Odds and Ends

Some more news to focus on until the latest cable news obession of the week...

Former Russian (post-Cold War) President Boris Yeltsin has passed away.

On Friday's "Countdown", MSNBC's Keith Olbermann spoke with the founder of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, Paul Rieckhoff, about the coverup of the friendly fire death of Pat Tillman in 2004.

And TPM's Josh Marshall looks at the legal status of 'American Taliban' John Walker Lindh.

This year's Colbert-less White House press dinner seems to have been a total bomb.

Finally, this past Friday's edition of KCRW's 'To The Point' pondered this question... if polls show that the American public supports the Democratic position(s) on gun control and abortion rights, why has the conservative minority made more headway on those issues? An interesting discussion if you have the time to listen.