特朗普大玩政治暴力 暗示刺客暗杀希拉里

American politics has long been conducted in the shadow of violence. Two of the country’s most celebrated presidents — Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy — were assassinated. During the 1968 presidential election campaign, Bobby Kennedy was also assassinated, five years after the killing of his brother and two months after the murder of Martin Luther King, the civil rights leader. Ronald Reagan was also shot and wounded in the early years of his presidency.

长期以来，美国政治一直笼罩在暴力的阴影下。美国最著名的总统中，有两位遭到暗杀，他们是亚伯拉罕•林肯(Abraham Lincoln)和约翰•肯尼迪(John Kennedy)。1968年大选期间，博比•肯尼迪(Bobby Kennedy)也被暗杀，这起事件发生在他哥哥遭暗杀五年后、民权领袖马丁•路德•金(Martin Luther King)被谋杀两个月后。罗纳德•里根(Ronald Reagan)在担任总统初期也曾被人用枪打伤。

It is this history of political violence that makes Donald Trump’s suggestion that American gun owners could somehow stop Hillary Clinton so incendiary and dangerous. It is difficult to listen to the Republican nominee’s remarks and to regard them as anything other than an oblique, but unmistakable, suggestion that somebody might try to kill his Democratic rival rather than see her appoint liberal judges to the Supreme Court.

正是这种政治暴力史让唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的最新言论显得如此具有煽动性和危险性。特朗普暗示，美国枪支持有者可以通过某种方式阻止希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)。在听到这位共和党总统候选人的言论后，我们只能把这些言论理解为一种隐晦但确定无疑的暗示：某些人可以尝试去杀死他的民主党竞争对手，而不是眼看着她委任自由派人士为美国最高法院(Supreme Court)法官。

The Trump campaign’s spin that he was merely appealing to “Second Amendment people” to get out and vote is unconvincing. The statement was made in the context of a discussion of how the US would look once Mrs Clinton had been elected and started appointing judges. There would, said Mr Trump, be “nothing you can do” — before musing aloud, “although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is”.

特朗普的竞选团队解释说，他只是在呼吁《宪法第二修正案》的支持者们站出来投票。这种说法是不能令人信服的。特朗普是在讨论一旦希拉里当选并开始任命法官、美国会怎样的语境下发表上述言论的。特朗普表示，到那时“你们什么都做不了”，然后他大声说，“不过《宪法第二修正案》的支持者们或许会有办法”。

The word “irresponsible” barely covers this latest outrageous statement. Mr Trump has already allowed an atmosphere of violence to fester around his campaign. He has encouraged supporters to beat up hecklers and said that he wanted to punch speakers at the Democratic convention, “so hard their heads would spin”. At the Republican convention, the Trump campaign had to disavow a delegate’s suggestion that Mrs Clinton should be “shot for treason”.

他这番骇人言论已不能用“不负责任”这个词简单概括。特朗普已任由暴力的气氛在他的竞选活动中发酵。他怂恿支持者殴打起哄的人，并表示他想给在民主党全国代表大会上发言的人一拳，“打得他们头晕目眩”。在共和党全国代表大会上，特朗普竞选团队不得不对一位代表有关希拉里应“因叛国罪被杀”的说法表示不赞成。

Mr Trump now has a well-established record of making outrageous statements and then claiming that he has been misinterpreted. He mocked a disabled reporter — and then denied it. He suggested that another journalist had asked him tough questions because she was menstruating — and then denied it. In the same speech in which he talked of the “Second Amendment” people taking action against Mrs Clinton, he once again flirted with the conspiracy theory that Antonin Scalia, a conservative Supreme Court judge, had been murdered.

特朗普一向是先发表粗暴无礼的言论，然后声称自己遭到误解——这一点现在可以说是众所周知。他曾嘲笑一位残疾记者，接着又否认。他还说过，有位记者曾问他很难回答的问题，因为她正处在生理期，后来，他又否认自己这么说过。在暗示《宪法第二修正案》支持者可以对希拉里采取行动的讲话中，他再次玩起了阴谋论，称美国最高法院持保守主义立场的法官安东宁•斯卡利亚(Antonin Scalia)被谋杀了。

Some will suggest that Mr Trump’s latest ramblings are further proof that he is deranged or out of control. But the truth may be rather more sinister. The Republican candidate has become a specialist in appealing to the wildest fringes of the American right by making statements that are clearly understood by them and by a wider audience but that are also just about deniable.

一些人会说，特朗普最新的疯言疯语进一步证明，他已神经错乱或失控。但真相可能更危险。这位共和党总统候选人已极为擅长于迎合美国最狂热的极右翼分子，他会发表一些显然被他们和更多人理解、又几近可以抵赖的言论。

Opinion polls suggest that this appalling strategy is not going to deliver Mr Trump success at the ballot box. But the fear must be that they will further poison the political atmosphere in the US and encourage the kind of political violence with which Mr Trump is now flirting.

民调显示，这种可怕的策略不会让特朗普在选举中获胜。但人们肯定要担心，这将进一步毒害美国的政治环境并鼓励特朗普正在玩弄的那种政治暴力。