So, was there really a Mob plot to kill Giuliani in the eighties? Rudy's certainly reaping the reward — the ability to say, with a weary smirk, that it's all in a day's job. Let, then, the polite underminers at the Times take you on a journey of noncommittal skepticism, as only the Gray Lady can. Herewith, our paragraph-by-paragraph anatomy of today's very gentle hit.

Graph 1: “The Mafia might not … mind seeing [Giuliani] dead.”
Graph 2: BUT! “But the proposition might not have been as simple as … a show of hands.”
Graph 4: “To be sure, law enforcement was and is a dangerous profession.”
Graph 6: BUT! “But the plot against Mr. Giuliani bears some scrutiny.”
Graph 7: “[A tipster’s note] said that that the family bosses were split 3 to 2 against the proposition.”
Graph 10: BUT! “But the plot, as described, drew some skepticism from experts.”
Graph 13: “If any prosecutor could prompt the Mafia to make an exception, it was Mr. Giuliani.”
Graph 15: BUT! “But the details of the reported plot are curious.”
Graph 18: “In fact, the idea of any collaboration among the bosses … strains credulity.”
Graph 19: BUT! “But that was all back in the days before Mr. Giuliani’s prosecutions turned the mobsters against one another.”
Graph 20: “Either way…”

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why people read the Post.

’80s Plot to Hit Giuliani? Mob Experts Doubt It [NYT]
What If He’d Been Whacked: Imagine New York Without Rudy Giuliani [NYP]