Summary：

最近共和党人Brett Kavanaugh在性骚扰听证会后，正式任命为美国最高法院大法官。这篇经济学人文章主要探讨了为什么Breet不适合当大法官的原因：

• 听证会的说辞有明显的误导的地方

• 听证会上将一些黑词改意

• 对民主党持有很深的偏见，而法官应该保持中立

以下是原文：

Kava-no 对卡瓦诺说不

Whatever the FBI finds, Brett Kavanaugh’s own testimony should disqualify him from America’s highest court 不管联邦调查局发现什么，布雷特·卡瓦诺自己的证词都应该会使他失去美国最高法院（大法官）的资格

ITMAY never be possible to know what really happened in the suburban Maryland home where Christine Blasey Ford recalls being sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh in the summer of 1982. Mr Kavanaugh vehemently denies the accusation. Given the difficulty of litigating a 36-year-old case, the risk of destroying the reputation of a man who may be innocent, and the partisan nature of the opposition—Democrats were against Mr Kavanaugh long before he faced allegations of sexual assault—should Republican senators confirm the president’s nominee when the Senate votes?

人们可能永远不可能知道在克莉丝汀·布拉西·福特回忆的在1982年夏天被布雷特·卡瓦诺(Brett Kavanaugh)性侵犯的马里兰州郊区的家中到底发生了什么。卡瓦诺先生极力否认这一指控。将以下都考虑进去：诉讼36年之久的案件的难度，一个可能是无辜的人的名誉被毁的风险，以及反对党的党派性质——民主党人在卡瓦诺面临性侵犯指控很久之前就开始反对他了，共和党参议员应该在参议院投票时确认总统的提名吗?

They should not. Even if an FBI investigation fails to turn up new evidence about what happened in a bedroom 36 years ago, there is no disputing what Mr Kavanaugh said in his confirmation hearings last week. And it was damning.

答案是他们不应该确认。即使美国联邦调查局(FBI)的调查未能找到36年前卧室里发生的事情的新证据，但卡瓦诺在上周的确认听证会上所说的话是确认无疑的，而这些话极其该死。

Over his skis（说话欠妥）

Mr Kavanaugh was evasive and disingenuous. Under oath, he depicted himself as a typical teenage drinker and in control. A number of contemporaries at school and college dispute that. He claimed that he could legally drink in Maryland in his senior year—hence the “100 Kegs or Bust” boast in his yearbook. In fact, by the time he turned 18, the drinking age was 21. Lots of American teenagers drink before they are legally allowed to. They do not mislead the Senate about it three decades later.

卡瓦诺先生闪烁其词，不诚实。在宣誓后，他把自己描述成一个典型的青少年酒徒并且合法。许多在学校和大学的同龄人对此表示异议。他声称自己在马里兰州大四时可以合法饮酒——因此在他的纪念册上有“要么喝100桶酒要么爆炸”这样的自吹。事实上，在他18岁的时候，饮酒法定年龄是21岁。许多美国青少年在被合法允许前就喝酒了，但三十年后，他们并没有像卡瓦诺那样误导参议院。

Mr Kavanaugh told other small fibs under oath. He said that references by him and his friends to a girl called Renate, which contemporaries say were boasts of sexual conquest, real or pretended, were “intended to show affection, and that she was one of us”. He changed the meanings of slang from his yearbook: the “Devil’s Triangle” (sex between one woman and two men) became a drinking game nobody has heard of; “boofing” (anal sex or infusion of drugs or alcohol) became farting. The real meanings might be awkward for Mr Kavanaugh, but a judge should not redefine words to avoid embarrassment.

卡瓦诺先生在宣誓后也说了其他的小谎言。他说，他和他的朋友提到一个叫瑞纳特(Renate)的女孩时，不管是真是假，“意在表达爱意，她是我们中的一员”。但与他同时代的人说，提起这个女孩是对性征服的吹嘘。他把黑话的意思从纪念册里改了过来:“魔鬼三角”(一名女子和两名男子之间的性行为)变成了一种没人听说过的饮酒游戏;“boofing”(肛交或从肝门处注射毒品或酒精来变嗨)的意思变成了放屁。对于卡瓦诺来说，真正的含义可能会有些尴尬，但法官不应该为了避免尴尬而重新定义词语。

Nor should a judge give the impression of being consumed by hatred for one of the main political parties. Mr Kavanaugh described the allegations against him as “a political hit”, “revenge on behalf of the Clintons” and the fruit of “millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups”.

