Josh Marshall and the Mafia

Is it even worth commenting on Josh Marshall’s overheated post about McCain’s supposed “gaffe” about the relations between Iran and Al Qaeda in which he informs us McCain is “Unfit to Serve”? I don’t read Marshall much but have not noted him to be a Middle East scholar so I am not surprised he is not up to speed on the intricacies of the shifting Iran/Al Qaeda connections that don’t always track with conventional Sunni-Shiite dichotomies. He may learn a few things here. But I am surprised he hasn’t learned the basic lessons of that great American classic – The Godfather. Al Qaeda and the Iranian Mullahs behave very much like Mafia families. When it’s convenient for the families to ally against their enemies, they do. When their enemies are vanquished, they kill each other. Is that too much for Marshall to understand – or shall we buy him another ticket to Pacino? [Somehow I think he doesn’t want to hear it.-ed. Somehow I think you’re right.]