VOA常速英语2014--奥巴马大使提名被批基于政治捐款

 

Obama Draws Fire for Ambassador Nominations 奥巴马大使提名被批基于政治捐款

WHITE HOUSE—

The Obama administration has drawn² criticism for appointing an unusual number of political donors³ as ambassadors. That criticism peaked this week after the Senate confirmed a soap opera producer with little knowledge of Hungary to serve as ambassador to that country.

白宫— 奧巴马政府提名大量竞选资金捐助者出任大使而受到批评。参议院这个星期批准对匈牙利几乎一无所知的肥皂剧制作人担任匈牙利大使以后，对奥巴马政府的批评达到高峰。

It is not unusual for presidents to name campaign donors to ambassador posts, but scenes such as the sharp questioning at a congressional hearing on the nomination¹ of ambassadors to Iceland and Norway have fueled extra criticism.

总统提名竞选捐助人担任大使并非异乎寻常，但是美国驻冰岛和挪威大使提名确认等国会听证会引发了更多的批评。

They might not have the resume, but they have been hefty campaign donors and fundraisers.

他们可能资历不够，但曾经是竞选捐款和筹款的大户。

Donations, political appointees

The cost of an ambassador post? Half a million dollars or more in donations is the average some appointees have donated or gathered for the president’s party, according to Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics.

出任大使需要多少钱？政治响应研究中心的希拉·克鲁霍尔说，要想得到政治任命，平均要为总统的政党捐助或者筹集50万美元以上。

“The unfortunate reality, though, is that some of these people are not qualified⁴, and they are getting to the front of the line," Krumholz said. " In fact, they are performing an end run around more qualified candidates because of how much they are giving to the campaign and the parties."

他说：“然而不幸的现实是，他们中有些人资历不合格，但是却排名在前。事实上，他们因为为竞选和政党捐助的资金数目而得以能够跳过更多合格的人选而名列前茅。”

Robert Silverman, president of the American Foreign Service Association, believes the practice jeopardizes⁵ U.S. foreign policy when it comes to strategically important countries.

美国外交协会主席罗伯特·西尔弗曼认为，在涉及具有重要战略意义的国家时，这种做法有损美国的外交政策

“It’s one thing to be sending a non-career person to a small island country, say Palau, where we have a traditionally good relationship, where there are no issues that would come up. It’s another thing to be sending a brand new person, who’s never worked in this field to a country like Hungary, and we have concerns about that,” said Silverman.

。他说：“将一个非专业人士派往象帕劳这样的小岛国是一回事，因为我们传统上与其有着友好关系，两国关系不会出现问题。但是，派一个没有任何相关外交经验的新手去匈牙利这样的国家担任大使则是另一回事，我们感到担心。”

Soap opera producer

Obama’s pick for ambassador to Hungary? Colleen Bell, producer of a soap opera called “The Bold and the Beautiful.” She was confirmed this month, despite objections of Republicans, including Senator John McCain.

奥巴马总统提名的匈牙利大使是科琳·贝尔，她是肥皂剧《勇敢与美丽》的制片人。尽管受到包括麦凯恩参议员等共和党人的反对，但是她的提名不久前仍然获得参议院确认。

“I am not against political appointees. I am not against -- I understand how the game is played, but here we are, a nation that is on the verge⁶ of ceding⁷ its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator, getting in bed with Vladimir Putin, and we're going to send the producer of 'The Bold and the Beautiful' as our representative," said McCain.

麦凯恩参议员说：“我不是反对政治任命。我并不反对，因为我了解游戏规则。但现在事关一个濒于向新法西斯独裁者割让主权、与普京狼狈为奸的国家，而我们要派《勇敢与美丽》的制片人去那里当大使….”

Obama’s spokesman, Josh Earnest, was pressed to say whether Bell’s donations are what qualified her for the job.

“She is somebody who retains the confidence -- well, let me say it this way: Ambassador Bell has the President’s confidence that she will do an excellent job representing the United States and maintaining the important relationship that the United States has with the government and the people of Hungary.”

在被追问贝尔是否由于政治捐款才让她能担任大使时，奥巴马总统的发言人欧内斯特说：“她是很有自信的人，让我这样说吧：贝尔大使赢得了总统的信任，相信她会出色地代表美国，维护美国与匈牙利政府和人民的重要关系。”

While Obama is not the first to appoint political loyalists in place of career diplomats⁸, analysts⁹ say he has done so more often: 40 percent of his ambassadors are political appointees compared to 30 percent under Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

虽然奥巴马总统不是第一位将政治效忠者任命为职业外交官的总统，但是分析人士说，他比其他总统走得更远：在他任内，40%的大使是政治任命，而乔治· W· 布什和克林顿两位总统的的任期内，这个比例是30%。

1 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。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

5 jeopardizes   

危及，损害( jeopardize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• If your reckless behavior jeopardizes this mission, you're out! 如果你不注意你的言行，会危及到这次任务你也会被开除！
• Factionalism now seriously jeopardizes our overall interest. 现在闹派性已经严重地妨害我们的大局。

6 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

7 ceding   

v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was ceding line but more slowly all the time. 他正在放出钓索，然而越来越慢了。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
• Settlement would require ceding some Egyptian territory. 解决办法将要求埃及让出一些领土。 来自辞典例句

8 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。