It is a mind boggling thing to hear an international journalist compare democracy to disease but that\u2019s just what happened this week, in a CNN debate around military action in Syria.<\/p>\n
In the context of a discussion of President Obama\u2019s decision to seek Congressional approval, CNN chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour said \u201cIt\u2019\u2019s all \u00a0about America\u2019s place in the world now\u2026\u00a0\u201cAnd let\u2019s face it, was Britain who\u2026 started this sort of vote ball rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not a minute later, Amanpour was expressing concern that the voting craze was spreading:<\/p>\n
\u201cFrance right now is catching the sort of vote bug.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s what she called \u201ca big problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the President were to fail to get Congressional approval, Amanpour suggested (her voice hushed with the horror of it), it\u2019d be \u201ca catastrophe\u201d not just for him, but for the\u00a0entire United States.<\/a><\/p>\n Susan Sontag where are you when we need you? Illness as metaphor is one thing, but Democracy?<\/p>\n Whatever next?<\/p>\n Fast food workers in dozens of cities staged a national day of strikes August 29 to galvanize public support for a living wage of $15 per hour. Are they seized by fair wage fever?<\/p>\n David Coombs, chief attorney for WikiLeaks whistle-blower PVT Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning, has filed an application for a Presidential Pardon on Manning\u2019s behalf. Tens of thousands of supporters have signed on in support. Are they suffering from mercy madness?<\/p>\n Before Obama went to the Congress, more than 200 members had signed one or another letter demanding that the White House consult them. Perhaps Amanpour would call them sick from an overdose of due process.<\/p>\n But just a reminder. The Constitution does actually give Congress the power to make war. The United Nation\u2019s charter, further, requires Security Council approval for any armed intervention for anything other than self defense.<\/p>\n The \u201cvote bug\u201d may slow things down but catastrophe it\u2019s not. American military intervention without international and national approval is not only immoral and unlikely to produce a positive result. It\u2019s also, buggy as it seems, illegal.<\/p>\n Listen to Laura Flanders\u2019 weekly commentary, \u201cThe F Word\u201d on\u00a0Soundcloud.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n LAURA FLANDERS<\/em><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is the host and founder of\u00a0GRITtv.org<\/a>.\u00a0Follow her on Twitter: @GRITlaura.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n