既没腐败，也没背德，他只是变丑了（一个奥粉的哀嚎） [美国媒体]

$400,000 for an Obama speech: Tacky but not corrupt

奥巴马40W演讲费？：奥巴马既没腐败，也没背德，他只是变丑了（一个奥粉的哀嚎）



Should we be scandalized byreports that former President Barack Obama will be paid $400,000 to deliver aspeech at a healthcare conference sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald,a Wall Street investment bank?

看到这则新闻我们该感到愤慨吗？前总统贝拉克.奥巴马将因一场医保会议上的演说而获得40W美元的报酬，支付报酬的是此次会议的举办方“坎托·菲茨杰拉德”公司，一家华尔街投资银行。（Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.是一家美国金融服务公司，它在1945年成立。总部设在纽约市，公司专门从事机构股权，固定收益销售和交易，并服务于中端市场的投资银行业务，经纪业务和商业房地产融资，拥有5000多家机构客户）

I don’t think so, at least notfor most of the reasons offered by the prosecution.

我不这么想，至少不会因为指控者所提供的大部分理由而改变主意。

One count in the “indictment”is that accepting such a generous speaking fee looks like influence-peddling.But as an ex-president, Obama has limited influence to peddle. True, asJason Willick of TheAmerican Interest noted, he continues to be a de facto leader inthe Democratic Party who can “make key introductions, put things on the agenda.”

这些“指控”中的一个罪状是这样说的“接受如此慷慨的演说报酬看起来就像是在扩大自己的影响力。”不过作为一位前总统，奥巴马所能起到的影响真的也很有限。对比以“美国利益”着称的杰森威尔克，那才是一位民主党内一直可以“作关键的介绍，把关键的事情列入议程”的幕后领导人。

But after eight years in theWhite House, Obama probably already knows a lot of the people he would run intoon the Wall Street speaking circuit. Even if that weren’t the case, the morespeeches he gives, the larger the number of people he theoretically would beexpected to introduce to Nancy Pelosior ChuckSchumer. He’d be spread pretty thin even if he did want to dothe bidding of his paymasters or audience members.

但是入主白宫8年后，奥巴马可能早已熟识了那群他在华尔街演说时打交道的人。即使这没什么要紧的，随着他越来越多的演讲，理论上他想要介绍给Nancy Pelosi（南希.佩洛斯 美国众议院议长）或者ChuckSchumer（舒默.施莫尔 美国参议院议长）的人也越来越多。即便是这样，即便某一天他真的召唤了他的那些支持者和听众，就目前的情况来说，他所能造成的影响依旧大不到哪儿去。

In the Washington Post, AaronBlake moves beyond the influence-peddling idea to offer “4Reasons Obama’s $400,000 Wall Street Speech Is a Bad Idea.” No. 1 is that “itcontinues to set a dubious precedent” of ex-presidents cashing in on theirprevious service. This, Blake says, puts future presidents on notice “that suchpayments are on the table, and it risks coloring their decisions with regard toWall Street and special interests.”

华盛顿邮报的艾伦.布莱克 越过“增加影响力”这件事，从其他方面入手提出了他的“四个原因使我认为奥巴马价值40万的华尔街演讲不是什么好事”的说法。第一个理由就是：“这件事会持续制造一个使人们猜疑的先例”：前总统们正因他们以前所提供的服务而让受益者付钱。布莱克说：这给所有未来的总统们都提了个醒，“只要你也提供同样的服务，那么一大堆钞票触手可得，而这一切将导致一个危机：总统们所做的决定会逐渐染上华尔街和特殊利益集团的铜臭味”。

Hmm. Even if Obama declared avow of silence, there would still be recent examples of presidents who acceptedfat speaking fees after they left office — Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.They could serve equally well as reminders to an ethically challenged presidentthat ex-presidents can make money giving speeches.

