"Marriage Amendment" approved by GOP. Must be election season.

I'm surprised how few stories came up on Google about this-- and only one mentioned Russ Feingold's heated exchange with Arlen Specter. Sure, it's a given that frightened Republicans are going to play every divisive, get-out-the-hate-vote card in the deck, and I'm sure the blogs, at least, will start covering this any minute now. But what really gets me is that the media treats these matters like serious issues, instead of the offensive demogaguery that they are. Could they at least point out that the GOP only gets worked up about gays and flag burners during election cycles?

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday marked up the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment, paving the way for a June vote by the full Senate.

The move was not unexpected. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said earlier this year that he wants a vote on or before June 5, an indication he intends to use it as a campaign issue this fall.

In a late move Wednesday the committee meeting was moved from a public hearing room to a restricted-access room in the Capitol. The President’s Room is not open to the public and does not have enough chairs for every Senator on the committee to sit.

Debate was short but intense. At one point Committee chair Arlen Specter (R-Pa) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) became embroiled in a shouting match when Feingold accused Specter of writing discrimination into the Constitution.

."I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I," Specter shouted.

"If you want to leave, good riddance!"

The proposed amendment would bar same-sex couples from marrying, block courts and state legislatures allowing gay marriage, nullify marriages already performed in Massachusetts - the only state in the country where they are currently legal - and according to critics possibly block civil unions and override domestic partner laws.

COMEDY BONUS: Salon has a clip of Lewis Black on the Daily Show pointing out the voting bloc the GOP hopes to motivate with this ploy.

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has some footage of Jack Cafferty decrying the move as just what it is-- and with pretty forceful language.

This is all being done by the republican majority in an effort to appeal to Right-wing nuts in the Republican Party ahead of the upcoming mid-term elections. Ignore all of the pressing issues facing the country, and instead go grovel at the feet of the lunatic fringe. Senator Frist should be very proud of himself. That's leadership.