With Obama's inauguration, Google sworn in as political force
WASHINGTON -- Google threw a post-inauguration party in the nation's capital Tuesday night. It had much to celebrate about Barack Obama becoming president.
As we describe in this front-page story, Google employees, including Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, threw their support behind Obama early in the campaign and now stand poised to push their agenda, which includes boosting Internet access and pushing for network neutrality. Obama's election helped make Google, which hired its first Washington employee less than three years ago, into a power player.
Given the pomp and circumstance of Inauguration Day, the Internet giant's coming out soiree at the grand Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium was an unusual hybrid of geek and glam (heavy on the geek).
Partygoers, one sporting a denim ball gown, live-blogged, Twittered and Facebooked the night away to '80s grooves.
A game room featured Guitar Hero and Wii. A white board was scrawled with requests for the incoming administration: "Launch more satellites," "educate the poor," "keep the Internet open, innovative and free." Hors d'oeuvres included hamburger shooters and pigs in a blanket.
The guest list was as eclectic as it was high-powered: Hollywood stars Ben Affleck, John Cusack and Jessica Alba; Obama transition team members Jon Favreau and John Podesta; Obama new-media guru and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes; and Craigslist's Craig Newmark (sans tuxedo, natch). Media superstars also made an appearance, including CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Asked why he decided to attend, former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris, who has replaced Obama in the U.S. Senate, said: "They invited me."
Observers say Google and Schmidt appear sincere in their support of the new administration, which shares many of their views. But Matthew Cooper, contributing editor of Portfolio, said that Google had no choice but to reinforce its presence in Washington with such a big splash. It has weighty policy issues that it cannot ignore, particularly after a near-disastrous run-in with the Department of Justice, which was ready to sue Google on antitrust grounds until the company abandoned its search-ad partnership with Yahoo. "There is a regulatory environment that Google has to deal with," Cooper said.
Google is already making a favorable impression on at least one lawmaker. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) praised the company, saying it has a more "charitable attitude and a willingness to compete" than many.
-- Jessica Guynn
Photo: President Obama in this October file photo is reflected in the teleprompter as he speaks at an economic summit in Florida. Pictured, from left, are Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado. Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press
Google caves to the communist censors in China intent on preserving their authoritarian power over those millions, then it helps foist this inexperienced President with a socialist agenda on us? Sen. Schumer may praise you but Google be not proud.
Posted by: jack baker | January 24, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Why don't you use Facebook Connect for authentication? I don't want to give you my name and email address.
Posted by: | January 25, 2009 at 02:14 AM
How many more Google layoffs will this cost the company?
Posted by: kallardnyc | January 25, 2009 at 05:39 AM
It's unfortunate Google has "OBAMAMANIA" . He's the president not a goofy hollywood celebrity. I will avoid using Google from now on. I've lost all respect for you.
Posted by: Luane Conn | January 25, 2009 at 10:33 AM
i wonder whether Obama will decide upon the logos and text on the american currency ? As the logo is a sacred sign of the illuminati and the words "novus ordo seclorum" actually mean "new secular order" (secular meaning nonreligious) not "new order of ages". How ironic to have such a statement besides the words "in god we trust".
Posted by: Angel | January 25, 2009 at 03:22 PM
My family and I have been long time users of Google, and feel that you have the best search engine out there, hence the reason Google is our homepage. However, I was so very disappointed to find this article. I now realize where you stand on some issues, in particular the support of President Obama, whom I feel does not have an a true heart toward America, nor patriotism of our country. I will have to seriously consider whether or not to use Google anymore, and feel the need to let family and friends know where you stand as well. Our country is not what it used to be, and is now the land of the not so free. Very disheartening Google.
Posted by: Lillie | January 25, 2009 at 09:01 PM
jack baker:
-re censorship, to not abide by the laws of the country in which you operate (China) means that you cannot operate there lawfully. while i disagree with the chinese government's censorship, google can either take a stand on the issue and not conduct business there, or they can respect the obligations they have to their shareholders and conduct business there. it's a simple logical business decision.
- re 'inexperienced president', how many presidents have had experience being a president before they were elected? uh? what?
Posted by: takeitback jack | January 26, 2009 at 12:09 AM
i'm not quite sure why people feel the need to post that they'll stop using google because of their support for obama. do you really think they care? just as many will start using google more often for this very same reason. win some, lose some. oh well... it's a wash.
Posted by: birdy | January 26, 2009 at 09:43 AM
"Our country is not what it used to be, and is now the land of the not so free"
It most certainly is not so free after the passing of the Patriot Act. The patriot act has allowed ordinary people who may only be related to someone who may be guilty of a crime to be ripped out of their homes in the middle of the night never to be heard from or seen again. These have been American citizens. These have been families seeking political asylum here legally. One family was snatched in the middle of the night, flown back to their home country, and butchered right on the runway because the u.s. had phoned ahead to let them know of their return. and this is just one story.
Yeah.. you don't hear of this stuff on the news. We harp on China about their censorship but we are by far some of the most ignorant people disillusioned and distracted by sports and desperate housewives-- cleverly censored by our news outlets. The news is owned by large corporations and we all know the relationship between corporations and politicians. This kind of stuff will simply not make the 10 o'clock news.
I wouldn't blame google or its workers for supporting obama. as they own the largest video sharing sites, google video and youtube, they see first hand the atrocities carried out by thugs abroad and our own gov't. yeah.. people take video of everything,.. "people" being our own military members and blackwater workers who upload all of it to the internet. you can't even imagine the stuff they see but it's all stuff they can't allowon their site and certainly not the stuff you'll see on the news or ever hear about unless you actually take two seconds out of your day to read something other than american news that has been grossly filtered.
I'm sure uneducated, ignorant fools don't see a problem with sacrificing civil liberties for "security" but those of us who have read a book or two, know how that story ends.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" Benjamin Franklin
Posted by: birdy | January 26, 2009 at 10:22 AM
lol at those attempting to boycott google
Posted by: Jon | January 26, 2009 at 06:25 PM