时代周刊:众议院议长保罗·瑞安意外退出(1)

Speaker Paul Ryan’s surprise exit

众议院议长保罗·瑞安意外退出

By Philip Elliott

文/菲利普·艾略特

HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN AND WHITE HOUSE chief of staff John Kelly made the obligatory¹ small talk

四月初，在奥斯汀的一家酒店共乘一部电梯时，

as they shared an elevator in a hotel in Austin in early April.

众议院议长保罗·瑞安和白宫首席发言人约翰·凯利两人进行了义务式的寒暄。

They asked about each other’s families, groused² about allergy³ season and complained that hotels are always too air-conditioned.

他们互相询问了对方的家庭情况，并对过敏季节和酒店的空调总是开得太大发了发牢骚。

But hanging in the air between them, Ryan told friends, was a mutual⁴ sympathy for their shared burden: President Donald J. Trump⁵.

但两人都笼罩在，瑞安告诉朋友们，他们对同时压在两人肩上的负担——唐纳德·特朗普的同情之下。

There wasn’t much to say, really, or much to be done.

不过，已经没什么可说，也没什么可做了。

Both have found working with the President to be an infinitely⁶ frustrating⁷ task.

两人都觉得和总统共事是一项让人无比泄气的工作。

Both had resigned themselves to trying to limit the damage.

但两人也都接受了自己要努力减少损失的责任。

Washington has long simmered with talk that Kelly had reached a breaking point and was on his way out,

长期以来，华盛顿一直有凯利已经到了崩溃的边缘，即将脱离白宫的传言在酝酿着，

but as it happened, it was Ryan who exited first.

结果反而是瑞安先退出。

On April 11, Ryan strode to the podium at the Capitol

4月11日，瑞安大步走向国会大厦的讲台，

and declared that he would not seek an 11th term representing his hometown in a southern corner of Wisconsin.

宣布他不会再争取代表家乡，威斯康辛州南部的一个角落，的第11个任期了。

True to form, Ryan put the most optimistic spin he could on the situation.

像往常一样，瑞恩对形势做出了最乐观的预测。

“You realize that you hold the office for just a small part of our history, so you better make the most of it.

“意识到你的任期仅仅是历史长河中的一瞬，你最好充分利用好那段时间。

It’s fleeting⁸, and that inspires you to do big things,” he said.

因为它转眼就会过去，你会因此得到大展拳脚的动力，”他说。

But Ryan’s departure marks a dangerous moment for his party.

不过，瑞安的离开也标志着共和党已经陷入了危险。

The 48-year-old Speaker was once the face of its future.

因为这位48岁的议长曾经代表着共和党的未来。

Now his exit serves as a warning to House Republicans that they could well lose their majority in the fall elections.

现在，他的退出等于是向众议院的共和党人发出了一个警告：他们很可能在秋季的中期选举中失去多数党地位。

It sends a signal to conservatives that the real fight remains⁹ keeping control of the Senate.

他的退出也向保守派发出了一个信号，即斗争的核心仍然是保持对参议院的控制。

And it shows just how much the party is struggling in the Trump era.

不仅如此，他的退出还显示了共和党在特朗普时代举步维艰到了何种程度。

RYAN’S TIME atop the House was never going to be easy; he didn’t even want the job in the first place.

瑞安领导众议院的日子从来都不会轻松；他一开始甚至都没想要做这份工作。

Drafted into service in 2015 by strategists who thought he could bridge the chasm¹¹ between the party’s Establishment and activist¹² wings

2015年前议长约翰·博纳意外退休后，

in the wake of former Speaker John Boehner’s surprise retirement¹³,

认为他能够弥合党内建党派和活动派之间的鸿沟的战略家们选中了他，

he accepted on the condition that he could spend most weekends at home with his children.

他接受了这份工作，前提是大多数周末他都要能和他的孩子们待在家里。

“You can’t take away my family,” Ryan said at the time.

“你不能夺走我的家庭，”瑞安当时说。

That proved more difficult than Ryan had anticipated, and he again cited family in his retirement announcement.

结果，要做到做一点比瑞安预想的要难，在退休声明中他再次提到了他的家人。

“My kids aren’t getting any younger, and if I stay, they’re only going to know me as a weekend dad.

“我的孩子们一点儿也不会往回长，我要是留下来，他们就只会拿我当周末爸爸了。

And that’s just something I consciously can’t do,” he said at the Capitol.

这种事我是不能有意识地去做的，”他在国会发表退休声明演讲时说到。

Still, the speakership was an outlet¹⁴ for Ryan’s ideological¹⁵ ambitions.

尽管如此，议长一职还是为瑞安实现其思想抱负提供了一个出路。

As Mitt¹⁶ Romney’s pick for Vice¹⁰ President in 2012, he never quite shook the bug¹⁷ for a presidential run of his own.

作为米特·罗姆尼2012年选中的副总统候选人，瑞安从来都没有彻底放弃自己参加总统竞选的可能性。

He brushed off calls to join the race in 2016,

2016年时他虽然没有理会让他参加竞选的呼声，

but withheld¹⁸ his full-throated support for Trump’s candidacy in part

但一定程度上，他还是没有给特朗普的竞选予以全力的支持，

because he had a 2020 run of his own in mind.

因为他有自己参加2020年总统大选的打算。

1 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

2 groused   

v.抱怨，发牢骚( grouse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• When they groused about the parking regulations, they did it with good humor. 他们总是非常幽默地表达对泊车规定的不满。 来自辞典例句
• It was a sad end to her career but she never groused. 这是她事业的不幸结局，但她从不抱怨。 来自辞典例句

3 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

4 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

5 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。

6 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

7 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 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。

11 chasm   

n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突

参考例句：

• There's a chasm between rich and poor in that society.那社会中存在着贫富差距。
• A huge chasm gaped before them.他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。

12 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

13 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

14 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

15 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

16 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

17 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

18 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》