Last night, President Barack Obama delivered his much-anticipated address on health care to a joint session of Congress. The President used the speech to attempt to clear up any misunderstandings about his health care reform bill and to get into the details of what the plan would actually accomplish. The results were mixed, as the speech was hampered by tired partisan grandstanding on both sides and an unfortunate heckle care of Joe Wilson, a Representative from South Carolina.
Generally, the decorum was pretty poor for the duration of the speech, which is why it's a shame the President didn't just lift up a commuter bus and start swinging it around, knocking Senators and Representatives around the chamber. Naturally, that's impossible in real life (and almost certainly bad statesmanship), but it's possible in a video game called "Angry Barry." Released back in May and available as a download on the XBox 360 Marketplace, "Angry Barry" lets you take control of a character that looks an awful lot like the current head of state to punch, kick and throw your way through a cavalcade of shady characters. The best part of the highlight video below? It has to be using a live cow as a weapon. Take that, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee! Eat hoof, Sam Brownback of Kansas! And hey, if health care reform can't become a reality, at least we can take out our aggressions on digital enemies (provided we're not so sickly we can't pick up a controller).
The country mourns today for the passing of Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, who died yesterday at the age of 77 after a prolonged battle with cancer. Part of one of American politics' pre-eminent families, Senator Kennedy followed in the footsteps of his fallen brothers John and Bobby, both of whom worked tirelessly to serve their country. The man who was known as "The Liberal Lion of the Senate" served in his elected position for 46 years and was a champion for the rights of young people. He worked to help teachers get fairer pay, got the voting age lowered from 21 to 18, protected women from discrimination in college sports and reached out for the rights of the disabled.
During the march toward the 2000 election, MTV News sent a special correspondent to spend a day with Senator Kennedy to get a sense of what exactly an elected official's day is like hour-to-hour. The reporter — Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznick — sat in on the Senator's meetings, followed him to press conferences and sat down with him for multiple conversations about his current legislative priorities and his basic job description. What he found was a man open to ideas and eager to hear out and embrace the issues of young people. The people who met Kennedy — including Rzeznick — were equally at ease and in awe of him, and ultimately found him open, accessible, personable and proactive. Check out this very special piece of tape from the MTV News archives.
Anticipation continues to build for Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 (which hits the streets in a few short weeks), and a great deal of that excitement surrounds the video for "Run This Town," the latest single from the album. The song features Kanye West and Rihanna, both of whom appear in the video. There is a 30-second preview of "Run This Town" doesn't reveal a ton of details, but it does set the tone. In the clip, Jigga, Kanye and Rihanna are standing in some sort of underground lair, presiding over torch-wielding extras while wearing dark robes and hoods.
The clip is directed by Anthony Mandler (who also directed Jay's video for "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"), and conjures up a number of possible interpretations. Are the trio running New York post-apocalypse? Are the giving instructions to their army or warding off rebels? Are they simply paying tribute to the underground denizens in the 1993 Sylvester Stallone movie "Demolition Man"?
No matter what the interpretation, it's definitely a departure for Jay. His videos are usually hedonistic affairs (think "Big Pimpin'" or "Show Me What You Got"), but this is Hova going as dark as he did in "99 Problems" (where he actually killed himself off at the end). The sci-fi influence may be coming from Rihanna and Kanye, both of whom have been experimenting with darker and futuristic themes in their work. Either way, the song still kills, and when the full video premieres next week, it will instantly be in contention for next year's Video Music Awards. Jigga will have good practice for that show in a few weeks when he performs at the ceremony on September 13.
