraud that emanates from the top executives who control these companies."

Tim Fernholz in The American Prospect put himself in the bank's shoes for a moment. Listening in to Goldman Sach's quarterly earnings call, Mr Fernholz noticed an analyst complaining that Goldman wasn't making enough money.

"It's just a little taste of the kind of pressure Wall Street firms are under to turn high profits and the pernicious incentives such a system creates."

ABC News' Ann Compton reports that the bank is under such pressure it has reached into the ranks of the Obama White House alumni "for some political protection".

"Former White House counsel Greg Craig has been hired to advise the Wall Street giant after it was charged by the government last Friday with fraud and misleading its own investors."

She says that while federal ethics rules prohibit lobbying, Mr Craig may be in the clear as long he does not contact the White House.

Eamon Javers and Mike Allen in Politico also comment on what they call the unlikely ally Goldman Sachs has hired to launch "an aggressive response to its political and legal challenges".

"Whatever the reason for his hiring, Craig will presumably be a key player in the intricate counterattack Goldman Sachs officials in Washington and Manhattan improvised during the weekend - a plan that took clearer shape Monday as Britain and Germany announced that they might conduct their own investigations of the firm."

Links in full

• Washington Post | My Goldman Sachs confession
• Suzy Welch | Independent | $3.5B Profit Amid SEC's Fraud Charges
• Huffington Post | The big mo'
• Tim Fernholz | American Prospect | Goldman Isn't Taking Enough Risk
• abc News | Former WH Counsel Greg Craig Signs on With Goldman Sachs
• Politico | Goldman Sachs taps ex-White House counsel

Rick Cerrone, senior director of media relations for the New York Yankees baseball team from 1996 to 2006, called the statement "a disaster" on CNN.

"It was a PR disaster. It will be shown in colleges in the future as an example of how not to do it... He got angry. This was not the way to handle it... I really believe this was an embarrassing performance."

Journalist Karen Hunter speaking on MSNBC thinks Tiger Woods acquitted himself well.

"Tiger is going to nail it, because that's what he does. He stood up there on his own. He did what he was supposed to do. Can we move on now?"

Writing in the New York Times, Liz Robbins judged Woods' delivery to be "measured and perfectly controlled", which "belied his reckless behavior".

Paul Farhi live-blogging on the Washington Post website was surprised by Tiger Woods' mention of his religious beliefs:

"Wow. Buddhism! Playing the religion card... Has he EVER talked about Buddhism before? Don't recall it."

Liz Kelly, celebrity columnist for the Washington Post, was equally surprised by that part of the statement:

"Tiger's talking about Buddhism now. Didn't see that coming."

Speaking on CNN, Jim Gorant, who writes about golf for Sports Illustrated, said the statement was a "good first step".

"Tiger is all about control. When this was set up, there was a sense of that, and some people were angry about that. But parts of what he said were sincere. He said flat out here 'I had affairs, I cheated', so that's a step forward."

But Midwin Charles, a legal contributor to In Session (formerly Court TV), who was appearing on the same CNN programme, disagreed with Mr Gorant. She thought it was a "misstep" by Tiger Woods to attack the media:

"He brought this attention on himself by going out there and having those affairs. Get over it!"

Links in full

Liz Robbins | New York Times | Apologizing, Woods sets no date for return
Paul Farhi & Liz Kelly | Washington Post | Tiger Woods apology: Live-blogging the event