Bush's Strength Is Also His Weakness 布什，在風(fēng)口浪尖
By Dante Chinni 行云 選注
據(jù)說(shuō)美國(guó)總統(tǒng)要想贏得民眾的愛(ài)戴，他至少應(yīng)該具備下列三項(xiàng)條件之一：戰(zhàn)績(jī)赫赫或政績(jī)卓越，如林肯；出身望族，具備領(lǐng)袖氣質(zhì)，如肯尼迪；平易近人，極富個(gè)人魅力，如里根。眼看11月大選迫在眉睫，被伊拉克、公共教育、稅收等等問(wèn)題弄得焦頭爛額的現(xiàn)任總統(tǒng)布什究竟能靠什么殺手锏排除萬(wàn)難、成功衛(wèi)冕？
In an unsure, complicated, and scary world, George W. Bush seems a rock of certainty. You can pose a lot of different questions to him on a variety of topics ?education, the economy, terrorism ?and he'll have a solution for you, most often the simple, straightforward variety.1 In the middle of a bumpy patch, this is President Bush's electoral strength.2 There's not a lot of good news for the president in the poll3 numbers right now. Some surveys have his opponent John Kerry4 ahead. People are doubting the course in Iraq and questioning his handling of the economy. But the administration believes individual poll numbers mean little, particularly in earlier stage. And they can point to one solid finding in almost every survey: Mr. Bush is seen as a strong leader. He's decisive and knows what he wants.5
Even his opponents concede this point. This is the president's ace as the election nears, and he's clearly counting on it.6 In ads and in interviews with supporters, it is the message the White House is pushing. This is not a small point. There's something to be said for certainty and clarity of purpose. After all, leader of the free world isn't exactly a Magic 8-Ball kind of job.7 It helps to have some idea of what exactly you want to do when you get the keys to the Oval Office8.
And the president has seldom wavered9. If the question has to do with the economy, the answer is almost certainly tax cuts. On public education, a question that has bedeviled this country for years, the president believes in testing to measure results and then forcing changes in failing schools.10 On the "war on terror", the president has shown he will use force, going it alone if necessary, to remove harmful elements.11 Yet, Bush's image as a "strong leader" may miss the point. The real question voters face this November is not whether Mr. Bush is decisive, rather it is whether his decisiveness and single-minded approach to problems misses important subtleties.12
The White House likes to portray the president as the can-do CEO of a large efficient corporation or as a plain-spoken cowboy trying to bring a little common sense to a double-talking town.13 The best metaphor, however, is more 21st century. What we have in Washington today is the nation's first digital presidency with Bush as our CPU (central processing unit) in chief.14 And that presents real perils for his reelection and his presidency. Like all computers, the president moves quickly and crisply, but the very thing that allows him to move so fast, a preprogrammed set of assumptions15 on most issues, can lead (and has led) to poor choices. This administration sees the world in binary code (good/evil, right/wrong).16 A series of if/then statements determines the course of action. And once the decision has been made, there's no questioning it. Examples abound.17
If we cut taxes, then the economy will improve. This is a fact in the president's mind. You say the evidence hasn't borne this out so far? You say the cuts have led to massive deficits? That's irrelevant. Don't you know the if/then sequence?18 If we make schools accountable, then they'll fix their problems. This is obviously true, because it's true in business, the Education secretary has said. You believe there is a fundamental difference between what the schools do and what, say, Ford does? You think there are a bunch of ingrained societal problems that drag some schools down?19 You simply don't understand.
