当心晕倒！
如果要用一个词来描述过去20年里美国政治的特点，在英文中就是spin，spin是什么意思呢?如果政治玩家们在记者或电视镜头前对某事件进行解释，目的是为了给自己所支持的政治家争取最大程度的公众支持，或者是为了减少负面影响，那么就说他们在spin新闻或者说是按照自己的意愿给新闻来一个spin。如今参加竞选的政界人物周围都有一群工作人员，他们的主要工作就是提供这项spin服务。人们幽默地把最擅长spin的人称为“spin爷”，而总统新闻秘书一直是这类人的典范。如果你长时间地看一件旋转起来的东西，比如说一只陀螺，就可能感到眩晕。漫画家韦恩·斯代斯卡尔画中的老人看来就发生那种问题了。在最近狂乱的总统竞选周中(别忘了，与此同时还有许多其它重要竞选活动在进行，如议员竞选)，老人坐在扶手椅上，目睹了一个又一个竞选班子成员或某派系评论家在荧屏上对每一事态进行spin，spin，spin。
If there is a word that is characteristic of American politics as practiced in the last two decades, it is "spin". When political operatives interpret an event for reporters or TV cameras so as to gain the greatest possible public advantage for the politician they are supporting -- or to lessen the damage -- they are said to be "spinning" the news or putting a favorable "spin" on it. Campaigning politicians now have staffers in their entourage whose major function is to perform this service. The most adept spinners are known humorously as "spinmeisters"; the presidential press secretary is always a prime example of this species.
If you watch something, say a toy top, being spun for too long, you"re likely to get dizzy. That is what seems to have happened to the elderly man in Wayne Stayskal"s cartoon. Sitting in his armchair during the last, frantic weeks of the presidential campaign (and there are many other important campaigns going on at the same time, remember), he has witnessed one staffer or partisan pundit after another on his TV screen spinning, spinning, spinning each new development.
比如说，过去一周中有报道说在伊拉克有一大批炸药丢失了。这上百吨炸药之所以在美军的鼻子底下(spin)落入伊拉克叛军的手中(spin)，是否就是因为总统布什和国防部长拉姆斯菲尔德派往伊拉克的部队太少了呢(spin)?是不是那批炸药是否存在(spin)尚不清楚呢，还是的确存在过那么多吨的炸药?还是对那批炸药的去向真的是没有任何解释呢(spin)，还是炸药被人盗走了呢(spin)?炸药的丢失是不是拉姆斯菲尔德的不称职(spin)及布什目空一切的傲慢自大(spin)所导致的后果呢?共和党领导人是否一直在不经意间武装着(强力spin)美国的敌人或者说民主的敌人呢(spin)?是不是民主党人又在无耻地(spin)或是背叛国家利益(起劲地spin!)从身在伊拉克的美国战地英雄的辛劳中(spin)寻求着一党私利?
民意测验表明，美国在下周二进行的大选将会有特别多的人参加投票，本次大选的结果很可能胜负难分。如果再次出现类似四年前佛罗里达州的选票纠纷，那么在未来的几周里，各地的美国人就等着被卷进媒体飓风般的spin中吧。韦恩·斯代斯卡尔漫画中的那位老年人最好为这场即将到来的旋风做好准备。
This past week, for instance, it was reported that a huge quantity of explosives had gone missing in Iraq. Had these hundreds of tons of explosives actually fallen into the hands of insurgents (spin) under the noses of US soldiers (spin) because President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld had sent too few troops into Iraq (spin) to do the job? Or was it not clear that the explosives had ever existed (spin), or that there were so many tons of them (spin), or that they were truly unaccounted for (spin), or that they had been absconded with (spin)? Was their disappearance the upshot of Rumsfeld"s incompetence (spin) and Bush"s blind arrogance (spin)? Have Republican leaders been inadvertently arming (spin hard) the enemies of America or of democracy (spin)? Or have Democrats yet again been shamelessly (spin) or traitorously (spin at very high speed!) seeking partisan advantage from the travails of America"s heroes (spin) in Iraq?
The polls indicate that Americans will turn out to vote in huge numbers on Tuesday; the election may well be a cliff-hanger. If there is any repeat of the confusion four years ago over who won in Florida, Yanks everywhere can expect to be sucked into a hurricane of media spinning in the weeks to come. Wayne Stayskal"s senior citizen had better prepare himself for the cyclone.
①“他当时只是坐在那儿看选举报道，突然就眩晕了!”
②“他没事儿的，夫人。只是因为今年电视对政治新闻spin得更快了!”
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