美国国家公共电台 NPR More Democrats Press Va. Gov. Ralph Northam To Resign

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

After a delay because of the partial government shutdown, President Trump¹ will deliver the State of the Union address Tuesday night. To give the Democratic response, the party has chosen Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia state lawmaker who came within striking distance of becoming the nation's first African-American woman governor. We wanted to talk about what we might expect on a night that focuses the nation's attention on politics, so we've called Congresswoman Karen Bass³ of California. She was recently elected chair of the Congressional Black Caucus⁴. Congresswoman Bass, thank you so much for talking with us.

KAREN BASS: Thank you. Thank you for having me on.

MARTIN: Before we get to the State of the Union night, though, I do want to ask you about a story that is very much front-and-center right now, which is the - Virginia Governor Ralph Northam. The Congressional Black Caucus tweeted, an apology now isn't enough. He must resign. Tell me more about why you say that.

BASS: Well, absolutely. I mean, I think the governor just has absolutely no credibility. I mean, one day he comes out and says, I apologize for the photograph that I was in. And then, the next day, he goes, well, no, actually, it wasn't me. But I actually did do blackface that same year. But it was because I was imitating Michael Jackson, and I'm sure you see the difference between the two. No, we don't. And the way he has characterized 1984 - 1984 was an exciting year. Jesse Jackson was running for president. Nelson Mandela was - we were hoping would be released. There was heightened racial consciousness.

And for him to dare say that, during those times, blackface was common is just an outright⁵ lie. And so I do not believe that the governor has any credibility at all. I cannot even imagine how he could govern the state. And he needs to stop the pain from this incident. And the way to do it is to resign.

MARTIN: So let's turn now to the State of the Union. You're no stranger to these big events as - particularly, as a former speaker of the California Assembly. So you've been through many of these kinds of bigots. What does an event like this do? What is the importance of it?

BASS: Well, it's very significant. I mean, first of all, you have all of the leadership from the United States in the House of Representatives chamber⁶ that evening. From the Supreme⁷ Court, Joint⁸ Chiefs of Staff, the Senate, the House members, everybody is assembled to hear from the leader of the country what is the state of our union. What is the state of the United States right now? What is our condition?

And, unfortunately, I cannot imagine that it's going to be a positive message because I do not believe that Trump is capable of delivering a positive message. I think it's going to be a message where he is going to bash immigrants. He's going to talk about how much he's helped African-Americans, which I find incredibly offensive. I also hear he's going to rail on abortion⁹.

MARTIN: Well, the president told reporters that it's going to be a speech that covers a lot of territory. But part of it is going to be unity¹⁰. So we'll have to wait and see what he means by that. But what do you expect and hope that Stacey Abrams will say as part of the Democratic response?

BASS: Let me just respond to the unity thing because I do think he will have a message of unity. It's a message of unity to the 20 to 30 percent of the people that support him. He's used that message in the campaign, and that's when he's bashing immigrants. In terms of Stacey Abrams, first of all, I do think that she was the one that won that race in Georgia. She should be the governor of Georgia.

But I am so excited that she's going to deliver the message because if you followed her campaign or you've heard her speak, she's so inspirational, so hopeful, so inspiring. And I think the unity message is going to come from the person who should've been the governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams. That will be the Democratic response.

MARTIN: You know, some people would argue that this is not exactly a great thing because very few people have gotten high marks forgiving the other party's response. If a person - his hand is, like, wooden - everybody remembers, you know, Marco Rubio taking the sip¹¹ of water...

BASS: (Laughter) Yes.

MARTIN: The former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, you know, looking like he was a deer in the headlights. Are the Democrats¹² really helping¹³ her by putting her in that position?

BASS: Well, you know, I mean, I do think it's a risk. But it - but I think the main reason it's a risk is because the State of the Union is so high-profile. The world is watching it. And so that's a tremendous amount of pressure. But I have full confidence in Stacey Abrams, that she can rise to the occasion. And I bet she knocks it out the park.

MARTIN: What message do you think the Democrats are sending by asking her to deliver this message?

BASS: Well, I think they're sending - we are sending a message of hope, a message of the future, an acknowledgment of African-American women and the leading role that we play in this country. And I think that she's the perfect person to deliver our message that we want, one, to deal with corruption¹⁴ in Washington, we want to lower the price of prescription¹⁵ drugs, we want to increase the economy and decrease income inequity by focusing on infrastructure¹⁶ and good-paying jobs. And I know that she will deliver that message. I do not believe she will be bashing anyone, unlike the president.

MARTIN: So, finally, what will constitute success for Stacey Abrams and for the Democrats on Tuesday night? How will you know if she's done a good job for herself and for the party?

BASS: I think if she's inspirational, I think if she inspires us and calls for unity, promotes a vision of where we can take our country to and also talks about the future - one of the things that the president does when he goes and focuses on his rallies - he's not looking at America. If you look at the chamber of the House, one side the Republicans sit on, one side the Democrats sit on. If you look at our side, we look like America. If you look at the side where the Republicans are sitting on, it looks like 1950. It's 95 percent white male, no diversity, a handful of women. And so I think she represents the future, diversity, inclusion, the way our country is going.

MARTIN: That was Congresswoman Karen Bass of California. She's a Democrat², and she's also the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. She was kind enough to join us from our studios at NPR West. Congressman¹⁷, thanks so much for talking to us.

BASS: Thanks for having me on.

1 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。

2 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。

3 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

4 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

5 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 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。

10 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

11 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

12 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》

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

15 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

16 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

17 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。