On a day when President Barack Obama wanted to discuss the economy, his comments about the MTV Music Video Awards are dominating the blogosphere.

During an interview for CNBC, Obama called rapper Kayne West a jackass for his behavior during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Too bad the comment was supposed to be off the record.

According to  Huffington Post, ABC news reporter Terry Moran, who tweeted the interview, sent this quote to thousands of Twitter users:

There has been no comment from the White House. The Politico reports that ABC has issued a statement apologizing for the tweet.

Perhaps the funniest part of Rush Limbaugh’s challenge to debate President Barack Obama is the notion that the president would somehow fuel the loquacious shock jock’s ego by uttering a reply. Granted, Limbaugh, who describes himself as a “harmless, lovable little fuzz ball,” has thrust himself into the national spotlight as the bona fide standard bearer of the conservative movement, and his recent goading of Obama has elevated him even above the stature of official Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele. Read the rest.

Lincoln led votes, Bush among worst in history. At least by Britain’s standards, Abraham Lincoln, President Barack Obama’s political mentor, is the greatest American president ever. The Times, a U.K. paper, released a President’s Day weekend poll showing that Bill Clinton was viewed as just mediocre, while John F. Kennedy missed the top 10 by one position. Lincoln, due to his holding together of the Union during Civil War times, was given top props. Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush, on the other hand, landed in the bottom 10 among Times staff vote results. Ronald Reagan, whose policies largely devastated Black America in the 1980s, also wound up near the bottom of the list.

Obama plans address for northern neighbors. President Barack Obama will cross the border this week to address America’s northern neighbor. On Thursday, the commander-in-chief will make his first appearance before Canadian government officials since his election to the White House. Among topics he’s expected to discuss are the American and international economy, and the military deployment in Afghanistan. Canadians, like many around the globe, have received Obama’s leadership with warm, positive words and receptive political gestures.

 Three in four Americans believe that President-elect Barack Obama is making strong, thoughtful decisions as he prepares to take over as the nation’s 44th commander in chief, a new poll shows. When George W. Bush took the helm of power in 2001, six in 10 Americans saw him as a strong and decisive leader. Obama’s strongest suit, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey, is his ability to inspire and his apparent honesty. “That’s the best number an incoming president has gotten on that dimension since Ronald Reagan took office in 1981,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. Read more here.

Bush snatches back a pardon. With the potential of a scandal to mark one of his last official acts as commander in chief, President Bush has yanked back a pardon he awarded to a man accused of steering poor and minority people toward overpriced mortgages and loans with hidden costs. Isaac Toussie, one of 19 people that Bush pardoned on Tuesday, had been convicted of mail fraud and making false statements to the Housing and Urban Development Department. In the rare presidential revocation of a pardon, White House press secretary Dana Perino said that Bush made his decision “based on information that has subsequently come to light.” Turns out that Toussie’s father donated $28,500 to the Republican Party, just before his son petitioned the White House for the pardon. Read the rest here.

World Lens: Jaden Smith promotes his new movie in Tokyo; The Game hits the stage in London. See pics.

 
Guinea coup leader declares himself president. Not too long after the death of longtime President Lansana Conte, the leader of a military junta that subsequently took over the government, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, declared himself president of the country’s National Council for Democracy, reports CNN. The move, in effect, makes him the president of Guinea. Camara also instituted a curfew from 8 p.m. until 6:30 a.m for citizens, during the announcement made on the radio. He also suspended the government, constitution, political parties and unions, according to African journalist reports CNN. The nation’s Parliament currently is negotiating with the military, according to Africa News reporter Mamdo Dian Donghol Diallo. Despite the changes, the country seems calm, he says. “For the time being the situation is calm and negotiations are underway. There is no traffic. Everyone is staying inside their homes.” But international groups, like the African Union, have come out against the coup.

