又中又英 | Puts you to shame | 褚简宁

　　Conservative commentator George Will uses such masterful English in his Washington Post columns that he puts me to shame. If someone puts you to shame, it means that person makes you feel ashamed because that person is better than you. Only a few columnists can write as skillfully as Will, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1977. Aged 85, he still writes two columns a week for the Washington Post focusing on politics, foreign affairs, and domestic policy. He describes himself as a libertarian conservative. A libertarian is someone who believes in personal freedom, free speech, and open markets.

　　He left the Republican Party in 2016 because he opposed President Donald Trump. He accused Trump of being a threat to democracy. A recent Washington Post column Will wrote so impressed me that I wanted to write about his writing skills. An eye-catching sentence in his column was: "Fill the government with barbarians, you get barbaric government". He regarded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a barbarian and dragged him over the coals for wanting to livestream the execution of Army Major Nidal Hasan by firing squad. To “drag someone over the coals” means to angrily criticize someone for doing something you oppose.

　　Hasan, a Muslim, shot dead 13 unarmed soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009. He was paralyzed when other soldiers returned fire and now uses a wheelchair. Will mocked Hegseth by writing Americans could watch the livestreamed execution while eating popcorn. I wrote in my previous column that President Donald Trump initially approved the livestream but later said he would make the final decision. He cancelled the livestream after political leaders from both parties criticized livestreaming an execution, especially of someone in a wheelchair.

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　　保守派时评人乔治‧威尔，在其《华盛顿邮报》专栏内所用到的大师级上乘英语，使我自愧不如（puts me to shame）。若某人puts you to shame，意即那人比你更好，令你不禁汗颜。威尔于1977年荣获普立兹奖，世上写得精妙如他的专栏作家寥寥无几。他已年届85岁，每周仍然为《华盛顿邮报》撰写两篇专栏，专注政治、外交事务和内政等议题。他形容自己为libertarian 保守派。A libertarian 是相信个人自由、言论自由以及开放市场的自由主义者。

　　他因为反对总统特朗普，于2016年退出共和党。他指责特朗普是对民主的威胁。在《华》最近一篇专栏里，威尔所写的令我甚为钦佩，使我不得不写一下他的写作技巧。他的专栏文章内有一句极为吸睛的句子：「用野蛮人塞满政府，你只会得到一个野蛮的政府。」国防部长皮特‧赫格塞斯想直播行刑队枪决陆军少校尼达尔‧哈桑的过程，威尔将赫格塞斯称为野蛮人，并且 dragged him over the coals——to “drag someone over the coals” 是指因为某人做了一些你反对的事，而严厉批评、斥责他。

　　回教徒哈桑于2009年在德州胡德堡军事基地枪杀13名没有武器装备的士兵。他因为其他士兵开枪还击而瘫痪，现在要使用轮椅。威尔嘲讽赫格塞斯，写道美国人大可以一边观看行刑直播，一边吃爆谷。我在上一篇文章中写过，总统特朗普原已批准直播，后来又说他会再做最后决定。在两党政治领袖皆批评直播行刑，尤其是枪决一个坐轮椅的人之后，他取消了直播计划。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