This is a Test

Several commentators have written on the dissonance between the calls for Barack Obama to denounce an unwanted endorsement of his campaign by Louis Farrakhan and the relative silence over the sought-after endorsement of John McCain by William Hagee - the San Antonio Megachurch Minister who holds some strange views of his own (The Catholic Church is "The Whore of Babylon; Katrina was a sign from God that rampant homosexualityin New Orleans had turned that city into Soddom) even after William Donahue of the right-wing Catholic League condemned the move.

Well there is a theory in Political Communication, first propounded by Kathleen Hall Jamieson - Dean of the Annenberg School ofCommunication at Penn, that issues become issues when one of the political parties or political actors makes it an issue. So by this criterion until the Democrats - or Clinton or Obama - makes a lot of noise it will not be picked up by the media which is loath to stir up controversey by itself. Others, of course, would just say that the Great and the Good there play favorites and St John is one of their reall BFFs.

Well we shall see now. Speaker of the House NancyPelosi has added her voice to the controversy. If Jamieson is correct we should be seeing and reading more about Hagee in the coming days.

Any bets?