德国眼里不揉沙子 调侃奥巴马不再值得信任

What did the president know, and when did he know it? Such was demanded of Richard Nixon, who resigned 40 years ago next month. In no sense can President Barack Obama be morally compared with the man who brought us Watergate. He is neither a crook nor a liar.

总统知道什么？他什么时候知道的？这些都是于1974年8月辞职的美国前总统理查德•尼克松(Richard Nixon)被要求回答的问题。从道德方面来说，美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)绝对不能与为我们带来“水门事件”的尼克松相提并论。奥巴马既不是骗子，也不是说谎者。

But Mr Obama shares one problem that could cripple what remains of his presidency – most people no longer trust him. The sentiment spans foreign allies as well as domestic critics. When trust goes, respect is seldom far behind.

但与尼克松一样，奥巴马面临一个可能让其剩余任期陷入瘫痪的问题：大多数人不再信任他，这其中既包括外国盟友，也包括国内的批评人士。当失去信任的时候，尊重也就无从谈起。

The most surprising example is Germany. It was in Berlin in 2008 that then Senator Obama unveiled his global promise – an America that could once again be trusted. Germans no longer believe it. In the wake of the “friendly spying” ring allegations, less than 40 per cent of Germans consider the US a trustworthy partner, according to one survey.

最令人意外的例子是德国。2008年在柏林，当时还是美国参议员的奥巴马披露了其全球承诺：让美国重获信任。如今德国人不再相信这话了。一项调查显示，在“友好间谍活动”系列丑闻曝光后，还认为美国是值得信赖的合作伙伴的德国人比例不足40%。

Senior German figures cannot agree whether Mr Obama was unaware of Washington’s double agents, or dissembling. Either way, when Mr Obama spoke to Angela Merkel the day before the initial revelations he did not raise it. It was enough to make you want to cry said Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister. Never before has a close US ally expelled a CIA station chief.

奥巴马是真不知道华盛顿的双面间谍，还是在故意掩饰？德国高层看法不一。无论是哪一种情况，奥巴马在事件曝光前一天与德国总理安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)交谈时，他并没有提起这事。德国财长沃尔夫冈•朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Schäuble)表示，这足以让你想哭。此前从未发生过美国亲密盟友驱逐美国中央情报局(CIA)站长的事情。

Mistrust is a nebulous concept. In the case of Mr Nixon, people rightly suspected he was crooked. In the case of Mr Obama, it is based on the perception that he is ineffectual. His words are so rarely joined to deeds. The net result is not radically different. When Mr Obama promises something will happen – say a tightening of data surveillance safeguards, or a drive to overhaul US immigration policy – people are no longer inclined to take him at his word. They may believe he means what he says. But they do not trust his ability to deliver.

不信任是一个模糊的概念。就尼克松来说，人们正确地怀疑他不老实。对奥巴马的不信任建立在人们认为他无效的基础之上。他很少兑现承诺。最终结果没有什么根本性的不同。当奥巴马承诺将会发生某事时——比如收紧数据监视防护措施，或者推动改革美国移民政策——人们不再当回事。他们可能相信他说的是真心话，但不相信他有执行能力。

There are Republicans who will swallow any number of preposterous stories about Mr Obama – that he has used the Internal Revenue Service to hound conservatives, or has plans to liquidate old people in order to control healthcare costs. But the conspiracy theorists have been around since the day he took office. What has changed is the mindset of ordinary people. Most Americans say they no longer personally trust Mr Obama. And fewer than 30 per cent express trust in the office of the presidency.

有些共和党人会全盘接受所有关于奥巴马的荒谬故事：他利用美国国税局(IRS)来侵扰保守派人士，或者计划消灭老年人以控制医疗成本。但自奥巴马上台那天起，阴谋论者就一直没闲着。真正改变的是普通人的想法。大多数美国人表示，他们在个人层面不再信任奥巴马。只有不到30%的美国人表示信任奥巴马政府。

Mr Obama’s instinct has been to march away from the sound of gunfire. On the one hand, he has made it known that he hates being in Washington. From now on Mr Obama will take every opportunity to get out into the real world, say aides. On the other, he blames the messenger for his predicament. Mr Obama says he enjoys interacting with ordinary people, as opposed to the “cynics” who live in Washington, including the US media. The word now crops up in nearly every speech. “It’s easy to be cynical, in fact these days it’s kind of trendy,” he said. “Cynicism is a choice, and hope is a better choice.”

