纽约时报 52:48 巴雷特宣誓就任最高法院大法官(4)

Republicans claimed the circumstances were different this time because they control both the White House and the Senate.

共和党人声称这次情况有所不同，因为他们同时控制着白宫和参议院。

But Republicans' hardball tactics were fueling a drive by the party's left flank to seriously consider if they take power eliminating the last remaining vestige¹ of minority rights in the Senate, the legislative² filibuster³.

但共和党的强硬策略促使该党左翼人士认真考虑，如果他们掌权的话，参议院仅存的少数族裔权利残余是否会消失，他们就是立法阻挠者。

They could then proceed to expand the size of the Supreme⁴ Court to install liberal justices.

然后，他们可以着手扩大最高法院的规模，设立自由派法官。

Former Vice⁵ President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee⁷,

民主党总统候选人、前副总统拜登，

and leaders in the Senate have declined to discuss plans that could amount to a significant and potentially destabilizing escalation⁸ in the fight over the judicial⁹ branch.

以及参议院的领导人也拒绝讨论可能导致司法部门争端升级的计划。

But on Monday, even some more moderate senators hinted that the path was open before them if they needed to take it.

但在周一，一些较为温和的参议员甚至暗示，如果他们需要这样做的话，这条道路为他们敞开。

"They expect that they're going to be able to break the rules with impunity¹⁰, and when the shoe maybe is on the other foot, nothing's going to happen,"

“他们希望自己能够不受惩罚地违反规定，反之，什么也不会发生。”

Senator Angus King, independent of Maine, who votes with Democrats¹¹, said of the Republicans.

缅因州独立参议员安格斯·金在谈到共和党时如此表示，他投票支持民主党。

"One of the things that's amazed me since I've come here is how people feel they can do things to one another and never have any consequences."

“我来到这里之后，令我感到很惊讶的一件事是，人们觉得自己可以对别人做一些事情，却不会有任何后果。”

For all of the partisan¹² vitriol, the confirmation¹³ process played out with remarkably¹⁴ little drama.

确认程序明显带有刻薄的党派色彩，而且有些戏剧性。

Republicans quickly coalesced¹⁵ around filling the seat, regardless of whom Mr. Trump¹⁶ nominated,

不管特朗普提名谁，共和党人都会很快地联合起来填补这个席位，

and that left Democrats with very little to do but turn to dilatory¹⁷ tactics and make their case to voters.

这使得民主党人只能采取拖延战术，向选民表明他们的立场。

So rich was the prize that Republicans quickly reversed statements from 2016 and 2020 pledging not to fill an election-year seat until the voters had a say.

奖金如此丰厚，以至于共和党人很快改变了2016年和2020年的声明，承诺在选民有发言权之前不会填补选举年席位。

Judge Barrett's qualifications were really never in question, though she had less experience than some of her recent predecessors¹⁸.

巴雷特法官的资历确实从未受到质疑，尽管她比最近的一些前任法官经验更少。

But in three days of confirmation hearings, she managed to reveal vanishingly little about how she might look at or rule on matters of public interest before the court.

但在为期3天的确认听证会上，她几乎没有透露她在法庭上如何看待或裁决涉及公众利益的事项。

"Judge Barrett may have established herself as the Babe Ruth of saying pretty much nothing," Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat⁶ of Oregon, lamented¹⁹ on Monday.

俄勒冈州民主党参议员罗恩·怀登周一感叹道：“巴雷特法官可能已经把自己塑造成了什么都不说的贝比·鲁斯。”

1 vestige   

n.痕迹，遗迹，残余

参考例句：

• Some upright stones in wild places are the vestige of ancient religions.荒原上一些直立的石块是古老宗教的遗迹。
• Every vestige has been swept away.一切痕迹都被一扫而光。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 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。

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

9 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

10 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

11 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》

12 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

13 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

14 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

15 coalesced   

v.联合，合并( coalesce的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The puddles had coalesced into a small stream. 地面上水洼子里的水汇流成了一条小溪。
• The views of party leaders coalesced to form a coherent policy. 党的领导人的各种观点已统一为一致的政策。 来自辞典例句

16 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。

17 dilatory   

adj.迟缓的，不慌不忙的

参考例句：

• The boss sacked a dilatory worker yesterday.昨天老板开除了一个凡事都爱拖延的人。
• The dilatory limousine came rolling up the drive.那辆姗姗来迟的大型轿车沿着汽车道开了上来。

18 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

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。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》