Despite the Obama administration’s various bailout plans people are still struggling, and there is the strong things may remain this way for longer than predicted. So who’s fault is this? President Obama, has apparently pinpointed his own culprit: the media.

During tomorrow’s prime time address Barack Obama will announce his new strategy for Afghanistan. An event that, among other things, pretty much guarantees a change in the narrative. The narrative for the last little while has been what is Obama doing? Answer: not much. The narrative was so strong SNL even turned it into a skit. There are early signs however this may be about to change.

President Obama sometimes doesn’t have a lot of luck when it comes to timing. Once again a major Obama initiative (China) has been seemingly trumped by spectacle (Palin). Moreover, the White House apparently feels that the coverage they did get Stateside was ‘asinine.’

Whether it was in front of Congress or screaming 20-something year olds at the Video Music Awards, if we’ve learned anything this year…it’s that interruptions are the way to get things done. We wonder if the new viral video of an interruption of a very different sort will help propel gay marriage?

So it’s the day before Halloween, and you don’t have a costume. What to do? Fortunately, Mediaite has come up with some costume suggestions for you. Pulled straight from the headlines, these are guaranteed to be hits:

As online writing becomes increasingly a part of the mainstream dialogue in America, “blogger” is no longer a dirty word. Some of the best writers of our time operate exclusively on the internet, but some of the most talented still work under the radar. In this in-depth, magazine-length feature, Mediaite has assembled a list of 25 of the best underappreciated bloggers and explained why they matter.

The hits just keep on coming. The Republican National Committee flubbed the roll out of their new web identity in glorious, grand ole, fashion on their own yesterday. Today the dark underbelly of the internet decided to help them finish the job. What’s a conservative to do? Twenty-four hours into the life of the RNC’s new website and parodies of the Faces of GOP web banner are circulating on the internet. Some are apt, some are funny and naturally, most are offensive.

The same week that Saturday Night Live skewers President Barack Obama for accomplishing absolutely nothing, he has won the Nobel Peace Prize? Spin this: President Obama was 11 days into his presidency when nominations closed for the Peace Prize. What exactly was he nominated for? Forget Jimmy Carter waiting over two decades for his – One could argue that George W. Bush should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize, since he literally may have done more for world peace by leaving office than Obama did by entering it.

David Letterman’s public apology Monday night for bad behavior is merely the latest in a long list of famous public apologies. Letterman joins a group of mea culpa-ers that includes a whole lot of politicians — Clinton, McGreevey, Sanford, Spitzer — and one or two jackass entertainers. After the jump, Mediaite’s top ten list of public apologies.

Did President Obama’s Sunday media blitz make a difference? It’s hard to tell, though the headlines would suggest that the takeaway thus far seems to be split between issues of race and Obama’s ability to manage the media. So what if anything did this uber media savvy President have to say about the press is spends so much of his time courting? Mostly that the media loves rude. And he said it a lot.

Considering President Obama is doing five Sunday shows this week, plus Letterman on Monday, it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that the press appears to be ready to dust off and cart out the “Obama media saturation” meme. But will overexposure be to blame if Obama can’t change the health care debate this weekend?

TMZ has posted the audio of President Obama referring to Kanye West as a “jackass.” It’s an interesting listen for a number of reasons, not the least of which is whether it was clear to everyone that the remark was of the record. Moreover, it leaves one wondering whether the whole episode will actually work out in Obama’s favor?

President Obama had an outburst last night! Sort of. Alas, it was less Kanye-style than actually about Kanye West — the President was quoted on Twitter referring to him as a “jackass” — but it’s still a headline dominator this morning. Also, it was supposed to be off the record. However, thanks to the beauty of Twitter we all get to enjoy the unedited Obama. But will this mark the end of unedited Twittering for jounos everywhere?

After reading Steve Krakauer’s account of Kanye West’s outburst at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards, along with some priceless celebrity reactions, I was on Twitter when this tweet caught my eye. Hip-hop writer and “Media Assassin” Harry Allen, re-tweeting another tweep named Lemekh, had this to say:

Jay Leno appeared last night on NBC’s Football Night in America broadcast to tease his premiere tonight, which you already know about unless you’ve been hiding in Osama bin Laden‘s cave for the last three months.

“We also have an interview with President Barack Obama, we’re working on that, you might see that tomorrow night,” said Leno. The premiere tonight at 10pm will be huge – but it sounds like Leno was jumping the gun.

President Obama just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to holding the nation’s attention with details of his health care plan. Perhaps the President should embrace an ‘if you can’t beat’em, join’em’ mentality and stage his own outburst. It may be a good last resort before all is lost. Consider this.

This week was full of shout-outs, mostly of the incongruous, impolite variety. First Joe Wilson at the Obama’s joint-session health care talk. Then Kanye West at last night’s Video Music Awards. And somewhere in the middle, Serena Williams did a little shouting-out of her own. In this video, Kanye and Wilson collide.

It makes sense that everyone is talking about last night’s MTV Video Music Awards for reasons other than the actual videos. This is MTV in 2009, and videos are low on the priority list.

Instead, people are talking about the performances – Janet Jackson tribute to her brother, Lady Gaga‘s bloody fantasy sequence. But mainly, it’s how Kanye West was even more of an ass than usual.

Did you know Kanye West said he wants to be known as the “New King of Pop,” now that Michael Jackson died?

Well you may have heard it, but Kanye definitely didn’t say it. And now he’s responding. So what happened?