It wasn't long ago that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was concerned about how he would be portrayed in The Social Network - and with good reason. As John Nolte observed, "there's no doubt that this look at how the creation of a cultural phenomenon left behind a wake of betrayals, broken relationships and billion-dollar lawsuits is an absolutely fascinating one."
That fear has apparently passed, as Zuckerberg has latched onto another cultural phenomenon - Barack Obama - who is also well known for betrayals, broken relationships, and expensive lawsuits. The President and Zuckerberg will sit down for a Facebook townhall (minus the bitter clingers) on April 20th as a springboard for big money San Fransisco fundraisers.
We're honored that President Obama will be visiting headquarters later this month and will be using the Facebook platform to communicate with an international audience," said Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman...
After his Facebook event, Obama will move on to three fundraisers in San Francisco. In addition to the April 20 dinner hosted by [Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff] and his wife, Lynne, some Bay Area Democrats received invitations this week for "a vibrant reception" at the Nob Hill Masonic Center that same afternoon, with prices ranging from $250 to $10,000 a person, and a breakfast the next morning.
It becomes hard to deflect allegations of narcissism when you're rolling out the red carpet for the guy who believes his election was the moment the planet began to heal. Those European allies who were counting on a missile defense shield know about betrayals. Matt Damon's "disappointed" heart can attest to broken relationships. And any lawyer, federal judge, or Constitution-carrying Teaparty activist can tell you the Obamacare Mandate is going to be an issue in the courts for some time to come. With over 600 million users and counting, Mark Zuckerberg should have already known this (there are a lot of angry Facebook status updates he has access to).
Why then, do tech-savvy Silicon Valley types support liberal politicians? Entrepreneurs, investors, and small business risk takers are rewarded by the free market while being told "at some point I think you've made enough money" by sitting presidents—yet they continue to support the same ideology that demonizes them. The conservative believes Mark Zuckerberg knows how best to invest Mark Zuckerberg's money. Mark Zuckerberg bizarrely intimates that the government knows how to best invest Mark Zuckerberg's money!
A Democratic Party activist attributes the good will in part to Bill Clinton, who "is really the one that tilled this soil in Silicon Valley before anyone else, and it proved to be very beneficial..." Tilling and seeding metaphors are sadly appropriate for the former president, but those in the know will tell you that the tech sector owes much more to Ronald Reagan than to any advocate of liberal public policy.
Putting aside the social network CEO's motivations, the question remains: what kind of questions will the forum permit? As of now there are "tens of thousands" of them. It shouldn't be hard to find a few that will force the president to refrain from soaring vagueness and respond straightforwardly. If that doesn't happen, Facebook news feeds will let us know about it. And for that, at least, we can thank Mark Zuckerberg.