Bush says he was a good civil rights president. President Bush says America shouldn’t forget about his contributions to civil rights. While acknowledging that Sen. Barack Obama’s election portends a “very hopeful moment for race relations,” the president pointed to such programs as No Child Left Behind education law, which he called “a piece of civil rights legislation” and his push to overhaul Social Security, saying it was aimed at giving Blacks a greater stake in the nation’s future. Read what else he had to say here.

Some Black lawmakers are unhappy with Obama’s cabinet picks. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have not publicly expressed it but The Hill.com is reporting that some Black lawmakers are disappointed with President-elect Obama’s picks for his cabinet and the way he went about it. “People I’ve talked to have expressed that they were hoping to have seen a few more African-Americans in place, and in places where you can pinpoint needs,” Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill) said. He pointed to a notable absence of Black nominations to positions that specifically deal with policy on urban problems like education, housing, labor and improvement of cities. Another aide, speaking anonymously, said CBC members are not questioning the qualifications of Obama’s nominees but they expected two things: “a better consultation and communication process and, at the end of the day, more blacks in the Cabinet,” reports the Hill.com. Only one member of the CBC, Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), has released a statement commending Obama on his nominations. She praised the President-elect for picking Steven Chu, an Asian American, to head the Energy Department. So far, Obama has selected four African Americans to his cabinet.

Prison protest ends in Ivory Coast. Police in the Ivory Coast have shut down a huge protest in the nation’s main prison, according to prison authorities. The ruckus began when prisoners in two blocks decided to revolt, prompting officials to call police. About 100 police officers fired guns into the air in an effort to break up the crowds of inmates, some of whom were throwing rocks at security guards. The prisoners protesting were some of the facility’s most dangerous inmates, according to the prison’s director. Police restored calm in the area around the prison after several hours. Six prisoners were injured as a result. The reason for the protest is in dispute. Officials say it was because the inmates were angry about a change in visiting hours implemented to prevent escapes. But rights groups say they were protesting overcrowding and poor conditions, reports the BBC. “You know that this place is overpopulated. The prison is around three or four times the maximum capacity, so the conditions for the prison guards and the prisoners themselves are quite difficult,” Drissa Traore, who heads the Ivorian Movement for Human Rights, told the news service. And, according to the BBC, 2,000 out of the 5,200 inmates in the prison have not been tried for the crimes for which they are incarcerated. Some have waited 10 years to be tried.

Somalia’s president axes prime minister. Somalia’s President Abdullahi Yusuf says he fired the country’s prime minister because he didn’t do his job, reports CNN. But the former prime minister, Hassan Hussein, says he has no right to fire him without the approval of Parliament. Hussein, who has just been on the job for 13 months, has reportedly butted heads with Yusuf over a proposed reconciliation agreement with the Islamic opposition. According to the nation’s constitution, the president would need the Parliament’s no-confidence vote to get rid of Hussein. Fighting in the nation between Islamic militias and government forces (with the support of Ethiopian troops) has forced more than 1 million Somalis from their homes. The waters aren’t safe either, with international ships continuously being hijacked by Somali pirates. Since Ethiopian forces pushed Islamist forces out of the nation’s capital, Mogadishu, in 2006, the country has been operating under a U.N.-sponsored transitional government.

No administrative post is planned for McCain. President-elect Barack Obama and his former rival, Republican Sen. John McCain, met Monday in a 40-minute session at Obama’s transition headquarters in Chicago and discussed where they could work together to better America, according to press reports. Read the rest here.

President Bush welcomes the Obamas to the White House. President Bush on Wednesday hailed the election of Barack Obama as the next U.S. president as “a triumph of the American story” and acknowledged the significance of Obama’s rise to become the nation’s first Black president.  He said watching Obama walk through the doors of the White House “will be a stirring sight” but welcomed the first couple to visit prior to Obama’s January inauguration.  Obama’s election is “a testament to hard work, optimism and a faith in the enduring promise of our nation,” Bush said in a White House Rose Garden briefing on Wednesday. “No matter how they cast their ballots, all Americans can be proud of the history that was made yesterday.” Bush’s second term in the Oval Office will end when Obama is sworn in on Jan. 20.