Former Vice-President Walter Mondale was on 'The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer' (weekdays, 6 PM ET on CNN) and the talk turned to the dip in popularity President Barack Obama has experienced over the last two years. Mondale stated that he believes Obama's over-use of the teleprompter is hindering his ability to connect to the American public.

"I think he's very bright. As a matter of fact, brilliant," Mondale said about Obama. "And he uses these idiot boards to read speeches on television and I think he loses the connection that he needs emotionally with American voters."

"If you're looking at the teleprompter, you're here, you're here, you're here -- and your audience is right there," Mondale continued.

It should be pointed out that Ronald Reagan, who was famous for his ability to connect with voters, relied on a teleprompter almost as much as Obama does. Reagan also famously beat Mondale forty-nine states to one in the 1984 presidential election, so that might be where some of Mondale's disdain for "idiot boards" is coming from.

I haven't watched MSNBC since my cable company took it off the basic digital package I have, and between the bizarre Keith Olbermann/Chris Matthews feuds and stuff like the video below, I might have to upgrade. It's from yesterday, when David Shuster and Tamron Hall were interviewed by a New York reporter about a story she wrote. It gets very odd. If she couldn't hear them, how did she answer so quickly? And if she was reading the screen and answering some questions, why not answer the others?

[via TV Newser]

One of my television guilty pleasures would have to be blooper shows. And my favorite bloopers are the news bloopers because 1) they're live, and 2) they involve something that is usually supposed to be so serious and controlled. This clip of Bill O'Reilly going ballistic isn't from a live broadcast, but it's still pretty great.

It's from his days as anchor of the syndicated tabloid show Inside Edition (he was anchor from 1988 to 1995). What's funny is that, even back then, when nine out of ten people you stopped on the street probably didn't have any idea who Bill O'Reilly was, it still looks like he was egotistical and ready to destroy anyone who disagreed with him or irritated him in any way. It's actually rather shocking, no matter how many times you watch, the moment where he goes from being really peeved to "oh my God he's going to kill the cameraman and the stage manager." I wonder how Sting feels about being the person who inadvertently set Bill off?

Full video after the jump! Looks like CBS forced them to take down the video. But trust us, it was funny.

Update: Here it is.