嗯~~~。好吧，哪怕奥巴马曾经默默的在心底发过誓不去做那些肮脏交易，可这里还存在最近几个前总统靠演讲报酬发财的榜样——比尔.克林顿 和乔治·沃克·布什（小布什），他俩作为在道德伦理方面很有具有挑战性的总统（译者：笑喷了，骂人不吐脏字啊。笔者：你凭什么只喷我家奥奥？那俩货你咋不喷？凭什么奥巴马就成了先例了？），同样在提醒未来总统们的事上做得很好。

Blake’s second argument isthat Obama’s fat speaking fee violates the spirit — it obviously doesn’tviolate the letter — of laws prohibiting ex-government employees from lobbyingtheir former colleagues. The underlying principle, he says, is deterringgovernment employees from using their positions to guarantee a “future payday” inthe private sector. This sounds a lot like Blake’s first argument;it still doesn’t fit Obama.

布莱克的第二个理由是奥巴马的高额演讲费是对灵魂的亵渎，却不是对法律的亵渎，因为法律所禁止的是前政府人员去游说他们以前的同事。他认为相关法律条款的潜在原则是为了防止前政府人员去利用现在在私有单位里的职位去给前同事们一个“现在帮我，以后有你好处”的保证，这个调调很像布莱克第一段里的观点，不过我依旧认为它并不适用于奥巴马。

Blake’s third argument is that“Democrats are trying to be the anti-Wall Street party”and Obama’s speaking fee complicates that rebranding. Having won the presidencyfor the Democrats twice, I’m not sure Obama owes the party anything.

布莱克的第三个理由是“民主党正在试图把自己包装成一个反华尔街的党派（以赢得大众支持）”以及华尔街支付奥巴马高额的演讲费是给这个重新包装的过程添堵。我倒是不确定奥巴马在为民主党赢下两次总统大选后还欠民主党什么东西（笔者：这关民主党什么事？）。

Blake’s closing argument is headlined: “Obama Himself Discussed the CorruptingInfluence of Such Arrangements in His Book.” Blake notes that in his 2006 book“TheAudacity of Hope” Obama described how hanging out with “people ofmeans” made him “more like the wealthy donors I met.” But surely the time toworry about Obama being compromised by contact withthe hyper-affluent 1% was when he was president.

布莱克结尾的观点也是现在新闻的提要：“奥巴马在他自己的书里探讨过这种举措所造成的腐败影响”。布莱克指出奥巴马在2006年所着的那本名为《无畏的希望》的书，在该书中奥巴马描述了他是怎么维持自己“人民公仆”的本色以使自己“更贴近那些我所遇到过的大慈善家”（卡莱尔认为奥巴马现在的举动是在打自己的脸）。但是我认为实际上真正应该担心奥巴马被所接触的“1%超级富豪”影响或者同化的时间段，应该是他当总统的时候而不是卸任以后。（笔者：他当总统的时候你不说，不当总统了你就可劲说了？）

You can find these argumentsunconvincing – and obviously I do – and still understand why so many people aredismayed by Obama’s acceptance of this humongous speaking fee. Relative toother positions of power in this society, the presidency isn’t a well-paidposition. That’s why it’s called “public service.” Yet, as noted above, recent former presidents have been eager to accept largesums of money to speak about that service to select audiences.

你会发现这些理由根本站不住脚，很显然这就是我的结论，同时我也明白了为什么这么多人会对奥巴马接受巨额演讲报酬这件事感到惊讶和沮丧（笔者：你说的很有道理也说服了其他人，但是我不听）。再联系一下这个社会里其他拥有权利的职位，好吧，总统真的不是什么好职业。这大概就是为什么总统被称为“公仆”的原因吧。好了，如前文所说，最近这项“动动嘴巴就能塞满腰包的服务”已经让各位前总统们迫不及待的开始选择听众了。

Now Obama, the epitome of goodtaste when he was president, has signaled that he too is ready to begin cashingin. That may not be corrupt or a threat to honest government, but it strikes usas tacky – tackier somehow than accepting a lucrative contract to write a book,thoughthat also amounts to capitalizing on public service. But ourrevulsion isn’t moral; it’s aesthetic.

