William Hague enchants Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton looks as surprised as the rest of us by Britain's Lib-Con coalition government
William Hague explains to Hillary Clinton how the Lib-Con coalition will work. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Hillary Clinton met with a leader from a new government formed in the wake of disputed election results ... yes, that was yesterday when she met with Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. Today, though, she met with William Hague from the rock-solid Lib-Con British coalition government – and they also discussed Afghanistan.
Oh, Richard, Richard, Richard, what are you trying to start with that header? Nowhere in their public remarks did that word appear. Of course in French, one of the diplomatic languages, when one is introduced, a polite response is "Enchanté," however, they already knew each other, and that would not be a common response in the native language they share. It is far more likely that in place of the formal "How do you do?" Hillary used her, "How ARE you?" as she did with the new Estonian Foreign Minister who became rather flustered and flattered because he might not have known that when we say that, we are not really asking how the person is. Not really. (Or maybe he wass just blown away by meeting Hillary Clinton.)
Whether it is "How are you?" or "Nice to meet you," in English, "Enchanté," in French, "Encantada" in Spanish, it is all simply phatic language, formulaic and nothing more. It serves to signal that we recognize another human being in our presence. Now I realize that Adams was being facetious with that header, and the rest of the article was anti-climactic (you will excuse the expression) at best, but there are people who read the headers and not the articles, so it was irresponsible of him to post it.
At any rate, whatever she said to him, she says that to all the guys. She is capable of continuing the special relationship without ... er... HAVING a special relationship. Does she flirt? Of course she does, and she is superb at it! But I strongly doubt she means anything by it. Will she flirt with Hague? Probably! But let's not read too much into that. Her flirting is also a form of phatic language. It serves to signal that this pretty woman acknowledges a man in her presence, and that maybe, by being friendly, cheerful, and pleasant, she might get a good commitment on Afghanistan. Furthermore, she has her own William Jefferson Somebody at home, as you know.
