VOA常速英语2014--奥巴马大使提名被批基于政治捐款（在线收听）

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 drawn criticism for appointing an unusual number of political donors 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 nomination 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 qualified, 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 jeopardizes 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 verge of ceding 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 diplomats, analysts 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%。