密歇根新闻广播 说到立场,时机很重要

 

For more than a year, the sexual assault scandal at Michigan State University has been simmering in the background, a ticking time bomb that was certain to explode with devastating¹ consequences for the university.

That this would have a political dimension was also certain.

When Dr. Larry Nassar's behavior finally became public, Bill Schuette, the likely Republican nominee² for governor next year, was Michigan attorney general. Gretchen Whitmer, the likely Democratic nominee, was serving a stint³ as interim⁴ prosecutor⁵ in Ingham County -- which handles crimes at MSU.

Last week, I reported that some top Democrats⁶ were uneasy. Schuette may have taken too long to move to stop the physician who may have sexually abused scores of female athletes. But Whitmer filed no charges against him at all.

She later told me that her office had indeed been working hard to get the evidence to convict Nassar. But the decision had been made that the attorney general should file any charges because the crimes occurred in more than one county.

That may make common sense, but that's not the same as political sense. Sure enough, there's now a squabble between the MSU police chief and Whitmer, who denies his claim that she didn't want to move forward on the sexual assault cases.

I'm not going to try to sort this out, except to say this isn't good for Whitmer. Politically, she ought to have moved to charge Nassar, with considerable fanfare⁷ and a loud public commitment to keep our children safe. Now, every politician occasionally mishandles an issue. Schuette alienated⁸ moderate voters with a mean-spirited, incompetent⁹ attempt a few years ago to prevent two saintly gay nurses from adopting some special needs children.

But some are wondering if this is a symptom of a much bigger problem for Whitmer. She has been largely reluctant to take a stand on a number of issues.

Speaker of the House Tom Leonard, who is running for the GOP nomination¹⁰ for Michigan attorney general, grabbed headlines earlier this week when he called on MSU President Lou Anna Simon to resign, something that seems inevitable¹¹.

Whitmer, a woman with two degrees from Michigan State, could have owned that issue by calling for Simon's resignation first. Or, if she thought there was a compelling case for defending MSU's first female president, she could have done that too.

But she hasn't taken any position. Back in September, Kriste Etue, the director of the Michigan State Police, indicated on Facebook that she thought that NFL players who "take a knee" during the national anthem¹² are degenerates¹³. There were loud calls for her resignation by many Democrats and virtually the entire African-American political establishment.

Whitmer said nothing. Last month, we learned that more maggots had been found in Michigan prison food, which is now being supplied by a second private contractor¹⁴. I expected Whitmer to have a press conference that day with union officials, and announce she would end this ghastly privatization experiment as governor.

Instead, she said and did nothing. This doesn't look like leadership. We have a state with a lot of problems and discredited¹⁵ leaders, and I think voters are looking for someone with the guts¹⁶ to take bold stands.

We saw what happens to Democrats who don't in the election last year.

Jack¹⁷ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's Senior Political Analyst¹⁸. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。

4 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

5 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

6 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》

7 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

8 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

10 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。

11 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

12 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。

13 degenerates   

衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Liberty often degenerates into lawlessness. 自由常常变质为无法无天。
• Her health degenerates rapidly. 她的健康状况迅速恶化。

14 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

15 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

16 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

18 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。