时代周刊 总统议程最有力的执行者 杰夫·塞申斯(2)（在线收听）

Even if his tenure ends tomorrow, Sessions would have a legacy that will affect millions of Americans.

即使他的任期明天就结束，塞申斯也还是会影响到无数美国人。

He has dramatically shifted the orientation of the Justice Department,

他戏剧性地改变了司法部的定位，

pulling back from police oversight and civil rights enforcement and pushing a hard-line approach to drugs, gangs and immigration violations.

降低了警察监管和民权法执法的力度，对毒品、犯罪团伙和违反移民法的行为推行强硬态度。

He has cast aside his predecessors’ attempts to rectify inequities in the criminal-justice system in favor of a maximalist approach to prosecuting and jailing criminals.

他抛弃了前任们试图纠正刑事司法系统中不公平现象的做法，转而采用最高原则起诉和监禁罪犯。

He has rescinded the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and reversed its stances on voting rights and transgender rights.

他还废除了奥巴马政府的 “童年抵美者暂缓遣返”(DACA)计划，并转变了政府在投票权和变性人权利等方面的立场。

“I am thrilled to be able to advance an agenda that I believe in,” he told a group of federal prosecutors in Lexington later that day.

当天晚些时候，他在莱克星顿对一群联邦检察官表示：“能够推进我相信的议程，我感到十分激动。”

“I believed in it before I came here, and I’ll believe in it when I’m gone.”

“来这儿之前我就相信它，以后我也会继续相信它。”

Sessions’ liberal critics agree that he’s been remarkably effective.

自由派批评者一致认为，塞申斯在在任期间工作效率非常高。

That’s why they find him so frightening.

也正因为如此他们才觉得他十分可怕。

He has, they charge, put the full force of law behind Trump’s racially coded rhetoric.

他们指控塞申斯，称他在特朗普种族歧视言论的背后赋予了充分的法律力量。

“The Justice Department is supposed to be protecting people, keeping people safe and affirming our basic rights,” says Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey,

“司法部应该保护人民，保障人民的安全，维护我们的基本权利，” 新泽西州的民主党参议员科里·布克说，

a Democrat who took the extraordinary step of testifying against a fellow Senator during Sessions’ confirmation hearings last year.

他曾在去年塞申斯的任命听证会上做出了作证反对一名参议员同僚这一不同寻常的举动。

“But he has rolled back the Justice Department’s efforts to do that.”

“但他让司法部的这些努力都倒退了。”

The irony of Sessions’ position is that the same critics who despise his policy initiatives are adamant that Trump should not remove him.

关于塞申斯的职位，讽刺的是，坚决认为特朗普不应该把他赶下台的，正是那些鄙视他的政策举措的人士。

“Jef Sessions is not acting in defense of the rights of Americans. He should not be in that job,” Booker told me.

“杰夫·塞申斯并不是在为美国人民声张权利。他就不应被任命为美国司法部部长，”布克告诉我。

“But I do not think he should be fired for the reasons Donald Trump would fire him.”

“但我觉得，他不应该因为唐纳德·特朗普会视为解雇他的理由的那些原因被解雇。”

As the chaos in the White House rages and threatens to consume him, Sessions professes to pay it no heed.

当白宫混乱肆虐并且几乎就要吞噬他的时候，塞申斯声称对此毫不在意。

“I want to do what the President wants me to do,” he said in his slow, drawling voice, his blue-green eyes peering over the top of his glasses.

“我想做好总统想让我做的工作，”他一边用蓝绿色的眼睛往眼镜上方瞥了一眼，一边用慢吞吞、拖拖拉拉的语气说到。

A wry smirk lifted a corner of his lips.

他的嘴角浮现出了一丝苦笑。

“But I do feel like we’re advancing the agenda that he believes in. And what’s good for me is it’s what I believe in too.”

“但我确实觉得我们有在推进他相信的议程。对我来说，这件事好就好在，总统相信的议程恰好也是我相信的。”

IT WAS A BRISK, SUNNY DAY in Lexington, with dirty clumps of snow still clinging to the ground.

那是莱克星顿一个阳光明媚的日子，地上仍残留着一簇簇脏雪。

Sessions marched across the tarmac into the waiting motorcade.

塞申斯穿过停机坪走向等候的车队。

At 71, he is full of energy, and his slight stature and elfin ears give him a buoyancy that belies his severe views.

尽管已经71岁了，他还是显得精力充沛，与他严肃的观点相反，他那瘦小的身材和精灵般的耳朵反而给他的形象增添了一丝活泼。

His bright eyes and upturned mouth make him look like he’s smiling even when he’s delivering a jeremiad against criminals or foreigners.

即使他是在哀诉罪犯或外国人，他那明亮的眼眸和上扬的嘴唇也让他看起来像是在微笑一般。