2022年8月18日 星期四

看強生自作孽令人愉悅 The Delightful Implosion of Boris Johnson


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2022/08/19 第396期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 看強生自作孽令人愉悅 The Delightful Implosion of Boris Johnson
At 79, Biden Is Testing the Boundaries of Age and the Presidency 年屆八旬 拜登挑戰美國總統年齡界限
紐時周報精選
 
看強生自作孽令人愉悅 The Delightful Implosion of Boris Johnson
文/Michelle Goldberg
譯/李京倫

看強生自作孽令人愉悅

There isn't much good news in the world these days, so it's worth taking time to appreciate the delightful implosion of soon-to-be former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

最近世界上沒有多少好消息,所以即將成為英國前首相的強生政權令人愉悅的內爆,值得花時間欣賞一下。

His 2019 landslide victory against the hapless Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party seemed to be ushering in a long period of right-wing dominance. Johnson, said The Economist, "is well placed to become one of the most powerful prime ministers in modern times." Less than three years later, undone by scandal, incompetence and the rebellion of his own party, he's announced plans to step aside once a new conservative leader can be found.

強生2019年壓倒性大勝時運不濟的工黨黨魁柯賓,似開啟一段長期由右翼主導的時期。經濟學人雜誌說,強生「有優越條件可成為現代權力最大的首相之一」。不到三年,被醜聞、無能和黨內叛變摧毀的他,宣布只要保守黨選出新黨魁就下台。

Johnson, a nationalist demagogue and mendaciousblowhard, has often been compared to Donald Trump, right down to the poufy yellow hair. Their political careers have certain parallels.

強生是個民族主義煽動家和撒謊的吹牛專家,常被拿來與美國前總統川普相提並論,包括那蓬鬆的金髮。他們的政治生涯有些相似。

The shocking success of the Brexit referendum, the cause Johnson eventually rode to power, presaged Trump's even more shocking presidential victory. Both shared a contempt for truth and the norms of their respective governments.

英國脫歐公投令人震驚的成功,是強生最終躍居權力頂峰的原因,也預示川普更教人驚駭的總統大選勝利。兩人都藐視真相和他們各自政府的規範。

But, of course, Britain and the United States are very different countries. British people are still evidently capable of being shocked by officials' sexual harassment and shameless untruths, even when those officials are on their side. Their country is not heavily armed and does not have a powerful faction that regularly threatens violence. Britain still appears to have some minimal social agreement about acceptable political behavior.

不過,英美兩國當然非常不同。英國人顯然還會因為官員性騷擾和無恥謊言而震驚,即便那些官員屬於他們支持的政黨。他們的國家並未全副武裝,也沒有一個經常威脅動用暴力的有力派系。英國對於可以接受的政治行為,似乎仍有某種最低限度的社會共識。

That was partly because Britain's lockdown was much stricter than ours and applied to the whole country; unlike Trump's partying in 2020, Johnson's violated rules his government was imposing on others. Still, to be really furious at hypocrisy, you have to have some expectation that people in power will follow the rules. And to be shamed by the revelation of hypocrisy, as the Tories seemed to be, you have to accept that the standards applied to others also apply to you.

那種情況部分是因為英國的防疫封鎖比我們美國嚴格很多,而且適用於全國;不像川普2020年的狂歡派對,強生的派對違反他的政府施加於別人的規則。不過,要對虛偽由衷憤怒,你得抱持某種期待,冀望掌權者遵守規則。要對虛偽情事被揭發感到丟臉,就像保守黨員看來那樣,你得相信適用於別人的標準同樣適用於你。

Johnson's career is ending, at least for now, the way Trump's should have ended — with public revulsion leading his own party to oust him. Like Trump, Johnson initially wanted to cling to power when it was no longer feasible; unlike with Trump, there was never a prospect of him summoning an armed mob. Watching Johnson's fall after living through Trump is like chasing a slasher film with a cozy mystery. Both may be murder stories, but only one has a reassuring order to it.

