From FoxNews.com: Once again, President Barack Obama’s campaign promises and statements about “changing Washington” have come back to haunt him. The young, vibrant candidate who stole Iowa from Hillary and took the presidency by storm with exclamations of “hope” and “Yes We Can”s is now in the hot seat and realizing that revamping a centuries-old system is not as easy as winning an election. Continue reading at FoxNews.com …

FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST: President Obama is nearing the end of his "First 100 Days." While important policy decisions, both foreign and domestic, are at hand, the president and his team must also think hard and be cautious of what kind of "personality" the White House will be perceived to have by everyone watching. Every decision Obama makes has the capacity to make him look strong, weak, timid, hawkish, radical, compromising, and the list goes on. In addition, in 2009, which he has forecasted to be a "difficult year," it is more than likely that he will be called all of those things, but will have to stay focused and strong in his decision-making.

Continue reading Kim's opinion of President Obama's decision-making at HuffingtonPost.com.

By Rya Backer

President Barack Obama had an online town-hall meeting today, during which a wealth of causes and dilemmas alike were discussed, namely many of the issues that had been discussed during Tuesday’s televised press conference. However, what made the event unique was that anyone was welcome to ask a question — a liberty that prompted over 100,000 submissions. It was an accomplishment that didn't go unnoticed by the commander in chief, as he stated, "When I was running for president, I promised to open the White House for the American people. This is an important step toward achieving that goal."

We tuned in and, honestly, it seems like a good amount of our fellow Americans would rather, uh, tune out. Regarding people's suggestions to bolster our terrible economy, Obama explained:

"We took votes about which questions were gonna be asked, and I think 3.5 million people voted. I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high, and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation ... and I don't know what this says about the online audience, but ... this was a fairly popular question. We wanted to make sure it was answered. The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy."

Sorry, guys. Guess you'll have to wait around for President Snoop Dogg for that sort of economic improvement and job-creation strategy. Until then, keep buying Funyuns and playing Wii!

President Barack Obama's appearance on "The Tonight Show" Thursday was memorable for many reasons, including the way he compared life in Washington, D.C. to being on "American Idol" -- with everyone being Simon!

LENO: Now it's only [been], what, 59 days now, right?

MR. OBAMA: Yes, 59 days.

MR. LENO: And so much scrutiny. Is it fair to judge so quickly? I mean --

MR. OBAMA: Well, look, we are going through a difficult time. I welcome the challenge. You know, I ran for president because I thought we needed big changes. I do think in Washington it's a little bit like "American Idol," except everybody is Simon Cowell.

MR. LENO: Wow. Wow. That's rough.

MR. OBAMA: Everybody's got an opinion. But that's part of what makes for a democracy. You know, it's contentious and people are hitting back. I do think, though, that the American people are all in a place where they understand it took us a while to get into this mess, it's going to take a while for us to get out of it. And if they have confidence that I'm making steps to deal with issues like health care and energy and education, that matter deeply to their daily lives, then I think they're going to give us some time.

What do you think? Is America giving the Obama administration a fair shake? Should we be more Paula than Simon? Sound off below!

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

During his address to Congress last night, President Barack Obama focused on the state of the economy, bringing a young and energetic voice to an otherwise grim situation. While he came off stern and concerned, the president offered uplifting statements as well, saying, "We will rebuild," and arguing the potential success of the $787 billion stimulus package, which has gone from a bill to a reality in recent weeks.

Any overarching presidential speech of this decade would be remiss if it didn't include a plan for Iraq, Afghanistan and our troops. Beyond the overwhelming youth involvement and enthusiasm, there are a few things that stuck out as major promises in President Obama's campaign, like the planned 16-month troop pullout from Iraq. Democrats and young people across the nation applauded Obama for his plan, which was in strict opposition to that of former President Bush and, of course, opponent John McCain.

So when Obama gave the time frame of 19 months last night in his speech, there were a few furrowed brows. While the campaign promised 16 months, apparently the Pentagon and military officials argued for 23 months — and so, through a "meeting of the minds," as Obama called it, they arrived at a compromise of 19 months. Compromise? In Washington? Fresh. And certainly a departure from the more ... didactic and unilateral decision-making of our 43rd president. I think we can forgive the three-month difference in place of the bigger promise kept, which was to bring compromise, and a president who listens to his entire Cabinet before making a fair and balanced decision.
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Last night, while millions of Americans listened intently to Barack Obama's plan for lasting prosperity, I, too, sat transfixed. But not so much by his words, exceptional though they were. Rather, I was fascinated by the situation that's apparently developing on his upper lip.

