The Very Serious Rudy Giuliani

By Kevin Drum

(Political Animal)  THE VERY SERIOUS RUDY GIULIANI....Via Steve Benen, I see that Craig Gordon of Newsday explains a mystery today: How did Edwin Meese of all people end up as one of the Republican representatives on the Iraq Study Group? Answer: He was a last minute replacement for Rudy Giuliani, who was originally appointed to the group but couldn't be bothered to show up to meetings:

Giuliani left the Iraq Study Group last May after just two months, walking away from a chance to make up for his lack of foreign policy credentials on the top issue in the 2008 race, the Iraq war.

He cited "previous time commitments" in a letter explaining his decision to quit, and a look at his schedule suggests why — the sessions at times conflicted with Giuliani's lucrative speaking tour that garnered him $11.4 million in 14 months.

....By giving up his seat on the panel, Giuliani has opened himself up to charges that he chose private-sector paydays and politics over unpaid service on a critical issue facing the nation.

Amazing. This has been common knowledge for months, but this is the first time I've heard about it. For some reason, the mainstream press apparently thinks this decision from America's Mayor is hardly even worth a yawn. Too substantive, I guess. Back to the haircuts and blind trusts, boys and girls.