密歇根新闻广播 当立法者违法 会发生什么?

You have to feel bad for Michigan Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, a good and decent man who has the thankless task of heading a party so small it is more like a faction¹.

His Democrats³ are only 11 senators out of 38. Since they have less than a third of the total, they can't even stop a bill from taking immediate⁴ effect. The only way they can do anything is by uniting with some Republicans when there is an occasional split in the GOP.

What made matters worse was that for much of last year, Ananich had only 10 members. Virgil Smith Jr., who got to the senate only by having a famous name, attacked his ex-wife and shot up her car in 2015, and then stayed in the Senate until he eventually was sentenced to jail.

During the intervening months, Smith voted with the Republicans when they needed him to, since they had the power to expel him and cut off his salary. Even after he resigned, it was months before his seat was filled in a special election and Democrats were back to their 11 seats.

But now, Ananich must be experiencing what Yogi Berra called "déjà vu all over again."

Yesterday, a federal grand jury indicted⁵ State Senator Bert Johnson, a Highland⁶ Park Democrat², for, as the news service MIRS put it, "skimming $23,000 from state payrolls⁸ through use of a ghost employee." The indictment⁹ charges that Johnson borrowed $10,000 from a woman and was unable to pay it back. So he put her on the part-time payroll⁷ for nine months.

She did no work; just collected a check. Ananich put out the responsible statement he needed to, saying that while these are serious charges, "Senator Johnson is presumed innocent." That's all true, but the odds¹⁰ are that this squalid little drama will not have a happy ending.

Incidentally, when the news broke I was talking with U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, and asked him why the indictment had come from a federal, not a state source. "Simple," he said. "The federal government has subpoena¹¹ power, and greater facilities for investigation¹², and the ability to offer immunity¹³. The state government does not."

There's another problem most people would find taboo¹⁴, but which I will mention anyway. Last night, at a dinner, a woman, a well-known liberal, said to me, "Well, what do you expect? He's a black Democrat from Detroit. They are all crooks¹⁵."

That is neither true, nor fair. But incidents like this seem to be happening with depressing frequency – take the serial¹⁶ felon¹⁷ and former state house member Brian Banks, who resigned just weeks ago, and who was repeatedly reelected after his misdeeds were public knowledge.

I could, of course, fill this entire essay with the names of past white crooks in politics, from mayors to legislators and congressmen.

But it seems legitimate¹⁸ to ask if there is a reason this behavior seems to be tolerated. Historians know Rosa Parks was not the first black woman to refuse to give up her seat on a bus. But shrewd civil rights leaders made hers the test case because her ethics¹⁹ and integrity were beyond reproach.

You have to wonder why some don't demand the same today of their politicians.

1 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 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》

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

6 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

7 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

8 payrolls   

n.（公司员工的）工资名单( payroll的名词复数 )；（公司的）工资总支出，工薪总额

参考例句：

• Indices of employment, payrolls, and production steadied in February 1931931年2月，就业、工资额和生产指数稳定。 来自辞典例句
• Wall Street responded to the payrolls figures with gusto. 华尔街对就业数据作出了积极的反应。 来自互联网

9 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

10 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

11 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

14 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

15 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

17 felon   

n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的

参考例句：

• He's a convicted felon.他是个已定罪的重犯。
• Hitler's early "successes" were only the startling depredations of a resolute felon.希特勒的早期“胜利 ”，只不过是一个死心塌地的恶棍出人意料地抢掠得手而已。

18 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

19 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。