奥巴马本能地想要远离指责。一方面，他透露出自己讨厌呆在华盛顿。奥巴马的助手称，从现在开始，奥巴马将利用一切机会投入真实的世界。另一方面，他将自己的困境归咎于信使。奥巴马表示，他喜欢与普通人、而不是华盛顿的“犬儒主义者”（包括美国媒体）来往。现在奥巴马几乎在每场演讲中都会用到“犬儒主义”这个词。他说：“犬儒主义是容易的，实际上如今这已成为某种潮流。犬儒主义是一种选择，而希望是一种更好的选择。”

Journalism has more than its fair share of cynics. But most reporters are better described as sceptical. A cynic believes there is nothing new under the sun. A sceptic resists gullibility. On the basis of the latter, Mr Obama does not appear to relish being chief executive.

新闻界当然不乏犬儒主义者，但将大多数记者称为怀疑者更好一些。犬儒主义者相信阳光底下没有一样东西是新的，怀疑者则是不肯轻信。按后者的观点来看，奥巴马似乎不是特别想在总统位置上坐下去。

According to Mark Knoller, who chronicles the habits of US presidents, Mr Obama has now played golf 179 times – considerably more than George W Bush, his golf-loving predecessor. Mr Obama dislikes spending time with fellow politicians. But he seems happy to attend endless fundraisers. He has now clocked up 393 fundraising events since becoming president, almost double that of Mr Bush.

记录美国总统习惯的马克•诺勒(Mark Knoller)表示，奥巴马打了179场高尔夫，远远超过以热衷于高尔夫球出名的前总统乔治·W·布什(George W Bush)。奥巴马不喜欢与政客同僚消磨时间。但他似乎喜欢参加没完没了的筹款会。自担任总统以来，他总共参加了393场筹款会，几乎是布什的两倍。

If Mr Obama put half as much effort into co-opting or wrongfooting his opponents as he does raising cash from the wealthy, people might be less sceptical. It is not only journalists who remember Mr Obama’s promise in 2008 to limit his spending to public funding on condition that his Republican opponent agreed to do the same. Sure enough, his opponent (John McCain) accepted the deal. By then Mr Obama had discovered his great flair for raising money. He dropped the offer.

如果奥巴马拿出筹款精力的一半来拉拢或者扰乱对手，或许会减少人们对他的不信任。包括记者在内的许多人记得，奥巴马曾在2008年承诺限制公共筹款活动，只要共和党对手同意做同样的事情。当然，他的对手约翰•麦凯恩(John McCain)同意了。那时奥巴马已经发现自己在筹款方面的巨大天赋。他食言了。

Mr Nixon’s aides were caught laundering illegal campaign funds and imprisoned for it. Mr Obama’s methods are legal and transparent. They are like night and day. But nobody expected better from “Tricky Dicky”. Mr Obama, on the other hand, made large ethical claims – that he would change the tone in Washington, that he would restore America’s moral authority in the world and that he would drive big money out of politics.

尼克松的助理由于为非法竞选资金洗钱而被捕入狱。奥巴马的筹款方法是合法而透明的。两者有天壤之别。但没有人对“狡猾的迪克”（Tricky Dicky，指尼克松——译者注）有更高的期望。另一方面，奥巴马当初在道德方面口气很大，承诺要改变华盛顿的风气，恢复美国在世界上的道德权威，并且把“大钱”驱逐出政坛。

If you seek an explanation for why Mr Obama riles so many voters – and not just Tea Party conservatives – the perception of double standards is at the root of the problem. Leaders who make grand moral promises set themselves up for a fall. If they cannot live up to them, the backlash is all the greater.

如果你希望为奥巴马激怒如此多选民（不仅仅是茶党保守派）寻找一个解释，那么人们得到的双重标准印象是问题的根源。做出重大道德承诺的领导人很容易摔倒。如果他们不能兑现承诺，就会招致更大的反弹。

That is why Mr Obama is so often compared to Jimmy Carter. For all his turpitude, Nixon was good at working the machinery of state to get things done, some of them very impressive. Even when they disagree, people want action from their leaders, rather than explanations for inaction. Nixon’s actions were sometimes heinous. Obama’s are often innocuous.

正因为此，人们往往会将奥巴马与吉米•卡特(Jimmy Carter)相提并论。尼克松尽管品行不端，但他擅长动用国家机器来做事，其中一些事情还令人印象深刻。人们即便不赞同某事，也仍希望领导人有所作为，而不是为无为找借口。尼克松的所作所为有时是可耻的，奥巴马的作为往往无关痛痒。

“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal,” Nixon told David Frost. “If I do something, it is moral,” Mr Obama appears to believe. Except when it isn’t moral, which brings on greater disillusion. Call it Mr Obama’s Germany syndrome.

尼克松曾在接受采访时向戴维•弗罗斯特(David Frost)表示：“当总统这么做的时候，就意味着这件事并非不合法。”奥巴马似乎相信“如果我做某事，它就是道德的”。可有时候它就是不道德的，于是它更让人感到失望。可以将这称为奥巴马的德国综合症。