But the most glaring mistake so far, and the one getting the most attention now, is Iraq. If we invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein, then we will be embraced as liberators and able to establish a democracy there. The simplicity here is breathtaking. It is as though no one at the White House ever considered the possibility that the Iraqis may hate Hussein and still not love the US.20 Now, faced with revolts21 around Iraq, the administration says not to worry, because it's just a small minority and most of the Iraqis like what the US is doing there. Maybe, but do they like the US plan for the future and are they willing to fight for it? Are they really ready for a democracy? Are they really ready for us to turn over power at last? And to whom will we turn it over, exactly? Somewhere at the White House there probably are clear, strong
-leader, if/then answers to those questions. At some point, the administration may even share them. When you hear them, listen carefully, simple, definitive answers can be comforting ?but in a complicated world, they often don't compute22. If they don't compute by November, voters will be looking to reboot the political system ?and the president, strong leader and all, will likely find himself booted from office.23-
1. 你可以向他提出各方面的問(wèn)題，如教育、經(jīng)濟(jì)、恐怖主義等，他都能給你個(gè)答案，而且通常是簡(jiǎn)單直接的那種。pose：提出(問(wèn)題、聲明等)；a variety of：各種各樣的，后一個(gè)variety是“種類(lèi)”的意思。
2. 在這段困難重重的時(shí)期當(dāng)中，這就是布什總統(tǒng)的競(jìng)選優(yōu)勢(shì)。bumpy：困難重重的；patch：<主英>期間，一段時(shí)間。
3. poll：民意測(cè)驗(yàn)。
4. John Kerry：約翰·克里，美國(guó)民主黨總統(tǒng)候選人，來(lái)自馬薩諸塞州，為布什的主要競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。
5. 他們可以強(qiáng)調(diào)一個(gè)幾乎所有調(diào)查得出的可靠結(jié)果——布什先生被視為一位強(qiáng)有力的。他堅(jiān)定果決，知道自己想要什么。
6. 就連他的對(duì)手們也不得不承認(rèn)這一點(diǎn)。在大選來(lái)臨之際這成了總統(tǒng)(布什)手里的“王牌”，顯然他也指望著它(能幫自己爭(zhēng)得勝利)。concede：(不情愿地)承認(rèn)，承認(rèn)……為真(或正確)；ace：A紙牌(在多數(shù)牌戲中常作贏牌使用)。
7. 這一點(diǎn)非同小可。堅(jiān)決果斷、目的明確(的這種素質(zhì))值得特別提一下，畢竟，自由世界領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人(的職責(zé))并非只是回答“是”或“不是”那么簡(jiǎn)單。Magic 8-Ball：一種玩具，玩家提出一個(gè)問(wèn)題，然后轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)小球得到答案，其設(shè)定的答案通常都較簡(jiǎn)單，如yes / no類(lèi)。
8. Oval Office：(美國(guó)白宮的)橢圓形辦公室，即總統(tǒng)辦公室。
9. waver：舉棋不定，猶豫不決。
10. 在公共教育這一困擾美國(guó)多年的問(wèn)題上，總統(tǒng)認(rèn)為要通過(guò)檢查來(lái)衡量各個(gè)學(xué)校的成效，繼而對(duì)不合格學(xué)校進(jìn)行強(qiáng)制改革。bedevil：使困惑，使受挫。
11. 在“反恐戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)”問(wèn)題上，總統(tǒng)已經(jīng)表明他將動(dòng)用武力鏟除邪惡勢(shì)力，如果必要不惜單干。此處going it alone指在沒(méi)有得到國(guó)際社會(huì)廣泛支持的情況下采取行動(dòng)。
12. 11月大選中選民面對(duì)的真正問(wèn)題不在于布什先生果斷與否，而是他那種堅(jiān)定果斷、一意孤行的辦事方法是否忽視了某些重要的微妙之處。November：指代美國(guó)大選(美國(guó)大選通常在當(dāng)年的11月的第二個(gè)星期二進(jìn)行，故有用November或Tuesday指代美國(guó)大選的用法)；subtlety：微妙(之處)，奧妙(之處)。
