I wrote this before Bruce's thoughtful reply on the subject. I'll send it anyway, for your a-musement or b-musement or, heaven forbid, enlightenment.

 

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If this sentence says what was meant: The president said he hopes the North Koreans will not escalate.

 

And this sentence says what was not meant: The president said he hoped the North Koreans will not escalate.

 

What does this sentence say: The president said he had hoped the North Koreans will not escalate?

 

I have an appropriate photo of a train wreck but John Dews-Alexander won't let us use graphics. (Ask Google for "montparnasse train wreck". It's worth the trip.)

 

We could give it another yank off course and write: The president had said he had hoped the North Koreans will not escalate. That's what the BBC and the Associated Press would do. They love to put 'had' in front of past tense verbs. They use 'had' the same way for the past as they use 'will' for the future. The descriptivists have to accept it as the standard, don't they? Hence no errors. Safe all around.  

 

.cheers.brad.30nov10.