法官也不应该给人一种对主要政党之一充满仇恨的印象(法官应该保持中立，但卡瓦诺对民主党充满仇恨）。卡瓦诺将针对他的指控描述为“一次政治打击”，“代表克林顿夫妇的报复”，以及“来自左翼反对派外部的数百万美元资金”的成果。

Defenders of Mr Kavanaugh, worried about an open season on powerful men, point out that any innocent person in his position would rage against his accusers. Yet Mr Kavanaugh was not just angry, but conspiratorial. He chose to direct his fury at the Democrats personally, as if he were a signed-up member of the other side.

卡瓦诺先生的辩护者担心这会开启对权利人物的自由抨击，他们指出任何处于他这个位置的无辜的人都会对他的指控者大发雷霆。然而，卡瓦诺不仅愤怒，而且充满阴谋。他选择将自己的愤怒直接发泄在民主党身上，就好像他是另一方的签约成员。

As it happens, that is precisely what Democrats have always alleged—and how Republicans are now honouring him. Before he became a judge, Mr Kavanaugh worked for Ken Starr on the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He was part of George W. Bush’s legal team, which opposed a recount in Florida in 2000, and later worked in the Bush White House. This explains why hostility to Mr Kavanaugh has eclipsed that faced by Neil Gorsuch, who joined the Supreme Court last year. Mr Kavanaugh says he put party allegiance aside on becoming a judge. After last week, that claim looks misleading, too.

碰巧的是，这正是民主党人一直以来所声称的——也是共和党人现在以卡瓦诺为荣所在。在成为法官之前，卡瓦诺为肯·斯塔尔工作，负责弹劾比尔·克林顿。2000年，乔治·w·布什(George W. Bush)的法律团队在佛罗里达州反对重新计票，他是该团队的一员，后来在布什政府任职。这就解释了为什么对卡瓦诺的敌意盖过了去年加入最高法院的Neil gorso先生。卡瓦诺说一旦成为法官他会把党派忠诚放在一边。自上周以来，这种说法看起来也具有误导性。

It is hard to see how someone who harbours such feelings can decide cases on gerrymandering, say, in a credibly non-partisan way. Mr Kavanaugh’s conservative judicial philosophy is not a problem. His visible loathing of Democrats is. That is not just our opinion. In 2015 a prominent jurist told the Catholic University of America: “A good judge, like a good umpire, cannot act as a partisan...If you are playing the Yankees, you don’t want the umpires to show up wearing pinstripes.” The jurist’s name was Brett Kavanaugh.

很难想象一个怀有这种感觉的人如何能够以一种可信的非党派的方式，来决定不公正划分选区的案件。卡瓦诺保守的司法哲学不是问题，真正的问题是他明显厌恶民主党。这不仅仅是我们的观点。2015年，一位著名的法学家告诉美国天主教大学:“一个好的法官，就像一个好的裁判，不能作为一个党派的人……”如果你与洋基队的打球，你不希望裁判穿着细条纹球衣出现（条纹球衣是洋基队的队服）。这个法学家的名字是布雷特·卡瓦诺。

Vocabulary you may need to learn：

testimony ['testɪmənɪ] :

          n. [法] 证词，证言；证据

disqualify [dɪs'kwɒlɪfaɪ] :

          vt. 取消…的资格

suburban [sə'bɜːb(ə)n] :

          n. 郊区居民 adj. 郊区的，城郊的；土气的；见闻不广的

vehemently ['vi:iməntli] :

          adv. 激烈地；暴烈地；竭尽全力地

accusation [ækjʊ'zeɪʃ(ə)n] :

          n. 控告，指控；谴责

litigate ['lɪtɪgeɪt] :

          vt. 在法庭相争；提出诉讼 vi. 对簿法庭

partisan ['pɑːtɪzæn; ,pɑːtɪ'zæn] :

          n. 游击队；虔诚信徒；党羽 adj. 党派的；效忠的；偏袒的；盲目推崇的

nominee [nɒmɪ'niː] :

          n. 被任命者；被提名的人；代名人

turn up :

          出现；发生；开大；发现；卷起；使仰卧

confirmation hearing :

