The Global Financial Hobo Apocalypse knocked on the door of Viacom today as the media giant laid-off 850 employees, which includes, according to an unconfirmed anonymous rumor made to Gawker, perpetually angry-face MTV correspondent John Norris.

Norris has been with MTV for 15 years (making him the MTV equivalent of Tom Brokaw) and he's hosted everything from a program on the death of gay student Matthew Shepard to interviews with former Secretary General Kofi-Anan and Mariah Carey.

Like many of you, we know Norris as that guy who tried to take us home from the Limelight when we were nineteen. We still remember sitting at the banquette, phalanxed on both sides by MTV interns and being told by Norris "You know who I am" before watching him pass out on the table.

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Barack Obama's walking a fine, gay line.

The Democratic Presidential candidate appeared on MTV this weekend to come out against California's Proposition 8, which would overturn gay marriage in the Golden State. At the same time, however, Obama reiterated his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. Said the Senator from Illinois:

I've stated my opposition to this. I think [Prop 8 is] unnecessary. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that's not what America's about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don't contract them.

On a related note, the New York Times this Saturday ran an article highlighting the differences between Obama and rival John McCain's same-sex marriage opposition. While Obama's motivated more by religious elements, McCain's a victim of his time. Writes homo-journo Patrick Healy:

As a Christian — he is a member of the United Church of Christ — Mr. Obama believes that marriage is a sacred union, a blessing from God, and one that is intended for a man and a woman exclusively, according to these supporters and Obama campaign advisers. While he does not favor laws that ban same-sex marriage, and has said he is “open to the possibility” that his views may be “misguided,” he does not support it and is not inclined to fight for it, his advisers say.

Senator John McCain also opposes same-sex marriage, but unlike Mr. Obama’s, his position is influenced by generational and cultural experiences rather than a religious conviction, McCain advisers say.

What's interesting, we think, is that Obama consistently frames his support opposition of Proposition 8 in terms of constitutionality, rather than whether or not gay marriage is right - a tactic that's quite popular among the center and conservative set. That helps explain Obama's later comments in which he says he believes in strong civil unions that provide marital rights, like hospital visitations. That believe, he insists, provides a great example of his style of governance:

If they've got benefits, they can make sure those benefits apply to their partners. I think that's the direction we need to go in. I think young people are ahead of the curve on this for the most part. Their attitude, generally, is that we should be respectful of all people, and that's the kind of politics I want to practice.

Watch the MTV Prop 8 video after the jump…

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Sure, John McCain blasted Barack Obama's international popularity earlier today, but that doesn't mean he's above name dropping. Take, for example, a 1999 speech he delivered to New Hampshire high school students, who McCain's clearly trying to impress with a tale about bonding with his then 15-year old daughter:

In pursuit of that, a few months ago I went to the MTV awards. What a guy, huh?

In New York — I now know who Puff Daddy is; Busta Rhymes, he was wearing a dress that night. I'm going to try and borrow it from him for part of this campaign. And who here likes Nine Inch Nails?

I knew you'd like Nine Inch — well, I kind of lean towards the Back Street Boys. Thank you very much. Obviously, a woman of taste and class.

Anyway, we had a great time at the time MTV awards.

It's worth noting that Britney Spears performed at those particular awards.

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Sad, confused MySpace cewebrity and reality star Tila Tequila blames her unsuccessful quest to find true love on the media.

Despite picking Bobby Banhart as the winner of A Shot At Love, the two quickly fell out of, ahem, love when, as this sort of things tends to happen with C-list celebrities, the media started attacking them.

“The media says something about him, and he retaliates, and I’m like ‘That’s not how it was.’ And it ends up being, like, unfortunate,” she told the Associated Press.

And also: There’s the little part about Banhart being an egregious self-promoter. Totally in a not-like-Tila way.

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The GLAAD Media Awards may be causing some residual drama.

Cable channel Bravo paid an unspecified sum to air the entire event next month, but a reader speculated that queer-centric Logo, an MTV property, decided to play a little game of "gotcha" with the awards.

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The hip-hop scene's about to be rocked!

Well, that's if you believe Terrence Dean's book publicist. The former MTV executive will soon release Hiding In Hip-Hop, which will allegedly expose the genre's biggest homos. From the release:

"Hiding In Hip-Hop" uncovers a hidden and well-known unspoken secret. Deep within the confines of Hip-Hop is a prominent gay sub-culture. A world that industry insiders are keenly aware of, but choose to ignore.

According to Dean, "This book is filled with intrigue, sexy celebrity bed partners, abundance of drugs, and of course, the down low/gay men and celebrities in the entertainment industry.

This tale's a long time coming. Honky homos have been forced out in recent years, like Lance Bass, Neil Patrick Harris and TR Knight. It's only fair that black folk take some heat, too.

We have no idea who Dean will name, but we've got some theories…

We're not psychic, but we do have some theories…

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Hillary Clinton isn't the only politician with a past.

John McCain's queer gay politics get rehashed via a 2004 MTV interview, in which McCain tells John Norris that while he doesn't condone gay marriage, the government should stay out of the bedroom. He also told Norris that he doesn't anticipate another run for the White House. My, how things change!

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"Bisexual" babe Tila Tequila won't go hungry in 2008. MTV has decided to produce another season of her reality dating show, A Shot of Love With Tila Tequila.

From Variety:

In addition to renewing "Shot," MTV has inked a multiseries production commitment with series exec producer Sally Ann Salsano and her 495 Prods. banner. She'll develop, supervise and consult on MTV-branded programming as part of the pact.

The cabler will produce 10 new episodes of "Shot at Love," with the segs slated to premiere in the spring. Format will once again have straight men and lesbians vying for the heart of Tila Tequila.

The previous season ended with Tequila picking a man as her mate.

We're assuming it didn't work out. Or MTV decided 6 million viewers are more important than one cable-based romance.

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MTV executives are so thrilled with the "bisexual" dating show A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila that they've decided to create a more hetero-centric spin off:

[The] series, which will include six hourlong episodes and a reunion special, will feature popular Shot at Love contestant Domenico Nesci, who was born and raised in Milan. Nesci will be looking for an "American sweetheart" from among 15 bachelorettes who will vie to win his heart and travel to Italy to meet his mother.

An estimated 6.2 million people tuned in to watch the Tequila finale this week. Nesci says he's looking for a girl who likes a thinking man. He may be looking in the wrong place.

Singer and "celebrity" Tila Tequila took a final shot at love on MTV last night.

The 26-year old beauty, who claims to be bisexual, chose the straight and narrow by selecting Bobby as her boy beau.

Tequila's decision gives new weight to rumors that she used lesbianism to put on a show…