13. 白宮喜歡將總統(tǒng)描繪成一家高效的大公司里富有干勁的首席執(zhí)行官，或是一個(gè)說(shuō)話直率的牛仔，力圖給空話連篇的城鎮(zhèn)帶來(lái)一點(diǎn)常識(shí)。can-do：干勁十足的；double-talking：含糊其詞的，講空話的。
14. 然而，的比喻是更有21世紀(jì)特點(diǎn)的。今天華盛頓擁有的是第一個(gè)數(shù)字總統(tǒng)內(nèi)閣，布什是我們總的中央處理器。metaphor：比喻，隱喻；presidency: <美>(包括各行政，決策部門(mén)的)總統(tǒng)直屬機(jī)構(gòu)。(此處將布什政府比作計(jì)算機(jī)，以下幾段均使用計(jì)算機(jī)語(yǔ)言，用以形象地說(shuō)明該政府處理問(wèn)題的方式過(guò)于程序化。)
15. a preprogrammed set of assumptions：一整套預(yù)編的假設(shè)。
16. 這個(gè)政府用二進(jìn)制代碼(好/壞，對(duì)/錯(cuò))來(lái)看待世界。binary: 二進(jìn)制的，只能兩擇其一的，此處是比喻，指布什政府簡(jiǎn)單地劃分世界。
17. 一連串的如果/那么的表述決定了行動(dòng)的進(jìn)程。決定一經(jīng)做出就不容質(zhì)疑。這樣的例子比比皆是。
18. 你說(shuō)迄今為止并沒(méi)有證據(jù)證明這一點(diǎn)？你說(shuō)減稅導(dǎo)致了巨額赤字？那都無(wú)關(guān)緊要。你難道不知道如果/那么序列嗎？ bear out：證實(shí)(報(bào)道或某人的話等)。
19. 你認(rèn)為是一大堆根深蒂固的社會(huì)問(wèn)題令一些學(xué)校停滯不前？drag down: 使社會(huì)地位(或道德水平)下降。
20. 這種簡(jiǎn)單令人震驚。仿佛白宮里從來(lái)沒(méi)人想到伊拉克人可能在憎恨薩達(dá)姆的同時(shí)也不喜歡美國(guó)人。
21. revolt：反抗，起義。
22. compute：計(jì)算，估量(出結(jié)果)，這里指起作用。
23. 如果在11月大選前這些既定的答案沒(méi)能奏效，那么選民們將尋求“重啟”政治系統(tǒng)，而總統(tǒng)無(wú)論再?gòu)?qiáng)硬還是怎么著也可能會(huì)被趕出白宮。reboot：原指“重新啟動(dòng)，將某計(jì)算機(jī)關(guān)掉而后再打開(kāi)”，此處指“選出新政府”；and all：<口>以及其他一切，等等；boot：<口>趕出，攆走
By Dante Chinni 行云 選注
據(jù)說(shuō)美國(guó)總統(tǒng)要想贏得民眾的愛(ài)戴，他至少應(yīng)該具備下列三項(xiàng)條件之一：戰(zhàn)績(jī)赫赫或政績(jī)卓越，如林肯；出身望族，具備領(lǐng)袖氣質(zhì)，如肯尼迪；平易近人，極富個(gè)人魅力，如里根。眼看11月大選迫在眉睫，被伊拉克、公共教育、稅收等等問(wèn)題弄得焦頭爛額的現(xiàn)任總統(tǒng)布什究竟能靠什么殺手锏排除萬(wàn)難、成功衛(wèi)冕？
In an unsure, complicated, and scary world, George W. Bush seems a rock of certainty. You can pose a lot of different questions to him on a variety of topics ?education, the economy, terrorism ?and he'll have a solution for you, most often the simple, straightforward variety.1 In the middle of a bumpy patch, this is President Bush's electoral strength.2 There's not a lot of good news for the president in the poll3 numbers right now. Some surveys have his opponent John Kerry4 ahead. People are doubting the course in Iraq and questioning his handling of the economy. But the administration believes individual poll numbers mean little, particularly in earlier stage. And they can point to one solid finding in almost every survey: Mr. Bush is seen as a strong leader. He's decisive and knows what he wants.5
Even his opponents concede this point. This is the president's ace as the election nears, and he's clearly counting on it.6 In ads and in interviews with supporters, it is the message the White House is pushing. This is not a small point. There's something to be said for certainty and clarity of purpose. After all, leader of the free world isn't exactly a Magic 8-Ball kind of job.7 It helps to have some idea of what exactly you want to do when you get the keys to the Oval Office8.