強生的政治生涯結束了,至少目前如此,因大眾的厭惡引發他自己的黨推翻他。川普的政治生涯也該這樣結束。跟川普一樣,強生大勢已去時一開始也曾想緊抓權力;不像川普的是,強生完全沒機會召集武裝暴民。經歷過整個川普時期再來看強生下台,就像看一部帶有安逸推理小說味道的血腥恐怖片。兩者可能都是謀殺劇,但只有一個有令人寬慰的秩序。

 
At 79, Biden Is Testing the Boundaries of Age and the Presidency 年屆八旬 拜登挑戰美國總統年齡界限
文/Peter Baker
譯/李京倫

年屆八旬 拜登挑戰美國總統年齡界限

Biden, at 79, Shows Signs of Age And Aides Fret About His Image.

79歲的拜登出現了衰老跡象,幕僚們為他的形象而煩惱。

As Biden insists he plans to run for a second term, his age has increasingly become an uncomfortable issue for him, his team and his party.

美國總統拜登堅稱打算爭取第二任期之際,他的年紀對他、他的團隊和政黨愈來愈是個令人不自在的議題。

Just a year and a half into his first term, Biden is already more than a year older than Ronald Reagan was at the end of two terms. If he mounts another campaign in 2024, Biden would be asking the country to elect a leader who would be 86 at the end of his tenure, testing the outer boundaries of age and the presidency. Polls show many Americans consider Biden too old, and some Democratic strategists do not think he should run again.

拜登第一任期才過一年半,他已經比故總統雷根做滿兩任時還要老一歲多。如果拜登2024年競選連任,就是在要求美國選出一名卸任時已86歲的領袖,不啻測試年齡與總統職務的外圍界線。民調顯示,許多美國人認為拜登太老,一些民主黨策士認為他不應競選連任。

His energy level, while impressive for a man of his age, is not what it was, and some aides quietly watch out for him. He often shuffles when he walks, and aides worry he will trip on a wire. He stumbles over words during public events, and they hold their breath to see if he makes it to the end without a gaffe.

就拜登這個年紀的男性而言,拜登的精力令人印象深刻,但畢竟不如以往,一些幕僚暗暗關切他。他常拖著腳走路,幕僚擔心他絆倒。他在公開活動致詞時結結巴巴,幕僚屏息看著他能否不失言講到最後。

Biden has said questions about his fitness are reasonable to ask even as he reassures Americans that he is in good shape. Even for some admirers, though, the question is whether that will last six more years.

拜登說過,質疑他的健康合情合理,同時他向國人保證自己身體很好。不過即使是部分仰慕者也想問,他能否再維持健康六年。

"I do feel it's inappropriate to seek that office after you're 80 or in your 80s," said David Gergen, a top adviser to four presidents. "I have just turned 80, and I have found over the last two or three years I think it would have been unwise for me to try to run any organization. You're not quite as sharp as you once were."

曾任美國四位總統首席顧問的葛根說:「我確實覺得80歲以上的人不適合選總統。我剛滿80歲,我發現過去兩三年我不適合管理任何組織。因為你不像以前敏銳。」

Everyone ages differently, of course, and some experts put Biden in a category of "superagers" who remain unusually fit as they advance in years.

當然,每個人老化的速度不同,部分專家把拜登歸類為「超級老人」,也就是雖然年紀漸長但仍然非常健康的人。

"Right now, there's no evidence that the age of Biden should matter one ounce," said S. Jay Olshansky, a longevity specialist at the University of Illinois Chicago who studied the candidates' ages in 2020. "If people don't like his policies, they don't like what he says, that's fine, they can vote for someone else. But it's got nothing to do with how old he is."

曾研究2020年美國總統大選候選人年紀的芝加哥伊利諾大學長壽專家奧爾尚斯基說:「現在並無證據顯示,拜登的年齡有絲毫重要性。如果人們不喜歡他的政策,就不會喜歡他說的話,那也很好,他們可以投票選擇其他人。不過這跟拜登多老無關。」

Still, Olshansky said it was legitimate to wonder if that would remain so at 86. "That's the right question to be asking," he said. "You can't sugarcoat aging. Things go wrong as we get older, and the risks rise the older we get."

不過,奧爾尚斯基說,懷疑拜登86歲能否保持健康不無道理。他說:「那是該問的問題。你不能掩飾老化。當我們變老時,會有一些事出問題,我們愈老,風險就愈高。」

 
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