Experts: Unclassified Report 'Pure Pablum,' Hides Truth  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  Intelligence analysts and the former White House counterterror official describe as "pure pablum" the unclassified version of the National Intelligence Estimate released today on terror threats to the United States.

The Salon Interview: Elizabeth Edwards  —  On her confrontation with Ann Coulter, why she backs gay marriage — and why Edwards is a better choice for women than Hillary Clinton.  —  Elizabeth Edwards listens to her husband speak at a campaign event in Concord, N.H., April 2, 2007.

Wamp: Thompson is close to joining '08 race  —  Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) said Monday that he expects former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) to soon join the race for the White House.  —  "My view is that he'll enter the race at some point just in the coming days," said Wamp, a key supporter of Thompson.

A look inside the war rooms on the war  —  Leaders are instructing Democratic lawmakers to blitz their states with anti-Bush messages as the Senate gears up for an all-night debate on Iraq withdrawal, according to an internal memo provided to The Politico by a Democratic official.

Novak: Women's 'venom' toward Bush is 'so vicious.'  —  Appearing on Hugh Hewitt's radio show yesterday, conservative pundit Robert Novak claimed that "women, particularly," are making our current political discourse more "vicious":

Bush office is anti-Muslim, group says  —  A Muslim civil rights group today blamed Bush administration policies for promoting "Islamophobia" and said the "war on terror" won't stop terrorists.  —  "The new perception is that the United States has entered a war with Islam itself," …

Suicide bombing at Islamabad courthouse kills 13  —  Over 50 wounded in attack where ousted Chief Justice was scheduled to speak; government still negotiation with Taliban in North Waziristan  —  The suicide attacks that have plagued the Northwest Frontier Province have shifted to the heart of Pakistan in the capital of Islamabad.

FBI: Iraqis Being Smuggled Across the Rio Grande  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  The FBI is investigating an alleged human smuggling operation based in Chaparral, N.M., that agents say is bringing "Iraqis and other Middle Eastern" individuals across the Rio Grande from Mexico.

Cigarmakers in a panic … Eric Newman punches the numbers on his calculator and gapes at the results one more time.  —  It's no mathematical error: The federal government has proposed raising taxes on premium cigars, the kind Newman's family has been rolling for decades in Ybor City, by as much as 20,000 percent.

Blogosphere Responds To O'Reilly's Baseless Attacks On The Netroots  —  Last night on The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly dedicated a segment to disingenuously attacking the upcoming YearlyKos convention, its namesake DailyKos, and one of the event's sponsors, JetBlue.

Myths and Realities of the George Bush Presidency … Near the end of his shows, humorist Mort Sahl used to ask, "Is there anyone I haven't offended yet?"  These days, I find myself asking the same question about President Bush.  Economic libertarians gripe about high government spending.

The Politico sewer  —  The Politico today is prominently touting on its front page another vapid, petty, and inane "news story" — the type of story which has, in just a few short months, become its hallmark: … Impressively, they followed up their Romney scoop with a hard-hitting …