          审议听证会; 听证会; 证实听证会

damning ['dæmiŋ] :

          adj. 咒骂的；毁灭的；受永罚的; (罪证等) 确凿的; 导致定罪的 n. 诅咒; v. 咒骂（damn的ing形式）

evasive [ɪ'veɪsɪv] :

          adj. 逃避的；托辞的；推托的

disingenuous [,dɪsɪn'dʒenjʊəs] :

          adj. 虚伪的；不诚实的；不老实的；狡猾的

oath [əʊθ] :

          n. 誓言，誓约；诅咒，咒骂

depict [dɪ'pɪkt] :

          vt. 描述；描画

contemporaries :

          n. 同龄，同辈人（contemporary复数形式）

contemporary [kən'temp(ə)r(ər)ɪ] :

          n. 同时代的人；同时期的东西 adj. 当代的；同时代的；属于同一时期的

fib [fɪb] :

          n. 无伤大雅的谎言，小谎；一击 vi. 撒小谎

conquest ['kɒŋkwest] :

          n. 征服，战胜；战利品

affection [ə'fekʃ(ə)n] :

          n. 喜爱，感情；影响；感染

slang [slæŋ] :

          n. 俚语；行话 adj. 俚语的 vt. 用俚语说 vi. 用粗话骂

yearbook ['jɪəbʊk; 'jɜː-] :

          n. 年鉴；年刊

anal ['eɪn(ə)l] :

          adj. [解剖] 肛门的，直肠的；肛门附近的

fart [fɑːt] :

          n. 屁，放屁 vi. 放屁

consumed :

          vt. 消耗（consume的过去式和过去分词） adj. 充满的；对…着迷的

hatred ['heɪtrɪd] :

          n. 憎恨；怨恨；敌意

allegation [ælɪ'geɪʃ(ə)n] :

          n. 指控; 陈述，主张; 宣称; 陈词，陈述;

revenge [rɪ'ven(d)ʒ] :

          n. 报复；复仇 vt. 报复；替…报仇；洗雪 vi. 报仇；雪耻

open season :

          自由抨击 渔猎期，渔猎开放期；解禁期间

rage [reɪdʒ] :

          n. 愤怒；狂暴，肆虐；情绪激动 vi. 大怒，发怒；流行，风行

accuser [ə'kjuːzə] :

          n. 原告；控告者；指责者

conspiratorial [kən,spɪrə'tɔːrɪəl] :

          adj. 阴谋的；阴谋者的

fury ['fjʊərɪ] :

          n. 狂怒；暴怒；激怒者

personally ['pɜːs(ə)n(ə)lɪ] :

          adv. 亲自地；当面；个别地；就自己而言

sign-up ['sin,ʌp] :

          n. 注册；签约

as it happens :

          碰巧；偶然发生

precisely [prɪ'saɪslɪ] :

          adv. 精确地；恰恰

allege [ə'ledʒ] :

          vt. 宣称，断言；提出…作为理由

impeachment [ɪm'pi:tʃmənt] :

          n. 弹劾；控告；怀疑；指摘

hostility [hɒ'stɪlɪtɪ] :

          n. 敌意；战争行动

eclipse [ɪ'klɪps] :

          n. 日蚀，月蚀；黯然失色 vt. 使黯然失色；形成蚀

allegiance [ə'liːdʒ(ə)ns] :

          n. 效忠，忠诚；忠贞

put aside :

          v. 撇开；把...放在一边，暂不考虑；储存…备用

harbour [ˈhɑ:bə(r)] :

          n. 海港（等于harbor）；避难所 vt. 庇护；藏匿；入港停泊 vi. 藏匿；入港停泊；庇护

gerrymander ['dʒerɪ,mændə] :

          n. 改变选举区；选区不公正的重新划分 vt. 为政党利益改划选区；为一党私利而重新将划分选区 vi. 不公正地划分选区；弄虚作假

credibly ['kredəbli] :

          adv. 可靠地；可信地

loathing ['ləʊðɪŋ]

          n. 嫌恶 adj. 厌恶的 vt. 讨厌（loathe的ing形式）

prominent ['prɒmɪnənt]

          adj. 突出的，显著的；杰出的；卓越的

jurist ['dʒʊərɪst]

          n. 法学家；法官；律师；法律著作家

umpire ['ʌmpaɪə]

          n. 裁判员，仲裁人 vt. 仲裁，裁判 vi. 当裁判，任裁判

pinstripe ['pɪn'straɪp]

          n. 细条纹；细条纹布衣服

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