美国国家公共电台 NPR Seattle Mayor Drops Re-Election Bid, Says Sex Abuse Allegations Are Untrue

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The mayor of Seattle announced Tuesday that he is not running for re-election. This is because of allegations that he sexually abused minors² three decades ago. NPR's Martin Kaste has more from Seattle.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE³: Ed Murray's a skilled, bare-knuckled politician, and it was assumed that he'd cruise to re-election this year. But a few weeks ago, he was sued by a man named Delvonn Heckard. He says back in the '80s, Murray paid him for sex when Heckard was still a minor¹. That suit echoed claims made by other men a decade ago, but Murray vehemently⁴ denied wrongdoing. He even got a doctor to rebut⁵ certain anatomical evidence that was offered by his accuser. But finally, yesterday, Murray gave up on re-election.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

ED MURRAY: The allegations against me paint me in the worst possible historic portraits of a gay man. The allegations against me are not true, and I say this with all honesty and with the deepest sincerity⁶. But the scandal surrounding them and me is hurting this city.

KASTE: It's a sobering end to the political career of a man who pushed through civil unions in the state legislature and then became Seattle's first mayor in a same-sex marriage. Geov Parrish is a political analyst⁷ here. He'd urged Murray to bow out, but he says there are some lingering misgivings⁸ about how these unproven allegations have brought this mayor down.

GEOV PARRISH: The gay community is really concerned about how this applies to them, especially gay men, because of course the conservative critique of gay men in caricature for many, many years was, well, you know, we're all pedophiles.

KASTE: But in the end, Seattle's liberal political establishment turned its back on Murray, in large part because of the aggressive way he attacked the credibility of his accusers, who have criminal records. Many here saw that as blaming the victim. Parrish says that if these claims don't stick in court, it will be very sad that they were enough to end Murray's political career. Martin Kaste, NPR News, Seattle.

(SOUNDBITE OF LEWIS PARKER'S "RISE")

1 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

2 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

5 rebut   

v.辩驳，驳回

参考例句：

• He attempted to rebut the assertions made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳控方证人所作的断言。
• This open letter is to rebut the argument of abstractionism.这封公开信是反驳抽象派论点的。

6 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》