密歇根新闻广播 美国最高法庭上发生的无形变化

 

Frank Szymanski likes to startle audiences by asking, "Have you ever seen a naked trial judge?" after which he takes off his suit coat and flings it on a chair.

"Don't worry, I'm going to stop there," he tells them.

"But if you don't educate yourselves before you go into that voting booth, if you don't know who I and Judge Deborah Thomas are, we might as well be naked. You need to know that we are both circuit court judges, we care about kids, that we care about justice for everyone, and that we were nominated by the Democratic Party for the Michigan Supreme¹ Court."

Most voters likely know none of those things. Szymanski, like Thomas, was indeed nominated by the Democrats² to run for the state's highest court.

But they are up against David Viviano and Joan Larsen, two incumbents³ appointed by Governor Rick Snyder to fill vacancies⁴. The incumbents have a heavy advantage, in that they will be designated on the ballot⁵ as justices of the Supreme Court.

All the other candidates – Szymanski, Thomas, and any minor⁶ party candidates, will just have their names. They are Brand X, and everyone who has grown up watching TV commercials knows that Brand X is never supposed to be as good.

Frank Szymanski is soldiering on and giving it his best shot. If campaigns were fought on YouTube, and judges were ranked by sense of humor, his opponent probably wouldn't have a chance. In one clip, his adorable children, 10-year-old Michelle and 7-year-old Evan, run around with a blackened dollar bill, saying "no dark money!"

In another, their father faces an audience and asks, "How many of you think justice in this state should be bought and paid for? Judge Szymanski and Judge Thomas have not, will not and cannot be bought," he tells one audience.

Then he brings down the house by adding, "And nobody is putting up money for us anyway." That is pretty much true. Republicans have a five to two majority on the Michigan Supreme Court. The Democratic Party went through a time when it was spending millions of dollars every few years in an effort to defeat Republican incumbents.

Those efforts were mostly gigantic costly⁷ failures. Democrats aren't even trying this year. They aren't giving their candidates much money, and the media aren't giving them much, if any, hearing. Newspapers, even Democratic ones, have mostly endorsed⁸ the incumbents, saying things like "continuity is valuable on the bench."

Republicans don't seem to be spending lavishly⁹ either, but their candidates have enough money for radio and TV commercials. Szymanski and Thomas don't. They do the best they can, appearing at candidate forums¹⁰ and union halls. "If you really want justice for all, tell people and get them to tell people, and maybe we'll have a chance," he says.

Szymanski is explicit¹¹ that he would fight for the common man, those who cannot afford all the justice money cand buy. He is 64, and under Michigan age limits, could only serve a single eight-year term. But he thinks that would be enough to do some good. He may have little chance, but he's out there on his own time, trying to educate people about the system.

Compared to a lot of politics this year, that's a breath of fresh air.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 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》

3 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

4 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 lavishly   

adv.慷慨地，大方地

参考例句：

• His house was lavishly adorned.他的屋子装饰得很华丽。
• The book is lavishly illustrated in full colour.这本书里有大量全彩插图。

10 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

11 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。