美国国家公共电台 NPR--Pennsylvania State House candidate describes threats against him

Pennsylvania State House candidate describes threats against him

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Pennsylvania state House candidate Richard Ringer of Uniontown, Pa. about being the target of threats and violence.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The story of one political candidate - he's running for state legislature in Pennsylvania. Richard Ringer lives in Uniontown in a place where he thought he knew the community.

RICHARD RINGER: I grew up here in Fayette County, and this is my childhood, where I grew up, the house I'm living in.

INSKEEP: But he's since learned about something he didn't know - the harder edge of politics. Ringer told police he was attacked in recent days. Now, this attack is murkier² than the one on Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, where the suspect told police he attacked for explicitly³ political motives⁴. But Mr. Ringer reports several incidents. He has a background in journalism⁵ and in politics and then talked over running himself with local Democrats⁷.

RINGER: And they had several in mind. None of them, for various reasons, wanted to jump into the race. And I thought it was crazy that a Democrat⁶ not be in this race. So I threw my hat in. This is the first time I've ever run for office.

INSKEEP: Voters in his district told him they cared about abortion⁸, the economy, crime. They have chosen Donald Trump⁹ in past elections, but redistricting has given Democrats like him a better chance to win. And then something began happening. Words were scrawled¹⁰ in white spray paint on Ringer's garage door.

RINGER: Essentially¹¹, the message on it was your race - meaning my campaign - is dead. Watch yourself. You're going to be next. And I think they were just playing off the idea - trying to be cool - you know, with the idea dead Ringer. It's like...

INSKEEP: I'm trying not to laugh. This is not...

RINGER: Well, I am, too.

INSKEEP: OK, but, I mean, did you take that as an extremely tasteless prank¹² or as a genuine threat?

RINGER: I took it as a threat because I called the Uniontown state police, who came over, and, you know, I filed a report with them.

INSKEEP: What was the next incident?

RINGER: Well, it was last Thursday. I came home. Girlfriend and I went out for dinner. I came home about 11 o'clock. The storm door window was broken. And I opened the door, and there was a brick at the bottom, between the two doors. And that was just like, oh my God, what's going on? And then Monday morning, it's about 5 a.m. I heard somebody was trying to - it sounded to me like they were trying to pull the garage door up. And I looked out the window, and I saw a flashlight going across the yard. And I said, I'm tired of this. So I got dressed and went out through the front door, walked down to the driveway. There's a guy there with his back to me, and I just tackled him, ended up on the ground, and he just started hitting me in the head and in the face, I would say approximately 10 times. He hit me unconscious. You know, when I came to, I have no idea where he left, how he left, who he was. And I just came in and called 911.

INSKEEP: Did you go to the hospital?

RINGER: No, I did not. You know, Tylenol and ice bags the last couple of days have worked wonders for me.

INSKEEP: I just looked up the population of Uniontown, Pa. - 9,803.

RINGER: And it's falling. Yes.

INSKEEP: And you said you grew up there.

RINGER: Yes.

INSKEEP: Is it possible the person or people targeting you is in fact someone who has known you for years?

RINGER: I can't even speculate there. There's been a lot of talk on local radio talk shows this week. Some of the people were just like, you know, denying the - you know, disinformation and misinformation. Somebody else have - you know, I'm just taking a page out of Nancy Pelosi's sympathy book. Well, that's just ridiculous.

INSKEEP: Has any of this changed your view of the wisdom of running for office?

RINGER: Absolutely not.

INSKEEP: You're determined¹³ to go ahead.

RINGER: Oh, absolutely. The only thing that worries me is what impact something like this would have on individuals who were thinking about running for office in the future. And I'm concerned about what might happen on Tuesday with poll workers and people going to the polls.

INSKEEP: How do you feel about your chances on Tuesday?

RINGER: It's going to be tough. It's going to be close.

INSKEEP: Well, Richard Ringer, however it turns out, best of luck to you personally.

RINGER: I certainly appreciate it.

INSKEEP: Richard Ringer is a candidate for state legislature in southwestern Pennsylvania.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 murkier   

adj.阴暗的( murky的比较级 )；昏暗的；（指水）脏的；混浊的

参考例句：

• If not, the outcome may be a lot murkier. 而如不然，结果可能就会更加含糊不清。 来自互联网
• This leads us into the murkier areas of human behaviour. 这让我们看到了人类行为较阴暗的领域。 来自互联网

3 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

5 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

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 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》

8 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

9 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。

10 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。