74岁克林顿演讲火力全开：特朗普，你这个3B总统！
甩锅、任务艰巨、指挥中心
用英语怎么说？
8月17日开幕的为期四天的民主党全国代表大会（Democratic National Convention），已于18日晚正式提名前副总统乔·拜登为2020年民主党总统候选人（formally nominate Joe Biden as their party's 2020 presidential nominee ) 。
当晚，克林顿发表视频讲话。
镜头前，这位年过七旬的前总统，依旧硬朗矍铄，铿锵有力，怒斥特朗普把白宫搞得一片混乱（total chaos）：
At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it’s a storm center.
command center是指挥中心的意思。commander 就是指挥官的意思。而storm center就是暴风眼，暴风中心的意思。引申义是混乱和麻烦的中心。这个比喻不仅押韵还很形象哦。
与前一晚米歇尔·奥巴马18分钟的煽情讲演不同，克林顿讲话仅5分多钟。
他清晰列举高企的死亡病例数和失业数据，句句犀利地抨击特朗普是“3B”总统：
Either elect a “go-to-work president” Joe Biden or reelect Donald Trump, who would use a second term to “blame, bully and belittle.”
原来3B总统指的是特朗普最爱做的三件事：blame（甩锅）、bully（霸凌）和belittle（轻视）。
现在我们经常说的甩锅一词，可以直接用blame，比如blame sb. for sth. 怪罪某人某事。也可以用shift the blame 或者pass the buck 都表示推卸责任，也就是甩锅。
belittle sb./sth.表示轻视、贬低、低估...的重要性。在这里根据语境，我们认为克林顿批评的是特朗普belittle the pandemic，即特朗普低估了疫情的严重程度。
这个3B青年的总结实在是精准又传神！
美国政治实在是城会玩，但老牌政客的英语演讲还是值得学习的，下面我们就一起来学习一下克林顿的演讲吧。
Good evening.
晚上好。
A presidential election is the world's most important job interview. At the end we hire a leader to help us solve problems, create opportunities, and give our kids better tomorrows.
总统选举是世界上最重要的工作面试。最后我们要聘请一位领导人来帮助我们解决问题，创造机会，给我们的孩子一个更好的明天。
That's a tall order this year, with the COVID-19 outbreak on a path to killing 200,000 people and destroying millions of jobs and small businesses.
今年，我们任务艰巨，新冠疫情爆发将导致20万人死亡，并摧毁数百万个就业机会和小企业。
How did Donald Trump respond? At first he said the virus was under control and would soon disappear. When it didn't, he was on TV every day bragging on what a great job he was doing, while scientists waited to give us vital information. When he didn't like the expert advice he was given, he ignored it.
唐纳德·特朗普是如何回应的？起初，他说病毒已经得到控制，很快就会消失。但病毒并没有消失，于是他就每天都在电视上吹嘘他做了多么伟大的工作，而科学家们却谨慎地试图传递重要的信息。当他不喜欢专家给他的建议时，他就置之不理。
Only when COVID exploded in even more states did he encourage people to wear masks. By then many more were dying. When asked about the surge in deaths, he shrugged and said, "It is what it is." But did it have to be this way?
只有当疫情在美国更多州爆发时，他才鼓励人们戴上口罩。那时又有更多的人死去。当被问及死亡人数激增的问题时，他耸耸肩说："就酱吧。" 但真的只能这样吗？
No. COVID hit us much harder than it had to.
不，新冠对我们的打击更狠。
We have just 4 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's COVID cases. Our unemployment rate is more than twice as high as South Korea's, 2 1/2 times the United Kingdom's, and more than three times Japan's.
我们的人口只占世界人口的4%，但却占全球新冠病例的25%。我们的失业率是韩国的两倍多，是英国的2.5倍，是日本的3倍多。
Donald Trump says we're leading the world. Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos.
唐纳德-特朗普说我们是世界的领头羊。但其实，我们是唯一一个失业率翻了三倍的主要工业经济体。在这种时候，椭圆形办公室应该是一个指挥中心。相反，它是一个风暴中心。只有混乱。
Just one thing never changes—his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there.
只有一件事恒常不变——他否认责任、推责甩锅的决心。生命不息，甩锅不止。
Now you have to decide whether to renew his contract or hire someone else. If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he's your man.
现在你得决定是续约还是另请高明。如果你想要一个把工作定义为每天花几个小时看电视和在社交媒体上黑别人的总统，他就是你要找的人。
Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if you're trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses like a house of cards.
