假期英语下午茶_北京外宾旅游攻略！

John Brennan: CIA Would Call U.S. 'Very Corrupt' If It Were Another Country
huffingtonpost Oct 06, 2019
“We would look at it as a very corrupt government that is under the sway right now of this powerful individual who has been able to just corrupt the institutions and the laws of that country,” he told NBC News’ Chuck Todd during a “Meet the Press” appearance.

Mulvaney predicts post-impeachment landslide
AXIO Oct 06, 2019
In numerous recent conversations with colleagues, including last week's senior staff meeting, White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has said he thinks President Trump could win 45 states in 2020 after the impeachment process — a magnitude of landslide that few if any independent pollsters would dare predict.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell
on CNN Oct 06, 2019
“The Republican party has got to get a grip on itself,” Former Secy. of State Colin Powell on the state of the current GOP. “Republican leaders and members of the Congress… are holding back because they’re terrified of what will happen [to] any one of them if they speak out."

Graham vows to publicly question whistleblowers if Trump is impeached
The Hill Oct 06, 2019
"If the whistleblowers' allegations are turned into an impeachment article, it's imperative that the whistle-blower be interviewed in public, under oath and cross-examined. Nobody in America goes to jail or has anything done to them without confronting their accuser," he said.

‘Out on a limb’: Inside the Republican reckoning over Trump’s possible impeachment
The Washington Post Oct 06, 2019
A torrent of impeachment developments has triggered a reckoning in the Republican Party, paralyzing many of its officeholders as they weigh their political futures, legacies and, ultimately, their allegiance to a president who has held them captive.

英语咬文嚼字 The Crazy Logophile

今天NBC新闻刊登了其记者Alex Seitz-Wald 写的报道，标题为“Sen. Susan Collins is an endangered Republican. Impeachment could make her more so. ”。文章中有几处用词亮点。

苏珊·科林斯（ Susan Collins ）是美国缅因州的共和党参议员。 1996 年参选联邦参议员获得成功，并连任至今。缅因州支持民主党的选民居多，但参议院的席位却由共和党控制。

苏珊·科林斯属于美国共和党走中间道路的温和派，眼下正在准备在民主党选民居多的缅因州竞选第五任参议员。这位66岁的政治巨人多年来获得了普遍的知名度和两党的声誉，即讨好该州沿海富裕的自由派，又讨好内陆相对贫困的保守派。

至今她还没有就弹劾特朗普表明自己的态度。她面临严峻的挑战：要么背叛自己的共和党，同意支持弹劾总统；要么不支持弹劾总统，这样会得罪缅因州的民主党温和派选民。目前她正在与缅因州众议院发言人萨拉吉迪恩(Sara Gideon) 竞争下一任参议员。

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文章中，记者Alex Seitz-Wald强调苏珊·科林斯这次就特朗普弹劾的问题上迟迟不表态会让她面临很多危机。记者在这里使用 on the fence 这一习语很好表达了苏珊·科林斯骑墙观望，犹豫不决的态度。

on the fence
to delay making a decision
骑墙观望，犹豫不决

原文如下：
But on-the-fence is an increasingly difficult position to maintain and recent polls show her once sky-high favorability ratings have fallen back to earth — and a potential vote on removing Trump would force Collins to pick a side.

缅因州的共和党选民对苏珊·科林斯就总统弹劾一事骑墙观望很不满意，该报道提到有位共和党选民Mike Hoyle 对是否再给她投票也开始犹豫不决了，记者也使用了 on the fence。

原文如下：
"I'm kind of on the fence about Susan Collins," added Hoyle, who voted for Collins in 2014. "A lot of Republicans feel she's not really a Republican."

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该共和党选民Mike Hoyle 还使用了 namby-pamby习语来表达对苏珊·科林的不满。

namby-pamby
adjective & noun /ˌnæm.biˈpæm.bi/
lacking energy, strength, or courage; feeble or effeminate in behavior or expression. （Oxford）
软弱的；愚蠢的；缺乏个性；缺乏果断；性格软弱；无病呻吟

namby-pamby 习语来源：
英国十八世纪的诗人亚历山大·波普（Alexander Pope）和亨利·凯里（ Henry Carey ）非常不喜欢当时他们同时代的诗人安布罗斯·菲利普斯（ Ambrose Philips.），认为他的诗幼稚，多愁善感，幼稚和乏味。 1726年，凯里（Carey）模仿菲利普斯（Philips），写了一个押韵诗，昵称 Namby-Pamby（暗指菲利普斯）。 1729年，教皇借也借用 Namby-Pamby 来讽刺菲利普斯的诗。不久，namby-pamby 就被用于任何平淡，简单或感性的文章，后来又应用于那些被视为可怜的软弱或优柔寡断的人。

原文如下：
Mike Hoyle, who was wearing a Trump 2020 hat, said he's disappointed with the senator's "namby pamby, safe, political answer" on impeachment.

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文章还谈到前共和党州长对苏珊·科林斯看法，并引用了他的原话。原话是使用了
习语 cook sb's goose。

cook sb's goose
to do something that spoils someone's plans and prevents them from succeeding （Cambridge）
扰乱…的计划；使…丧失成功机会；毁掉…的前程

原文如下：
"I think Susan Collins is done in Maine," former GOP Gov. Paul LePage told a conservative radio host at the time. "I think her decision to go against the Maine Republicans really cooked her goose."

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文章中，还使用了一个俚语：press the flesh

press the flesh
to shake hands with a lot of people
与许多人握手

原文如下
At the sprawling Fryeburg fair on Saturday, politicians pressed the flesh among the prized livestock and midway rides on a sunny autumn day, although Collins was not among them.

英语政治和媒体词典 Dictionary of Politics & Media

gaslight / gaslighting / gaslighter

verb & noun

字面意思：点亮煤气灯；后来比喻通过心理手段操纵某人接受对现实的虚假信息或虚假描述，从而怀疑自己的理智行为。

“点亮煤气灯”这一词语来源于1938年的一部戏剧，以及后来1944年的电影改编。在这部电影中，一个杀人的丈夫通过慢慢调暗家里的煤气灯，然后否认发生了这种事，来操纵和迷惑他的妻子。

心理学认为：这种手法比你想象的有效，任何人都容易受到“点亮煤气灯”的侵害。这是虐待者、独裁者、自恋者和邪教领袖们经常使用的手法。这种手法很缓慢，所以受害者不知道他们已经被洗了多少次脑。

Citation
Donald Trump is a classic gaslighter in an abusive relationship with America. Gaslighting is outrageous behavior from anyone, let alone a U.S. president. Don't get confused, don't get exhausted, and don't stop fighting back.

The United States is in an abusive relationship with the president. As a therapist in clinical practice, I’m trained to spot the signs and offer strategies to help people cope. Abusive relationships are extremely dangerous, and this is no exception. Donald Trump’s gaslighting has led the country into a spiral of doubt, anger and despair.

Gaslighting behavior has always been present in history, to a degree. It is par for the course whenever a person or entity wants to exert as much control as possible over others. But we haven’t seen this level of gaslighting since the Axis powers of World War II. ( usatoday.com )