Hey, pay no attention to the fact that the United States can’t raise enough money for an exhibit at the 2010 World’s Fair in Shanghai! So what if Pepsi invested so much money into their new “Refresh Everything” inauguration tie-in that they can’t contribute a dime to anything else? It’s not their fault that developers Nick Winslow and Ellen Eliasoph have only raised $500,000 of the 84 million needed, we done elected a black man! And, not just any black man, no sirree Bobby! We done elected a “celebritician!” He be cool. Everybody says so. It’s only natural that big companies would put their money in his inauguration in these tough economic times, it’s the only place left where just about anybody can expect a return on their investment.
Take Google, for instance. Like a lot of San Francisco based companies, Google execs have been positively philanthropic.
Mountain View’s Google is home to the biggest block of Bay Area donations. Six executives, including CEO Eric Schmidt, co-founder Larry Page and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, made individual contributions of $25,000 each, for a total of $150,000.
Schmidt has been a particularly big Obama booster, serving as an adviser during the late stages of the campaign. Meanwhile, Google has been trying to be more of a political player in Washington to advance its interests against competitors like Microsoft and AT&T, which have had large Washington lobbying operations for years.
Okay, maybe not exactly philanthropic, but damned generous, huh? And when that “net neutrality” thingy comes up, they gon’ wanna be playas, fuh shizzle:
To welcome the new president, Google is going so far as to plan an invitation-only ball on Jan. 20 in Washington. The event is being hosted with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
But, don’t get it twisted; ain’t nobody trippin’ ’bout no free tickets that folks be get’in’ fuh donating big bank, or nut’in’ like that, word.
Chris Sacca, a former Google manager who is now an angel investor and who contributed $50,000 to Obama’s inauguration, said he is excited about attending the events. He said he made the donation because of his support for Obama, on whose campaign he served as a volunteer speaker, technology adviser and organizer in Nevada.
“I don’t get anything out of it,” Sacca said. “I invest with early stage companies that don’t have policy problems. I don’t have anything on my lobbying agenda.”
In addition to his donation, Sacca raised $300,000 from others, making him what’s known as a bundler. Getting people to write checks, he said, was easier than he imagined considering none of them are promised even a handshake from the president-elect or his wife.
Okay, enough with the Ebonics, something about the Bay Area always brings that out in me; even though, all things considered, that might not be a good idea. Anyway, the very most important thing of all, for all Americans, black, white, or in between, is that we have a cool, black “polebrity” president to save us, shout Hallelujah! And, knowing how important, and momentous, inspiring, and just plain groovy this whole superlicious thing is, it’s not surprising that so many greedy compassionate companies would be so willing to do so much to cash in on do everything imaginable to make this cool celebrity politician’s coming presidential term for life, a rip roaring, rousing success. Chris Matthews must be so proud. Oh, and the picture up top is from the Iowa caucuses.
Obama Obama Obama
Hey, pay no attention to the fact that the United States 
