Nothing like promising to be interactive and then trying to stage-manage a TV show. A blogger on Americablog, Nick Seaver, says he put in his name to participate in this afternoon's "youth town hall" being put on by MTV, CMT and BET with President Obama, and that he was called back for a second round of "casting" (as he notes, their word, not his). What happened next is sadly reminiscent of past episodes with MTV:

After asking what topics I was personally interested in, they asked what question I'd want to ask President Obama if I were in a room with him. I gave a sample question to give them a sense of where I'd go, but not anything specific (something about the role that federal policy plays in preventing bullying in light of the recent attention to suicide). The next question was: What lighter question would I ask the President -- something related to pop culture perhaps. I hadn't given any thought to this because, really, what moron blows this opportunity by asking the President "Mac or PC?" I gave them some light question and it was the one note that was made during the interview. I was not invited to attend.

MTV did the same thing back in 2003, when they inveigled college student Alexandra Trustman into asking a question she didn't want to ask of a group of Democratic presidential candidates, "Mac or PC?" And if memory serves, the infamous "boxers or briefs" question of Bill Clinton back in 1992 was also planted, though Google isn't being helpful on that point at the moment.

Right now, the "#askSudan" topic is trending much higher than the expected topics show on MTV's Twitter-tracker page. It will be interesting to see if they try to keep the lid on the serious questions America's young people want answered, or if they insist on infantilizing the people who--surprise, surprise--are often most inclined to question authority and raise issues that their elders prefer go unaddressed.