Well, We All Knew About the Commitment Problem: Giuliani Gets the Boot From Iraq Study Group After Not Showing Up

If the Republican debates taught us anything, it's that Rudy Giuliani can't go for a few hours without mentioning his national security "credentials."

But if he's so concerned with our security, why did he stand up the Iraq Study Group when it invited him to participate? Newsday reports that Rudy was a no-show for the group's first two meetings--a move earning him the distinction of being the only person kicked off the Iraq Study Group. And what was Rudy doing instead? Just getting paid millions for giving speeches. Rudy needs to get his priorities straight:

Rudolph Giuliani's membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group, causing the panel's top Republican to give him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit, several sources said.

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.

Giuliani failed to show up for a pair of two-day sessions that occurred during his tenure, the sources said--and both times, they conflicted with paid public appearances shown on his recent financial disclosure. Giuliani quit the group during his busiest stretch in 2006, when he gave 20 speeches in a single month that brought in $1.7 million.

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