Doesn't The Constitution Matter?

I read this in the Hartford Courant this morning. I wanted to reprint it here because it is so close to my feelings on amending the US Constitution. Has the US Constitution become fair game to any changes we see fit?

If Congress got away with this outrage, what would be next? Laws barring the courts from ruling on the death penalty, free speech or civil rights?

Gay marriage has been a hot political issue, but a reckless bill adopted recently in the U.S. House should embarrass members of both parties.

Under the innocent title of the Marriage Protection Act, the House voted 233 to 194 to strip all federal courts, including the Supreme Court, of jurisdiction over whether states are required by the Constitution to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

The Constitution ordinarily requires states to honor laws passed in other states, but the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act said states may refuse to honor each other's gay marriages.

Regardless of what one thinks of same-sex marriage, everyone ought to be alarmed at such an unprecedented attempt by one government branch to handcuff another branch. Never before has Congress tried to bar the federal court system from interpreting the Constitution in a specific area.

Connecticut residents ought to be proud of their congressional delegation. Democrats Rosa DeLauro and John Larson and Republicans Nancy Johnson, Christopher Shays and Rob Simmons all voted against this bill, which fortunately is given little chance of adoption in the Senate.

Why did the House pass a measure that rides roughshod over the separation of powers principle? Some speculate that the majority Republicans wanted to position themselves as defenders of traditional marriage as the election approaches. It's an issue important to religious conservatives.

The bill's backers should reconsider their disdain for the Constitution. The role of Congress is to pass legislation; the role of the courts is to ensure every law's constitutionality.

Were the Marriage Protection Act to become law, the Supreme Court almost certainly would declare it unconstitutional.

If Congress got away with this outrage, what would be next? Laws barring the courts from ruling on the death penalty, free speech or civil rights? (source)