美国国家公共电台 NPR--The country's polarization has made political dynasties irrelevant

The country's polarization has made political dynasties irrelevant¹

Transcript²

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks to Allan Lichtman, a professor of history at American University, about Liz Cheney's political career after her Wyoming primary loss, and the political dynasties.

: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: In this report, Allan Lichtman mistakenly says Liz Cheney voted with former President Bush 90% of the time. He meant to say she voted with then-President Donald Trump³ 90% of the time. He also mistakenly says George P. Bush lost a statewide election in Florida; he meant to say Texas.]

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

There was a moment when it seemed that Liz Cheney's brand, her family name, might sustain her. She is, of course, the daughter of former Vice⁴ President Dick Cheney. He was a graduate of the University of Wyoming more than half a century ago. And he was, himself, elected to Congress in Wyoming as long ago as 1978. Allan Lichtman is professor of history at American University. Good morning.

ALLAN LICHTMAN: Good morning.

INSKEEP: Isn't there a tradition of politics as a family business?

LICHTMAN: You know, that genteel tradition has been shattered in America by two enormous historical forces. One is political polarization, which has made ideology⁵ or adherence⁶ to the party line - in this case, the Trump party line - vastly more important than name recognition, political connections and organization. Based on all of those factors, Liz Cheney, a household word, should have won overwhelmingly in Wyoming. She got slaughtered⁷. The other thing that has undermined political dynasties, of course, is the rise of social media, which is an alternative way to raise funds and to organize. So it's not just Liz Cheney who kind of marked the end of a dynasty. It's also George P. Bush in Florida, who got slaughtered in a primary election against a very vulnerable attorney general.

INSKEEP: I think you're telling me that in a past era, if someone like Liz Cheney had broken with the president of her party, she might have been able to rely on that family name, might have been able to rely on that brand to make connections of her own with voters.

LICHTMAN: That's absolutely right - at one time, but no longer. Brands mean very little. Name recognition means less and less. And family connections have now become, essentially⁸, irrelevant. The Clinton dynasty, the Cheney dynasty, the Bush dynasty - all gone, swept away by history.

INSKEEP: And it's interesting also here that we're talking about social media, because one thing that that has done is increasingly nationalized politics. We could not say that the Cheney's have deep roots in Wyoming and a deep connection to Wyoming because that election, that primary election yesterday, was about national issues and, essentially, what do you think of Donald Trump?

LICHTMAN: Yeah. It wasn't about issues at all. Let me make that clear. Liz Cheney is a staunch conservative. She voted over 90% of the time with Bush. She's perfectly⁹ in step with the conservative ideology of her party. She rarely voted with Joe Biden. This had nothing whatsoever¹⁰ to do with issues and everything to do with adhering to the big lie, which has now become the basis of the Republican Party.

INSKEEP: But you're pointing to an interesting irony¹¹ here. You're saying that family name doesn't mean anything, but there is one name that means everything. I think you're telling me that wherever Donald Trump wants to go, whatever he wants to say - and this is a thing that the former president has explicitly¹² said since his remark about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. Wherever he wants to - anything that he wants to say, anything that he attaches his name to, a large number of voters will follow there.

LICHTMAN: That's absolutely right. And, you know, in a sense, we now have a party built on Trump's lies because Trump's entire brand is based upon lies upon lies, upon lies, because for him, truth is purely¹³ transactional. What is in it for me? That's why I am utterly¹⁴ baffled by all of these experts who say, oh, in considering the prosecution¹⁵ of Trump, does he really believe he won the election? That's, you know, the Zen word; unask (ph) that question. That's not how Donald Trump operates.

And, you know, they're kind of - the Republican Party is in danger of going down the same dark corner as the Democratic Party in the 19th century, when you had - in the South, when you had a party built upon lies, upon the lie that Black people were inferior and could not be integrated into American society. And you had to adopt segregation¹⁶. And Jim Crow was very authoritarian¹⁷. And Republicans are going down an authoritarian and dangerous path as well. That's why...

INSKEEP: Let me ask about - in the few seconds we have left, though, let me follow up on that, because I talked to enough Republicans to know that there are a lot of Republicans who know that Trump lied. Even if they still support Trump, they - even if they vote for him again, they know that he lied. And you have Cheney, who, even if she's defeated, is not done. As we heard Deirdre Walsh report, she is planning to launch a new organization to, quote, "educate the American people about the ongoing¹⁸ threat to our Republic." And she has millions of dollars. Could she still make an impact?

LICHTMAN: Absolutely. She has her eye on history. Look; it could be one of 435 in the House. This person who defeated her will be historically irrelevant. Cheney is trying to make her mark on history. That's where she has her eye. But it's going to be very, very difficult to move the Republican Party, as we saw the Republican Party, the party of the police, calling for dismantling¹⁹ the FBI because they launched a perfectly legal search on Donald Trump's home, where apparently²⁰, he has national security secrets that endanger the nation.

INSKEEP: Allan Lichtman, professor of history at American University, pleasure talking with you. Thanks so much.

LICHTMAN: Same here. Take care.

1 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 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。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

6 adherence   

n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着

参考例句：

• He was well known for his adherence to the rules.他因遵循这些规定而出名。
• The teacher demanded adherence to the rules.老师要求学生们遵守纪律。

7 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

11 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

12 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

13 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

14 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

15 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

16 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

17 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

18 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

19 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。