现在，奥巴马，那个曾经有品位的总统的剪影，也已经开始慢慢变得沾满铜臭。可能这点事情对于我们最最诚实的政府来说根本谈不上什么腐化或者威胁（笔者：都是政府这个肮脏的染缸，把奥巴马变成了现在这幅贪婪的老饕模样），但是这庸俗的一切还是刺痛了我们——这可比为了一份收益巨大的合同而写一本书要低俗的多（这里笔者应该是在讽刺某人，我不确定是不是上文写报道的这位作者），虽然这也算是在利用公共服务。但是我们却不应该在道德方面批判奥巴马，我们批判他仅仅是从美学角度上，因为他不再像以前那样美好了。



east-coast-scout · 1 month(s)ago
Guess now we really know whatthe H stands for in Brarack H. Obama.
It is not Hussein it isHypocrite.
The word Tacky used in thearticle gives Obama the benefit of the doubt. Makingthe Clintons look like amateurs and without wasting any time. I use to call theClintons the walking - talking human ATM cash machines, I now give that titleto the former Hypocrite In Chief. So much for economic re-distribution as thefat cats get fatter.

这不是侯赛因，这是伪君子（侯赛因是奥巴马全名中间的那个词，和伪君子读音相近）
庸俗这个词用在这篇文章里给奥巴马来了个“无罪推定”。和奥巴马一比克林顿立马就变成业余选手了。我习惯把克林顿叫做“人形自走提款机”，我现在要把这个头衔给前任首席伪君子戴上。如此多的经济再分配把肥猫变得更肥了（这里的肥猫应该和下文都是和以前的一个黑奥巴马身份证是伪造的事情相关，那次事件里人们发现奥巴马的ID证件上的号码实际指向一个叫做barry Soetoro 的戴眼镜的白人青年，fatcat barry 就成了一个梗。）

unclesmrgol · 1 month(s) ago
Why do progressives hatecapitalism so much when they do it so well in the halls of Government?

为什么那些改革派们痛恨资本主义 既然它在政府大厅里运作得很好?（讽刺政府一样是金钱运作的，感谢网友：intellec）

User60 · 1 month(s) ago 
"Fat Cat Barry", not only a liar but a hypocritetoo, who would have known!

“肥猫巴里”，不仅仅是个骗子还是个伪君子，你们会知道的！（同第一个评论的梗）

fmbarton · 1 month(s) ago
You really can't stand a blackman making a buck. Oh well.

你是真的不想看到一个黑人在赚钱。好吧，无话可说。

ChaosLA · 1 month(s) ago +1
Bahahahahahahaha! This guy isthe biggest hypocrite ever!

哇咔咔咔咔咔咔！这个男人是最虚伪的伪君子！

He he fooled all these libsfor years. Lol. Losers.

他愚弄了这些人这么多年。噢~ Losers

San Diego · 1 month(s) ago
Well, he's not set up a family"charitable" foundation yet. Not a fan of Obama's politics, but ifyour'e looking for "tacky", I think that the Clintons and Trumps havehim beaten hands down.

好吧，他还没建立一个家庭慈善基金会呢。（不清楚这里讽刺的是谁，不过奥巴马带着他老婆签了6000多W美元的写书的合同……3.6亿RMB？我去！）。我不是奥巴马的政见粉，不过如果你想见识啥叫真正的“庸俗”，我想克林顿和川普这方面会打的他还不了手。（川普躺枪）

Robert Kiensler · 1 month(s)ago 
What would anyone expect fromthe new poster child for limousine liberal. There is nothingthese guys have to say after leaving office worth 400k for an hour speech. Theonly reason it's not corrupt is because it's become a tradition. Yes;hope andchange have finally left the building.

为什么每个人都觉得从新竞选人的海报里就能看到富裕自由的美国式生活？一个小时的演讲赚40W的报酬根本不算事 。这种事不能算腐败的唯一的原因就是它已经变成了一个传统。是的！希望和改变最终还是离开了美国这个国家！

rtamtc · 1 month(s) ago 
At least he hasn't claimedthat they are "dead-broke" since leaving theWhite House.