And the president has seldom wavered9. If the question has to do with the economy, the answer is almost certainly tax cuts. On public education, a question that has bedeviled this country for years, the president believes in testing to measure results and then forcing changes in failing schools.10 On the "war on terror", the president has shown he will use force, going it alone if necessary, to remove harmful elements.11 Yet, Bush's image as a "strong leader" may miss the point. The real question voters face this November is not whether Mr. Bush is decisive, rather it is whether his decisiveness and single-minded approach to problems misses important subtleties.12
The White House likes to portray the president as the can-do CEO of a large efficient corporation or as a plain-spoken cowboy trying to bring a little common sense to a double-talking town.13 The best metaphor, however, is more 21st century. What we have in Washington today is the nation's first digital presidency with Bush as our CPU (central processing unit) in chief.14 And that presents real perils for his reelection and his presidency. Like all computers, the president moves quickly and crisply, but the very thing that allows him to move so fast, a preprogrammed set of assumptions15 on most issues, can lead (and has led) to poor choices. This administration sees the world in binary code (good/evil, right/wrong).16 A series of if/then statements determines the course of action. And once the decision has been made, there's no questioning it. Examples abound.17
If we cut taxes, then the economy will improve. This is a fact in the president's mind. You say the evidence hasn't borne this out so far? You say the cuts have led to massive deficits? That's irrelevant. Don't you know the if/then sequence?18 If we make schools accountable, then they'll fix their problems. This is obviously true, because it's true in business, the Education secretary has said. You believe there is a fundamental difference between what the schools do and what, say, Ford does? You think there are a bunch of ingrained societal problems that drag some schools down?19 You simply don't understand.
But the most glaring mistake so far, and the one getting the most attention now, is Iraq. If we invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein, then we will be embraced as liberators and able to establish a democracy there. The simplicity here is breathtaking. It is as though no one at the White House ever considered the possibility that the Iraqis may hate Hussein and still not love the US.20 Now, faced with revolts21 around Iraq, the administration says not to worry, because it's just a small minority and most of the Iraqis like what the US is doing there. Maybe, but do they like the US plan for the future and are they willing to fight for it? Are they really ready for a democracy? Are they really ready for us to turn over power at last? And to whom will we turn it over, exactly? Somewhere at the White House there probably are clear, strong
