Obama, in His Return To the Campaign Trail, Searingly Mocks Trump
歐巴馬重返競選場合 酸爆川普
Former President Barack Obama on Saturday attacked President Donald Trump’s administration in searing and mocking terms, saying it was defined by “incompetence the likes of which we have not seen in modern times.”
前總統歐巴馬周六嚴詞抨擊川普政府，語帶嘲諷，稱這屆政府的特徵是「無能程度當世罕見」。
Appearing in Cleveland at his first campaign rally of the midterm elections, Obama delivered his most forceful attack on Trump in recent memory. He also criticized a campaign ad from the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, Vivek Ramaswamy, saying it exemplified a coarsening of U.S. politics.
歐巴馬在克里夫蘭出席期中選舉的首場造勢活動，對川普發出近年來最猛烈的批評。他也批評俄亥俄州州長共和黨候選人拉馬斯瓦米的一支競選廣告，稱其正是美國政治日益粗鄙的寫照。
Obama, who has been selective about publicly criticizing Trump, condemned his Republican successor’s stewardship of the country in terms that were personal and pointed. He said Trump’s second term had amounted to “two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption,” argued that top administration officials were “not serious people” and said Trump had led the country into an economically painful war in Iran “that nobody asked for.”
奧巴馬一向對公開批評川普有所保留，這次卻以既針對個人、又直截了當的措辭，抨擊這位共和黨籍繼任者治國方式。他表示，川普的第二任期無異於「2年的混亂、殘酷與貪腐」，並指其政府高層「不足為懼、難成氣候」，還稱川普把國家拖入一場「無人樂見」、造成經濟痛苦的伊朗戰爭。
“As a former president, I can tell you sometimes factors beyond a president’s control end up foiling the best-laid plans,” Obama said. But, he added: “That is not the case here. In this case, this administration’s actions are directly responsible for rising costs.”
「身為前總統，我可以告訴你，有時候一些超出總統控制的因素，會讓最周全的計畫功虧一簣。」歐巴馬說：「這裡的情況不是這樣。這屆政府的所作所為，正是物價上漲的直接原因。」
Obama, describing Trump as “you know who” or “this guy in the White House,” said America had never had a president “excel so wildly at just straight-up grifting.” And he cast Trump as disconnected from Americans’ needs, engrossed instead by White House renovation projects.
歐巴馬以「你知道的那個人」或「白宮裡那位老兄」稱呼川普，說美國從來沒有一任總統「在赤裸裸的斂財上表現得這麼出色」。他也把川普描繪成與美國民眾的需求脫節，只顧著埋首於白宮的整修工程。
The appearance sets up a rare split-screen between him and Trump, who is scheduled to appear at a rally in Georgia in the evening and said at a recent rally that Obama had been a “rotten president.”
這場造勢，讓歐巴馬與川普形成罕見的隔空交鋒；川普晚間在喬治亞州出席造勢活動，並在近日一場造勢中說歐巴馬是個「爛總統」。
In Ohio, Obama was joining Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, and former Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee for Senate in the state.
在俄亥俄州，歐巴馬是為民主黨州長候選人艾克頓與該州聯邦參議員民主黨候選人、前參議員布朗站台。
Acton’s race has consumed national politics in recent days, after her Republican opponent, Ramaswamy, aired an ad featuring Acton’s mother. Acton says she has not spoken to her mother since she was 12, after her stepfather was charged with raping her. The ad has split Republicans.
艾克頓的選戰近來成為全國政治焦點，因為她的共和黨對手拉馬斯瓦米播出了一支以艾克頓母親為主角的廣告。艾克頓表示，自從繼父被控性侵她之後，她從12歲起就沒有再與母親說過話。這支廣告已在共和黨內部引發分裂。
Obama assailed Ramaswamy over the ad, saying there appeared to be “no line” Ramaswamy would not cross.
歐巴馬抨擊拉馬斯瓦米的這支廣告，說對方似乎是不斷在秀下限。
“There’s a decency that we should expect out of our public officials,” Obama said. “And I don’t know what’s happened where the standards of behavior have gotten so low that somebody can run an ad like that.”
「我們對公職人員應該有一定的期待，那就是基本的正派。」歐巴馬說。「我不知道發生了什麼事，讓行為標準低落到有人可以播出那樣的廣告。」
文／Tim Balk, Emily Davies, John Yoon and Richard Fausset，譯／國際中心
說文解字看新聞
【張佑生】
美國期中選舉在即，前總統歐巴馬終於出手，selective about publicly criticizing Trump與其說是選擇性公開批評川普，不如說是他對公開批評川普有所保留，這是美國的政治傳統，前任不對現任指指點點。
Searing本義是「灼燒的」，引申為「嚴詞抨擊、強力批判」：Adorno’s searing analysis of mass culture阿多諾對大眾文化的犀利批判，Adorno刻意不用「大眾文化」(mass culture)而用「文化工業」(Kulturindustrie / culture industry)，描述文化產品如何被標準化、商品化，並以娛樂之名馴化大眾；而今天的演算法推薦系統，正是這套邏輯的延伸。
Grift是美國俚語，指「以詐術或濫用職權斂財、撈油水」，源自graft，通常不是訴諸武力，而是耍詐出老千；straight-up 是「徹頭徹尾、明目張膽」。
No line…would not cross字面是「沒有一條線是他不會跨越的」，即「毫無底線」，接近中文的「不斷秀下限」。歐巴馬批評川普政府官員not serious people不是說他們工作不認真，而是這些人分量不夠、難成氣候，語氣充滿輕蔑感。
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