至少他在离开白宫的时候没说自己兜里一个子儿都没有。（讽刺前总统克林顿 感谢网友：wang3202）

¿¿Que¿¿ · 1 month(s) ago 
Jimmy Carter (the previousWorst President in US History) went on to build houses for degenerates- a noblecause.

吉米卡特（美国历史上最糟糕的总统）卸任后跑去给穷人造房子——多么高尚的事业。

Barry Soetoro is anElitist "Progressive". You won't see him ever pick up a hammer.Therefore, he's officially solidified his legacy as Worst President in UShistory.

而Barry soetoro （沿用上面的梗）是“进步分子”中的菁英，你可从来没见过奥巴马抡过大锤，所以他正式巩固了他作为作为美国历史最差总统头衔继承人的地位。

（吉米是美国第39任总统，被评为美国历史上政绩最差的总统，卡特离职的时候是真的一个子儿没有，当总统的时候自家的花生农场破产了，最后靠写书还债，最后和他老婆成立卡特中心，致力于协调国际冲突，84年开始带着慈善机构为无家可归者搭建福利房，卡特每年抽出一个星期，自己动手，给穷人盖房子。上面评论一直拿奥巴马和吉米做对比。）

jimjay43751 · 1 month(s) ago
Do as I say, not as I do.

照我说的做，不要照我做的做

tommy501 · 1 month(s) ago 
"What do think a stimulusis?" We knew, nearly a $1 trillion bail outwith about half of that going to Wall Street. This is just a little payback...just the beginning. As Bill Clinton, Obama will be raking in millions.

“你认为什么才是刺激的？”我们都知道，接近1万亿美元的911纾困金（融危机暴发以后，美帝政府发了近万亿美刀（大概7000亿左右）的纾困计划 感谢网友：yanke）其中一半跑到了华尔街。这只是一点小意思……还只是开头，还有数以百万的像克林顿，奥巴马这样的家伙正在涌现。

Not corrupt? The author needsa dictionary and thesaurus.

没腐败？这作者需要字典和词典。

Thomas Miller2 · 1 month(s)ago 
Did President 4-Putt blatheron about how money corrupts politics but refuse to speak until he got hisenvelope with $400,000 in it?

美国总统是不是总是喋喋不休的说什么金钱腐败政策法案什么的，直到有人在他的信封里塞上40W美元他才闭嘴，是不是啊？

Kingsford Lump · 1 month(s)ago
True story... I saw Obama settingup a table selling HOPE t-shirts at Coachella on the 2nd weekend.

真事……第二个周末在科切拉，我看到奥巴马建了个卖“HOPE”体恤衫的台子（奥巴马的成名着作（The Audacity of HOPE）《希望 无畏》）

Alfa Nut · 1 month(s) ago 
"But our revulsion isn’tmoral; it’s aesthetic." Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but thereis no "aesthetic" component to consider. Mr. Obama isn't an artist.He will give a policy talk, not paint a landscape. Unless there is a co-author,there is also no "our." Perhaps Mr. McGoughis reluctant to take credit for pointing out the obvious. Fine, so let thislife-long liberal do it. Unless Mr. Obama proposes to donate the proceeds tocharity, his proposed fee is deeply, morally offensive.

“但是我们却不该从道德方面批判奥巴马，我们批判他仅仅是从美学角度上，因为他不再像以前那样美好了。”
原谅我如此明显的指出来，但是这压根就没什么“美学”的成分可供人们思考，他发表政策演说，又不是去画风景，除非那有个“枪手”帮他画，而且那是你的看法而不是“我们的”。或许麦高夫先生（美国着名演员）勉强可以用自己的名誉来担保奥巴马身上有明显的美学成分（讽刺奥巴马善于表演）。好吧，让麦高夫这位单身主义者像刚才说的那样去做吧。
除非奥巴马先生打算把自己演讲所得都捐给慈善机构。他没有，所以他的所谓“咨询费”才是深刻的道德上的冒犯。