-leader, if/then answers to those questions. At some point, the administration may even share them. When you hear them, listen carefully, simple, definitive answers can be comforting ?but in a complicated world, they often don't compute22. If they don't compute by November, voters will be looking to reboot the political system ?and the president, strong leader and all, will likely find himself booted from office.23-
1. 你可以向他提出各方面的問(wèn)題，如教育、經(jīng)濟(jì)、恐怖主義等，他都能給你個(gè)答案，而且通常是簡(jiǎn)單直接的那種。pose：提出(問(wèn)題、聲明等)；a variety of：各種各樣的，后一個(gè)variety是“種類(lèi)”的意思。
2. 在這段困難重重的時(shí)期當(dāng)中，這就是布什總統(tǒng)的競(jìng)選優(yōu)勢(shì)。bumpy：困難重重的；patch：<主英>期間，一段時(shí)間。
3. poll：民意測(cè)驗(yàn)。
4. John Kerry：約翰·克里，美國(guó)民主黨總統(tǒng)候選人，來(lái)自馬薩諸塞州，為布什的主要競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。
5. 他們可以強(qiáng)調(diào)一個(gè)幾乎所有調(diào)查得出的可靠結(jié)果——布什先生被視為一位強(qiáng)有力的。他堅(jiān)定果決，知道自己想要什么。
6. 就連他的對(duì)手們也不得不承認(rèn)這一點(diǎn)。在大選來(lái)臨之際這成了總統(tǒng)(布什)手里的“王牌”，顯然他也指望著它(能幫自己爭(zhēng)得勝利)。concede：(不情愿地)承認(rèn)，承認(rèn)……為真(或正確)；ace：A紙牌(在多數(shù)牌戲中常作贏牌使用)。
7. 這一點(diǎn)非同小可。堅(jiān)決果斷、目的明確(的這種素質(zhì))值得特別提一下，畢竟，自由世界領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人(的職責(zé))并非只是回答“是”或“不是”那么簡(jiǎn)單。Magic 8-Ball：一種玩具，玩家提出一個(gè)問(wèn)題，然后轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)小球得到答案，其設(shè)定的答案通常都較簡(jiǎn)單，如yes / no類(lèi)。
8. Oval Office：(美國(guó)白宮的)橢圓形辦公室，即總統(tǒng)辦公室。
9. waver：舉棋不定，猶豫不決。
10. 在公共教育這一困擾美國(guó)多年的問(wèn)題上，總統(tǒng)認(rèn)為要通過(guò)檢查來(lái)衡量各個(gè)學(xué)校的成效，繼而對(duì)不合格學(xué)校進(jìn)行強(qiáng)制改革。bedevil：使困惑，使受挫。
11. 在“反恐戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)”問(wèn)題上，總統(tǒng)已經(jīng)表明他將動(dòng)用武力鏟除邪惡勢(shì)力，如果必要不惜單干。此處going it alone指在沒(méi)有得到國(guó)際社會(huì)廣泛支持的情況下采取行動(dòng)。
12. 11月大選中選民面對(duì)的真正問(wèn)題不在于布什先生果斷與否，而是他那種堅(jiān)定果斷、一意孤行的辦事方法是否忽視了某些重要的微妙之處。November：指代美國(guó)大選(美國(guó)大選通常在當(dāng)年的11月的第二個(gè)星期二進(jìn)行，故有用November或Tuesday指代美國(guó)大選的用法)；subtlety：微妙(之處)，奧妙(之處)。
13. 白宮喜歡將總統(tǒng)描繪成一家高效的大公司里富有干勁的首席執(zhí)行官，或是一個(gè)說(shuō)話直率的牛仔，力圖給空話連篇的城鎮(zhèn)帶來(lái)一點(diǎn)常識(shí)。can-do：干勁十足的；double-talking：含糊其詞的，講空話的。
14. 然而，的比喻是更有21世紀(jì)特點(diǎn)的。今天華盛頓擁有的是第一個(gè)數(shù)字總統(tǒng)內(nèi)閣，布什是我們總的中央處理器。metaphor：比喻，隱喻；presidency: <美>(包括各行政，決策部門(mén)的)總統(tǒng)直屬機(jī)構(gòu)。(此處將布什政府比作計(jì)算機(jī)，以下幾段均使用計(jì)算機(jī)語(yǔ)言，用以形象地說(shuō)明該政府處理問(wèn)題的方式過(guò)于程序化。)
15. a preprogrammed set of assumptions：一整套預(yù)編的假設(shè)。
16. 這個(gè)政府用二進(jìn)制代碼(好/壞，對(duì)/錯(cuò))來(lái)看待世界。binary: 二進(jìn)制的，只能兩擇其一的，此處是比喻，指布什政府簡(jiǎn)單地劃分世界。
17. 一連串的如果/那么的表述決定了行動(dòng)的進(jìn)程。決定一經(jīng)做出就不容質(zhì)疑。這樣的例子比比皆是。
18. 你說(shuō)迄今為止并沒(méi)有證據(jù)證明這一點(diǎn)？你說(shuō)減稅導(dǎo)致了巨額赤字？那都無(wú)關(guān)緊要。你難道不知道如果/那么序列嗎？ bear out：證實(shí)(報(bào)道或某人的話等)。
19. 你認(rèn)為是一大堆根深蒂固的社會(huì)問(wèn)題令一些學(xué)校停滯不前？drag down: 使社會(huì)地位(或道德水平)下降。
20. 這種簡(jiǎn)單令人震驚。仿佛白宮里從來(lái)沒(méi)人想到伊拉克人可能在憎恨薩達(dá)姆的同時(shí)也不喜歡美國(guó)人。
21. revolt：反抗，起義。
22. compute：計(jì)算，估量(出結(jié)果)，這里指起作用。
23. 如果在11月大選前這些既定的答案沒(méi)能奏效，那么選民們將尋求“重啟”政治系統(tǒng)，而總統(tǒng)無(wú)論再?gòu)?qiáng)硬還是怎么著也可能會(huì)被趕出白宮。reboot：原指“重新啟動(dòng)，將某計(jì)算機(jī)關(guān)掉而后再打開(kāi)”，此處指“選出新政府”；and all：<口>以及其他一切，等等；boot：<口>趕出，攆走