时代周刊:马特·盖兹 我们这个时代的保守派煽动者(1)

Florida Congressman¹ Matt Gaetz is a conservative provocateur for our moment

佛罗里达国会议员马特·盖兹是我们这个时代的保守派煽动者

By Nash Jenkins

文/纳什·詹金斯

IT’S 5 P.M. ON A RECENT THURSDAY AND Matt Gaetz is deep in the belly² of the Capitol,

最近一个周四的下午5点，马特·盖兹在国会大厦的深处，

preparing to make his fourth appearance on cable news since dawn.

忙着准备那天黎明以来他在有线电视新闻上的的第四次露面。

That rates as a slow day for the 35-year-old freshman³ Representative from the Florida Panhandle.

对于这位来自佛罗里达州潘汉德尔的35岁新任代表来说，这是漫长的一天。

This one on Fox News, which for Gaetz is tantamount to batting practice.

在《福克斯新闻》上的这次露面对盖兹来说就好比是击球练习。

The real game comes when the incendiary conservative appears on MSNBC or CNN

当这位极具煽动性的保守派议员出现在MSNBC或CNN上，

and provides the sort of contrarian commentary that has made him one of President Trump⁴’s favorite members of Congress.

发表让他成了特朗普总统最喜欢的国会议员之一的逆势评论时，真正的游戏才开始到来。

In a few minutes, Gaetz will go before the cameras

几分钟后，盖兹将走到摄像机前，

to bemoan⁵ the “full absurdity” of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation⁶.

哀叹特别顾问罗伯特·米勒领导的“俄罗斯调查”简直是“一派荒谬”。

But first he wants to explain his underlying⁷ philosophy.

但首先，他还是想解释一下他的基本哲学。

“The convention that one should never be perceived to troll another that has a diferent viewpoint

“那种认为一个人永远不应该被觉得对与其观点不同的人进行了钓鱼式攻击的惯例，

is a very country club approach to politics,”

是一种非常乡村俱乐部式的政治做法，”

Gaetz explains in his office, nursing one of the 10 or so Diet Pepsis he drinks each day.

盖兹在他的办公室抱着他每天都要喝的大约10种无糖百事解释到。

“And we’re sort of in the era of Caddyshack. The caddies have taken over the country club.”

“我们似乎进入了《疯狂高尔夫》，让球童们给接管了乡村俱乐部的时代。”

Trolling has made Gaetz a star on the right.

钓鱼式攻击让盖兹成了右派的明星。

In terms of sheer airtime, he is arguably the most visible member of the House Republican Conference outside of its leadership.

就纯粹的播出时间而言，他无疑是共和党众议院委员会领导层之外最引人注目的成员。

Unlike, say, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, he shirks scripted talking points.

与众议院议长保罗·瑞安等人不同，马特·盖兹回避了照本宣科的谈话要点。

A Gaetz TV hit often feels calibrated⁸ to strike the pressure points of liberal outrage⁹,

盖兹在电视台的热播常常让人觉得是为了迎合自由派愤怒的压力点，

delivered with the impishness of a fraternity president before the university disciplinary committee.

在大学纪律委员会面前，他以一个兄弟会主席的顽皮口吻说到。

Remember when Trump described Haiti and some African nations as “sh-tholes”?

还记得特朗普形容海地和一些非洲国家都是“狗屎”吗?

As Republicans distanced themselves from the remarks,

正当共和党人忙着跟这些评价划清界限时，

Gaetz went on MSNBC to validate¹⁰ them,

盖兹却在MSNBC上对它们给予了支持，

describing Haiti as a land of little more than “sheet metal and garbage.”

说海地是一片只有“金属板和垃圾”的土地。

Gaetz acknowledges that his tactics are designed to infuriate his opponents.

盖兹承认，他的这一策略是为了激怒对手。

His guest to the State of the Union in January was Charles C. Johnson,

他邀请的一月份国情咨文的演讲嘉宾是查尔斯·C. 约翰逊，

who has disputed that six million Jews died in the Holocaust¹¹

就是那位否认有600万犹太人在大屠杀中遇难，

and was permanently¹² banned from Twitter in 2015

2015年又因为他号召自己的粉丝“干掉”著名的“黑人的命也是命”活动家德雷·麦克森

for calling on his followers¹³ to “take out” the prominent Black Lives Matter activist¹⁴ DeRay McKesson.

被推特永久禁言的家伙。

1 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

2 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

3 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

4 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。

5 bemoan   

v.悲叹，哀泣，痛哭；惋惜，不满于

参考例句：

• Purists bemoan the corruption of the language.主张语文纯正的人哀叹语言趋于不纯。
• Don't bemoan anything or anyone that you need to leave behind.不要再去抱怨那些你本该忘记的人或事。

6 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。

7 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

8 calibrated   

v.校准( calibrate的过去式和过去分词 )；使标准化；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• Power pesticide dusters can be calibrated and used to apply pertilizer. 动力杀虫剂可以调整用来施肥。 来自辞典例句
• The flexible diaphragm is connected to a plat cantilever-calibrated spring. 柔韧的膜片一扁平的悬臂校正弹簧相连。 来自辞典例句

9 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

10 validate   

vt.（法律）使有效，使生效

参考例句：

• You need an official signature to validate the order.你要有正式的签字，这张汇票才能生效。
• In order to validate the agreement,both parties sign it.为使协议有效，双方在上面签了字。

11 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

12 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

13 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

14 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。