美国国家公共电台 NPR After Parkland Shooting, Conservative Media Criticize Calls For Stricter Gun Laws

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Those students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School also have their eye on Congress. They're planning a big gun control rally in Washington next month. They've received a lot of praise from around the country, but as North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann reports, the students are also getting pushback from conservative media.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE¹: Yesterday afternoon, Cameron Kasky was doing live TV appearances one after another.

CAMERON KASKY: Yeah, I don't know if you saw us on the networks today. Everybody's listening. Everybody cares.

MANN: Kasky is a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a survivor² of Wednesday's mass shooting. He's one of the organizers of the Never Again movement. He says it's time for new gun control laws, safer schools, an end to the NRA's powerful role in American politics.

KASKY: Change is going to be seen everywhere. If people can't sleep at night knowing that they've lost family members, they can at least know that nobody else is going to have to do that again.

MANN: These kids have blown up on TV and across social media, but there's one place where their message is falling flat.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY")

CHRIS WALLACE: Now let's bring in the king of conservative talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, live from...

MANN: In conservative media - the TV, websites and talk radio favored by tens of millions of Americans - the Parkland story sounds very different. Limbaugh appeared on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY")

WALLACE: What do you think of this idea of students mobilizing across the country, a march on Washington, a march in communities?

MANN: Limbaugh described the Parkland students as articulate and angry, but he also said they're being used by the left and by Democrats³ in a bid to take away people's gun rights. The real answer, Limbaugh said, is more guns in schools.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY")

RUSH LIMBAUGH: The solution, to me - and I know this is going to cause all kinds of angst - the solution is we need concealed⁴ carry in these schools.

MANN: Across conservative media, the narrative⁵ after Parkland is that shootings like this aren't really about guns. They're about a breakdown⁶ in the fabric⁷ of American society, about disintegrating⁸ families, a lack of Christian⁹ values. Tucker Carlson founded a popular conservative website called Daily Caller and hosts a show on Fox.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TUCKER CARLSON: Every thoughtful person knows something horrible is going on in American society. Tragedies like this happen for a reason, and it probably doesn't have a lot to do with guns.

MANN: This is a message that Republican politicians in particular hear a lot in the media they follow most closely. It was echoed in President Trump¹⁰'s speech to the nation right after the Parkland shooting.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We must also work together to create a culture in our country that embraces the dignity of life, that creates deep and meaningful human connections, and that turns classmates and colleagues into friends and neighbors.

MANN: A lot of Americans agree. They say guns aren't the problem. Mimi and Manuel Garcia from North Carolina were visiting the Parkland area this week, donating blood after the shooting.

MIMI GARCIA: Unfortunately, there's evil in the world. And, you know, people are just going, you know, for that instead of, you know, peace, love and God, you know?

MANUEL GARCIA: I believe that, you know, a lot of things are happening because we took God out of the school system. We took prayer out of the school system. And this is why all this is happening.

MANN: If you believe this, that society is breaking down, then more guns might seem like a reasonable response, a last-ditch way to keep teachers and students safe. Sabrina Belony is a stay-at-home mom in Fort Lauderdale.

SABRINA BELONY: I feel like they should put guns in the classrooms now with the teachers. I feel like teachers should be trained to be armed for something because teachers lost their lives trying to protect his class.

MANN: The kids who formed the Never Again movement have no patience for this idea that culture is to blame for Wednesday's massacre¹¹. They say Parkland is already a great town, a tight-knit community with strong values. They say the real problem is that weak gun laws allowed one deeply troubled teen to buy a semi-automatic rifle legally. Emma Gonzalez, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior, spoke¹² at an anti-gun rally over the weekend.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

EMMA GONZALEZ: Every politician who is taking donations from the NRA, shame on you.

(CHEERING)

MANN: So far, at least, their message is getting heard. Gonzalez's speech went viral on social media, and the students have scheduled a town hall-style meeting for Wednesday that will air on CNN. Senator Marco Rubio, an outspoken¹³ ally of the NRA, is scheduled to be there, listening. Brian Mann, NPR News, Parkland, Fla.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE END OF THE OCEAN'S "WORTH EVERYTHING EVER WISHED FOR")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

5 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

6 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

7 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

8 disintegrating   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• As a poetic version of a disintegrating world, this one pleased him. 作为世界崩溃论在文学上的表现，他非常喜欢这个学说。 来自辞典例句
• Soil animals increase the speed of litter breakdown by disintegrating tissue. 土壤动物通过分解组织，加速落叶层降解的速度。 来自辞典例句

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 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。

11 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。