Well, it's not just the picture of the president... it's that plus the lyrics:
What if this whole crusade's a charade
And behind it all there's a price to be paid
For the blood on which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine.
Of course MTV wants to avoid the controversy that would cause... they need to keep flying under the gov't radar to preserve their ability to show half-naked 14 yr old "pop star" girls on TV talking about, and just about demonstrating, sex.
I just find it ironic that MTV used to be all about "sticking it to the man" and now they're forced to play the same BS game that all big corperations play.
The MTV sperry remembers would have *asked* NIN to put up the picture.