評論
打印
United States
美國版塊
The White House
白宮
To the bitter end
奮戰到底
President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede is harming America
總統唐納德·特朗福拒不承認敗選，美國危矣
“Stop the steal” has become the anthem of outraged Republicans who believe President Donald Trump’s claims that Democrats stole his re-election by committing massive voter fraud. It is the hashtag they rally around online and the slogan they chant when they throng in the streets, as they did on November 14th in Washington, DC, earning a laudatory drive-by from the presidential motorcade.
“停止竊取”已然成為憤怒的共和黨團體的團歌，他們堅信著美國總統特朗普所謂的民主黨人通過大規模的選民欺詐行為竊取選舉果實以至未能連任的說法。他們一邊在網上集體聲援“停止竊取”的推文話題，一邊涌上街頭高喊“停止竊取”的口號。11月14日，這些共和黨人也曾經在華盛頓特區進行過類似的游行，當時還獲得了總統車隊的大加贊揚。
But this is not the first time surrogates of Mr Trump have deployed it. Roger Stone, a former adviser to the president who recently had his prison sentence for several convictions commuted, actually founded a group by that name in April 2016—then to expose Senator Ted Cruz’s purported plot to steal the Republican nomination. Similar pre-emptive claims of voter fraud were made before the general-election contest with Hillary Clinton in 2016. Now that Mr Trump has actually lost, the slogan has finally been deployed in earnest.
但這并不是特朗普的代理人第一次部署相關活動。羅杰·斯通是前任總統顧問，他曾因幾項罪名被判入獄，最近獲得了減刑。斯通實際上在2016年4月成立了一個以“停止竊取”為名的組織，隨后揭露了參議員特德·科魯茲所謂的竊取共和黨提名的陰謀。在2016年與希拉里·克林頓的大選角逐之前，特朗普陣營也曾提出過類似的先發制人的選民舞弊指控。現在特朗普實際上已經輸了，其團隊也終于鄭重地部署這一口號。
Mr Trump has a long-held aversion to admitting defeat, or really conceding any fault at all. That is now throwing up an unprecedented scenario: an incumbent American president refusing to hand over power due to baseless claims of electoral fraud. It is a serious democratic norm to trample over—one easy to underplay because of public confidence that other institutions, like the courts and the military, will not accede to Mr Trump’s wishes. The chances of a reversed decision are low. The lawsuits filed in the swing states that Mr Trump lost are floundering. Despite Mr Trump’s recent replacement of civilian leadership at the Department of Defence, there is little risk of a self-coup.
長期以來，特朗普一直不愿意承認敗選，也根本不愿意真的承認任何錯誤。如今，這引發了一個史無前例的局面：一位現任美國總統由于選舉舞弊的無根據指控而拒絕移交權力。這是對美國嚴肅的民主規范（容易被低估）的踐踏，因為公眾相信法院、軍方等機構不會同意特朗普的個人意愿。這些機構不太可能改變決定。特朗普在輸掉的搖擺州發起訴訟，妄圖掙扎。盡管特朗普最近更換了國防部的文職領導結構，但發生自我政變的風險很低。
Even if this low-energy autogolpe does not succeed, Mr Trump’s actions are still alarming. Presidential transitions involve a large number of civil servants: some 4,000, are politically appointed, with 1,200 requiring confirmation by the Senate. By not conceding, Mr Trump has stalled this process. Mr Biden is not receiving his classified presidential daily briefings. His team does not have access to secure governmental communications, relying instead on encrypted messaging apps. The commission to study the 9/11 attacks found that the shortened transition in 2000, caused by the disputed result in Florida, may have contributed to American vulnerability to terrorist attacks. By contrast, the wellmanaged transition between George W. Bush and Barack Obama in the midst of the global financial crisis enabled faster implementation of economic relief. Asked what was at stake this time, Mr Biden said “more people may die” if the Trump administration refused to co-ordinate on virus suppression and vaccine distribution.
盡管這場低能耗的“自我政變”沒有成功，特朗普的行動依然令人擔憂。總統過渡牽涉大量公職人員：近4千名公職人員通過政府任命，其中約1200名公職人員需要得到參議院批準通過。特朗普通過拒絕承認敗選以阻礙這一交接進程。拜登未曾收到總統每日機密簡報。他的團隊無法與外國政府進行安全通信，而是要依靠加密的消息應用程序。對911襲擊事件進行研究的委員會發現，2000年佛羅里達州選票結果爭議引發的過渡期縮短，可能是恐怖襲擊趁虛而入的罪魁禍首。相比之下，小布什與巴拉克·奧巴馬在經濟危機中進行管理良好的過渡使經濟救濟得以更快實施。當被問及這次的利害關系時，拜登表示，如果特朗普政府拒絕在病毒抑制和疫苗分發方面進行協調，“可能會有更多人死亡”。
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