如果你想要的是娱乐化和煽动情绪，那么他否认、转移注意力和贬低的招数就很有效。但在真正的危机中，它就会像纸牌屋一样倒塌。
COVID doesn't respond to any of that. To beat it, you've got to go to work and deal with the facts.
但新冠对这些招式无动于衷。要打败它，你必须去工作，处理事实。
Our party is united in offering you a very different choice: a go-to-work president. A down-to-earth, get-the-job-done guy. A man with a mission: to take responsibility, not shift the blame; concentrate, not distract; unite, not divide.
我们的党团结一致，为你提供一个非常不同的选择：一位踏实工作的总统。一个脚踏实地的，把活干好的人。一个有使命感的人：承担责任，而不是推卸责任；集中精力，而不是转移精力；团结一致，而不是分裂。
Our choice is Joe Biden.
我们的选择是乔·拜登。
Joe helped bring us back from a recession before, and he can do it again.
拜登曾经帮助我们从经济衰退中恢复过来，他有能力再一次这么做。
In 2009, Barack Obama and Joe Biden started with the worst economy since the Great Depression and when they were done, they had delivered more than six straight years of job growth. What did Joe do? He accepted responsibility for implementing the Recovery Act. His work created a lot of new jobs and started many new companies in communities across America.
2009年，奥巴马和乔·拜登接手了大萧条以来最糟糕的经济形势。当他们卸任时，他们已经实现了连续六年以上的就业增长。乔做了什么？他接手了实施《复苏法案》的任务，他创造了很多新的就业机会，很多新的公司在全美各地的社区兴业。
Now Joe is committed to building America back again.
现在，乔致力于再次重建美国。
How? He's given us smart detailed plans to invest in areas vital to our future: innovative financing for factories and small businesses; good jobs in green energy and conservation to combat climate change; a modern infrastructure that brings small town and rural America the connectivity and investment others take for granted; and a plan to ensure that Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, women, immigrants, and other communities left behind are full participants in the economy and our society.
他会怎么做呢？他已为我们提出一套明智且详尽的计划，投资于对我们的未来至关重要的领域：为工厂和小企业提供创新融资；在绿色能源和环保方面提供良好的工作机会，以应对气候变化；现代化的基础设施，为美国的小镇和农村带去其他人已经习以为常的连通性和投资；确保黑人、拉美裔、美国原住民、妇女、移民和其他落后社区充分参与经济和社会的计划。
Joe Biden wants to build an economy far better suited to our changing world. Better for young people. Better for families, working and raising their kids. Better for people who lost jobs and need new ones. Better for farmers tired of being collateral damage in trade wars. Better for workers caring for the sick, elderly, and people with disabilities.
乔·拜登希望建立一个更能适应这个不断变化的世界的经济。这个经济将对年轻人更有益。对工作和抚养孩子的家庭更好。对那些失去工作、需要新工作的人更好。对那些厌倦了在贸易战中成为连带损害的农民更好。对照顾病人、老人和残疾人的人员来说更好。
Better because of a living wage, and access to affordable higher education and health care, including prescription drugs, childcare, a secure retirement, and paid family and medical leave.
更好是因为，他们能够拥有可维持生计的工资，获得承受得起的高等教育和医疗保健，包括处方药、儿童保育、有保障的退休，以及带薪家庭和医疗假。
Joe won't just put his signature on a check and try to fool you into thinking it came from him. He'll work to make sure that your paycheck reflects your contribution to, and your stake in, a growing economy. In this job interview, the difference is stark.
乔不会只是在支票上签名，然后试图欺骗你，让你以为支票是他签的。他会努力确保你的薪水单能反映出你对经济增长的贡献和攸关利益。在这次求职面试中，两人的区别显而易见。
You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years: blame, bully, and belittle. And you know what Joe Biden will do: build back better.
你知道唐纳德·特朗普再过四年会做什么：指责、欺凌和轻视。而你知道乔·拜登会做什么：重建更好的美国。
It's Trump's "Us vs. Them" America against Joe Biden's America, where we all live and work together. It's a clear choice. And the future of our country is riding on it.
一边是特朗普的 "我们VS他们 "分化对立的美国，另一边是乔·拜登的美国，在后者中，我们大家共同生活和工作。选择该怎么做已经很明确了。而我们国家的未来就取决于这个选择。
Thank you.
谢谢。
视频来源：youtube
英文来源：CNN
图片来源于网络
bully 霸凌
shift the blame 甩锅
belittle 轻视、低估
command center 指挥中心
a tall order 任务艰巨
fool sb. into doing 骗人做某事
ride on 取决于
chaos 混乱
take sth. for granted
对某事习以为常，认为理所当然
独到英语
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