What does it mean for "Google itself" to have created Android? The product they acquired was fairly different from what's out there today. To me, this is a good example of a very successful talent acquisition.
But different? I don't think so. The technological foundation of Android (linux for the kernel, small C library and functionality-rich runtime for a custom VM supporting Java-ish programming language) is the same today as it was 5 years ago and is just an evolution of what Sidekick did in 2002. Sure, they made lots of technical progress, added bunch of APIs, polished the UI, changed the business model, but technology is the same, just improved (like you would expect after 5 years).
Rewrites of religion motivated or language motivated don't end up well often. Luckily Google didn't decide to rewrite Android just because some people don't like Java.