2020年经济学人 特朗普拒不承认败选,美国危矣(1)

United States

美国版块

The White House

白宫

To the bitter end

奋战到底

President Donald Trump²’s refusal to concede is harming America

总统唐纳德·特朗福拒不承认败选，美国危矣

“Stop the steal” has become the anthem³ of outraged⁴ Republicans who believe President Donald Trump’s claims that Democrats⁵ stole his re-election by committing massive voter fraud. It is the hashtag they rally around online and the slogan they chant when they throng⁶ in the streets, as they did on November 14th in Washington, DC, earning a laudatory⁷ drive-by from the presidential motorcade.

“停止窃取”已然成为愤怒的共和党团体的团歌，他们坚信着美国总统特朗普所谓的民主党人通过大规模的选民欺诈行为窃取选举果实以至未能连任的说法。他们一边在网上集体声援“停止窃取”的推文话题，一边涌上街头高喊“停止窃取”的口号。11月14日，这些共和党人也曾经在华盛顿特区进行过类似的游行，当时还获得了总统车队的大加赞扬。

But this is not the first time surrogates of Mr Trump have deployed⁸ it. Roger Stone, a former adviser⁹ to the president who recently had his prison sentence for several convictions commuted¹⁰, actually founded a group by that name in April 2016—then to expose Senator Ted¹ Cruz’s purported¹¹ plot to steal the Republican nomination¹². Similar pre-emptive claims of voter fraud were made before the general-election contest with Hillary Clinton in 2016. Now that Mr Trump has actually lost, the slogan has finally been deployed in earnest.

但这并不是特朗普的代理人第一次部署相关活动。罗杰·斯通是前任总统顾问，他曾因几项罪名被判入狱，最近获得了减刑。斯通实际上在2016年4月成立了一个以“停止窃取”为名的组织，随后揭露了参议员特德·科鲁兹所谓的窃取共和党提名的阴谋。在2016年与希拉里·克林顿的大选角逐之前，特朗普阵营也曾提出过类似的先发制人的选民舞弊指控。现在特朗普实际上已经输了，其团队也终于郑重地部署这一口号。

Mr Trump has a long-held aversion to admitting defeat, or really conceding any fault at all. That is now throwing up an unprecedented¹³ scenario¹⁴: an incumbent¹⁵ American president refusing to hand over power due to baseless claims of electoral fraud. It is a serious democratic norm to trample¹⁶ over—one easy to underplay because of public confidence that other institutions, like the courts and the military, will not accede¹⁷ to Mr Trump’s wishes. The chances of a reversed decision are low. The lawsuits¹⁸ filed in the swing states that Mr Trump lost are floundering. Despite Mr Trump’s recent replacement¹⁹ of civilian²⁰ leadership at the Department of Defence, there is little risk of a self-coup.

长期以来，特朗普一直不愿意承认败选，也根本不愿意真的承认任何错误。如今，这引发了一个史无前例的局面：一位现任美国总统由于选举舞弊的无根据指控而拒绝移交权力。这是对美国严肃的民主规范（容易被低估）的践踏，因为公众相信法院、军方等机构不会同意特朗普的个人意愿。这些机构不太可能改变决定。特朗普在输掉的摇摆州发起诉讼，妄图挣扎。尽管特朗普最近更换了国防部的文职领导结构，但发生自我政变的风险很低。

Even if this low-energy autogolpe does not succeed, Mr Trump’s actions are still alarming. Presidential transitions involve a large number of civil servants: some 4,000, are politically appointed, with 1,200 requiring confirmation²¹ by the Senate. By not conceding, Mr Trump has stalled this process. Mr Biden is not receiving his classified presidential daily briefings. His team does not have access to secure governmental communications, relying instead on encrypted messaging apps. The commission to study the 9/11 attacks found that the shortened transition in 2000, caused by the disputed result in Florida, may have contributed to American vulnerability to terrorist attacks. By contrast, the wellmanaged transition between George W. Bush and Barack Obama in the midst of the global financial crisis enabled faster implementation²² of economic relief. Asked what was at stake this time, Mr Biden said “more people may die” if the Trump administration refused to co-ordinate on virus suppression and vaccine²³ distribution.

尽管这场低能耗的“自我政变”没有成功，特朗普的行动依然令人担忧。总统过渡牵涉大量公职人员：近4千名公职人员通过政府任命，其中约1200名公职人员需要得到参议院批准通过。特朗普通过拒绝承认败选以阻碍这一交接进程。拜登未曾收到总统每日机密简报。他的团队无法与外国政府进行安全通信，而是要依靠加密的消息应用程序。对911袭击事件进行研究的委员会发现，2000年佛罗里达州选票结果争议引发的过渡期缩短，可能是恐怖袭击趁虚而入的罪魁祸首。相比之下，小布什与巴拉克·奥巴马在经济危机中进行管理良好的过渡使经济救济得以更快实施。当被问及这次的利害关系时，拜登表示，如果特朗普政府拒绝在病毒抑制和疫苗分发方面进行协调，“可能会有更多人死亡”。

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

4 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

7 laudatory   

adj.赞扬的

参考例句：

• Now,when Carrie heard Drouet's laudatory opinion of her dramatic ability,her body tingled with satisfaction.听到杜洛埃这么称道自己的演戏才能，她心满意足精神振奋。
• Her teaching evaluations are among the most laudatory in this department.她的教学评估在本系是居最受颂扬者之中。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

11 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

13 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

14 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

15 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

16 trample   

vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯

参考例句：

• Don't trample on the grass. 勿踏草地。
• Don't trample on the flowers when you play in the garden. 在花园里玩耍时,不要踩坏花。

17 accede   

v.应允，同意

参考例句：

• They are ready to accede to our request for further information.我们要是还需要资料，他们乐于随时提供。
• In a word,he will not accede to your proposal in the meeting.总而言之，他不会在会中赞成你的提议。

18 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

19 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

20 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

21 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

22 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

23 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。