I found this odd report [in the title above] on CNN’s main site, and it struck me as the sort of tiny puzzle many of us grew up on. They do go on to explain:
Posted: August 19th, 2009 04:52 PM ET…Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is slated for a four-day stay in Bermuda this weekend with husband Bill, the Bermuda Sun reports. …
The Clintons will instead stay at Cambridge Beaches Resort and Spa, a facility where, according to the resort’s Web site, room rates can run as high as nearly $2,000 a night
Not only are they relentless about the details, but of course the trip is no longer secret, thanks to the paper. So how should we describe what is going on? It’s like trying to announce an unannouced trip. Is the headline the result of an illocutionary act that falsifies its content? Do we need perlocutionary uptake if the secret is actually no longer such?
What do you think?
“Clintons attempt to plan a secret trip, but fail because of us.”
Long-time lurker chiming in a bit late due to a conversation I had with a racist, misogynist co-worker, we’ll call Pamela, today. Pamela, devout born-again republican, is of the opinion that democrats should not be “allowed” to vacation until they deliver on every single promise they made when they “tricked the ignorant” into voting for them. She has been most vocal against the Obama family’s trip and the media for reporting it. So while she’s against the media spending time reporting about the trips of politicians, she would treat this report as another ‘ah-ha’ reason to decry prominent democrats as those who don’t really care about our country because, “how can they claim to care about us if they spend all their time on vacation?”
When I pointed out that Bush spent more time on vacation than any other president, she replied, “but he had so much on his plate after 9/11, it’s understandable that he’d need some time off. What’s this one had to deal with besides making sure social security won’t exist by the time we get rid of him?”
Telling her that Bush presided over the pillaging of the social security fund was just met with a hostile glare.
Around here (Texas), a lot of people seem to be grasping at any straws that will allow them to subtetly mask their hatred in the guise of Concrned Ahmercan ™. Just my observation.
Jenna, much sympathy from a fellow resident of Texas. I’m trying not to get involved in such discussions. It’s hard, because if I try to redirect the conversation I end up seething. However, it’s probably not possible to have a good effect on the hardened conservative whatever one does, so lessening the amount of effort one puts in makes sense, at least for me.