Now, it might've been due to the HD set I was watching his address to Congress on (BTW, Nancy Pelosi in HD = yikes), or perhaps it was the lighting or the angle, but from where I was sitting, it appeared fairly obvious that President Obama is growing a mustache.

Look closely at the photo of him. Note the shadow on his upper lip — there's definitely something happening there. This is huge! This is historic! The president of the United States is growing a mustache! The ramifications of this will reverberate long after the stimulus package has been spent.

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I had a chance to sit down with another president — Bill Clinton. When I walked into his Harlem office, Bill said, "Hey, man, how are you doing?" It was like we were old pals!

The former commander in chief was in great spirits. He always seems to be in storytelling mode if you can spark his interest. He's very aware, very warm, very jovial and very genuine, all at the same time.

We had actually met before, in 2008 at the MTV/ Clinton Global Initiative event at the Apollo along with Shakira, Alicia Keys, Chris Rock and Bono. This time, the purpose of the interview was to talk about a film that MTV made about "Real World" star Pedro Zamora and his courageous fight to make the world more aware of HIV and AIDS.

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By Garth Bardsley

If you just can't bear to wait any longer for Bono's "Spider-Man" musical — and who can, really? — maybe this will have to do: A small theater in London is currently rehearsing a brand-new show about the man John McCain called "the biggest celebrity in the world."

"Obama on My Mind" will begin performances at the small Hen and Chickens Theatre (yes, that's really what it's called) in London next month, and despite its lack of big-name stars, the creators feel confident it will attract legions of British Barack fans.

"I think Obama, because he's so huge and [because of] the fever around him, I think lots of people are going to come and see it," Tim McArthur, the musical's director, told The Associated Press. The show's U.S.-born creator, Teddy Hayes, describes it as a "humorous romp" that mixes several different types of music, including pop, gospel, jazz, tango and, uh, "some Motownish stuff."
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MTV News on-air correspondent also blogs for The Huffington Post. Check out her latest blog here …

FROM HUFFINGTONPOST.COM: Well, it's been about 15 days since the inauguration, and the "appointing" process has already seen a few slip-ups. They aren't scandals on any grandiose scale, but for a President who spent his campaign focusing on the importance of "ethics" in Washington, they are a bit worrisome. On Tuesday, Tom Daschle became yet another appointee to Obama's cabinet to step down due to misdemeanors and allegations of illegal action. Daschle failed to pay taxes on an expensive limo and driver, and failed to report a hefty $80,000 in consulting income on which he owed taxes. On the same day, Nancy Killefer withdrew her candidacy as chief performance officer due to a "personal tax issue." Recently, Bill Richardson, whom Obama had nominated for Commerce Secretary, stepped down after he was named in an influence-peddling investigation (translation: allegedly, Richardson tried to influence government officials in order to help his own private business pursuits. He maintained his innocence but stepped down anyway.) Sadly, the list goes on. Timothy Geithner, who was confirmed as Treasury Secretary last week, also has a shaky past with the IRS. Furthermore, we all remember Obama rallying against lobbyists who have held or hold government posts - he practically built his campaign around fighting that in order to "clean" Washington. So, when I heard that Obama appointed William Lynn to a high post in the Pentagon, I was perplexed - aren't we talking about the same William Lynn who was a lobbyist from Raytheon, a homeland security firm? And now he's in the Pentagon? Huh.

Obama! What's going on here?

Continue reading Kim's post at huffingonpost.com ...

In a pre-Super Bowl interview with President Obama, Matt Lauer pointed out that the new president was "[taken] out of Us Weekly's cover shot of his wife and daughters in order to make room for last week's hot topic, which was Jessica Simpson's weight.

In reaction, Obama dryly commented on Jessica being "in a weight battle, apparently." As a result, blogs and magazines and talk shows are asking if the president is making fun of Jessica's weight. Really, guys? From watching the video, it seems clear that Obama's dryness is poking fun at media coverage, rather than Jessica's weight.
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