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Hailing McCain, Two Presidents Diverge from a Third
致敬麥凱恩，兩位總統與另一位截然不同的表現
By Peter Baker
文/彼得·貝克
He drove them crazy.
他讓大家抓狂。
He berated them on the way to the White House and badgered them once they got there.
在去白宮的路上他就斥責了他們，到了白宮就開始糾纏著他們不放。
He stood by them when he thought they were right and tore at their heels when he was convinced they were wrong.
認為他們是對的那會兒，他支持他們；確信他們錯了的時候，他就攪得他們雞犬不寧。
And when it came time to depart this world, John McCain wanted them to tell his story.
而當他是時候告別這個世界時，約翰·麥凱恩希望他們公開自己的故事。
Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama,
前總統喬治·W·布什和巴拉克·奧巴馬，
the two men who thwarted Mr. McCain’s ambitions to become commander in chief,
兩個熄滅了麥凱恩先生成為總統的抱負的人，
stood one after the other before the nation’s elite at Washington National Cathedral on Saturday to honor the man they beat,
于周六先后站到了聚集在華盛頓國家大教堂的各界精英面前，紀念曾經被他們擊敗的這位對手，
extolling him as a one-of-a-kind figure the likes of which will not be seen again anytime soon.
稱他是舉世無雙的奇人，而他這樣的人近期已經不會再出現了。
That they were asked, and not the current president, spoke volumes about the man and the moment.
被邀請的是兩位前總統，而非現任總統，這一點充分說明了麥凱恩先生的為人以及當下的問題。
And while neither explicitly mentioned President Trump,
盡管兩人均未明確提到特朗普總統，
who, uninvited and unwelcome, went golfing instead,
這位未被邀請且不受歡迎的總統當時打高爾夫去了，
their tributes could hardly be heard without the unspoken contrast to the current occupant of the Oval Office,
但他們的致辭處處洋溢著與現任總統之間不言自明的對比，
a message amplified by a more overt rebuke from the senator’s daughter.
而麥凱恩參議員的女兒公開的斥責又放大了這一點。
"So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse, can seem small and mean and petty,
“我們的政治，公共生活，公共話語的很多地方都可能很微小、很低劣、很瑣碎，
trafficking in bombast and insult, in phony controversies and manufactured outrage," Mr.Obama said.
“在吹噓和侮辱中，在虛假的爭議和人為制造的憤怒中被販賣。”奧巴馬先生說道。
"It’s a politics that pretends to be brave, but in fact is born of fear.
“我們的政治只是在假裝勇敢，實際上不過是源于恐懼的政治。
John called us to be bigger than that. He called us to be better than that."
約翰呼吁我們做得更好，他呼吁我們突破這種政治。”
Mr. Bush praised Mr. McCain for his "courage and decency,"
布什先生贊揚麥肯先生“勇敢、體面，”
an exemplar of the storied American values of standing up to bullying and oppression.
稱他是“不畏強權、反抗壓迫”這一著名美國價值觀的典范。
"If we are ever tempted to forget who we are, to grow weary of our cause,
如果有一天我們禁不住忘了我們的身份，或者厭倦了我們的國家大業，
John’s voice will always come as a whisper over our shoulder —
約翰的聲音就會一直回蕩在我們的耳邊——
we are better than this, America is better than this," Mr. Bush said.
我們可以更好的，美國可以更好的，”布什先生說到。
If their better-than-this eulogies were widely seen as an implicit reproach of Mr. Trump,
如果兩人悼詞中的“可以更好”被大家廣泛解讀成了委婉譴責特朗普的意思的話，
Meghan McCain left no mystery who she had in mind with a powerful, emotional, sobbing remembrance of her father
那么，梅根·麥凱恩在情緒激動、十分悲傷地緬懷父親時就徹底揭下了自己指涉的人的面紗，
that also sounded like a defiant cridecoeur against the tycoon-turned-president who once belittled the senator’s wartime service.
仿佛是對那位出身大亨，曾經貶低她父親戰時的服役的總統發出了公開的挑釁。
"We gather here," she said, "to mourn the passing of American greatness, the real thing,
“我們聚集在此，”她說，“是為了哀悼美國式偉大的逝去，這種偉大才是貨真價實的東西，
not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly,
而不是某些人廉價的說辭，像父親那樣欣然做出的偉大犧牲，他們是永遠難以望其項背的，
nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served."
也不是某些人投機取巧的撥款，父親受苦受難為國家為人民服務的時候，他們卻在享受著榮華富貴。”
Mocking Mr. Trump’s favorite slogan, she later declared:
接著，她又嘲諷起了特朗普最愛喊的口號：
"The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great."
“約翰·麥凱恩時代的美國不需要復興，因為美國一直都很強大。”
The audience then burst out in applause, something that rarely happens during the traditionally solemn funerals held at the cathedral.
此語引發了觀眾雷鳴般的掌聲，在大教堂舉行莊嚴的傳統式葬禮時，此情此景，實屬少見。
While Mr. Trump was absent, political figures from both parties made their way to the house of worship on a dreary, overcast and humid morning.
在那個沉悶、陰暗而潮濕的上午，盡管特朗普缺席了追悼會，還是有議會兩黨的代表前往禮拜堂參加悼念，
They came to bid farewell to John Sidney McCain III,
他們前去告別約翰·西德尼·麥凱恩三世，
son and grandson of admirals, naval aviator, tortured prisoner, congressman, six-term senator,
一名海軍上將的兒子，海軍上將的孫子，他擔任過海軍飛行員，也曾作為階下囚遭受酷刑，他是國會議員，是六任參議員，
two-time presidential candidate, patriot, maverick, reformer, warrior, curmudgeon, father, husband and finally, in death, American icon.
也是兩屆總統候選人，他忠心愛國，特立獨行，崇尚改革，他是一名勇士，也是一個守財奴，他為人父，為人夫，最后，他作為美國的旗幟，離開了這個世界。
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