又中又英 | Political wilderness | 褚簡寧
It's been two months since Donald Trump became the US President for the second time and his Republican Party won control of both Houses of Congress. The defeated Democratic Party is still lost in the political wilderness, looking for a way out. The word "wilderness" means a remote and undeveloped area with forests, overgrown bushes, or wild animals. If a political party is in the political wilderness, it means the party has lost power and influence. The Democrats are on their heels and trying to find their footing.
To be on your heels means to be following closely behind someone and trying to catch up. To find your footing used this way means trying to become confident or successful again. The Democratic Party has still not found its footing in a way that can threaten Trump's popularity. Latest polls show the president's popularity is shrinking, but not by very much. Democrats are divided over what political message is most effective in motivating Americans to stand up against Trump and his controversial policies, such as empowering Elon Musk, the world's richest person, to fire thousands of government employees.
Polls show many Americans oppose Trump giving so much power to Musk, but Trump voters support Musk’s mass firing of government workers to cut costs. Some frustrated Democratic members of Congress are now publicly using swear words such as "f..k" and "shit" to criticize Trump and Musk! It is not unusual for American politicians to sometimes use bad language in public, but this has now become more frequent.
當勞．特朗普第二度就任美國總統，以及其共和黨取得國會兩院的控制權以來，已有兩個月了。被擊敗的民主黨仍然在「政治荒野」（political wilderness）中迷失，尋求出路。Wilderness是指偏遠和未開發，滿是叢林、雜草與野獸的荒野；若一個政黨身處political wilderness，意即那個政黨已不在權力的中心，喪失了權力和影響力。民主黨正在on their heels，努力嘗試find their footing。
To be on your heels是指緊緊跟隨某人身後，緊貼着要追趕上步伐；to find your footing在這裏是指嘗試站穩腳步，或再度取得成功。民主黨還未找到方法站穩腳步（found its footing），足以威脅特朗普的民望。最新民調顯示，總統的民望正在收窄，但也不是少很多。民主黨人之間亦有分化，不知哪種政治訊息能最有效激發美國人站起來抗議特朗普及其具爭議的政策，例如授權世界首富伊隆．馬斯克去炒掉數以萬計的政府僱員。
民調顯示，許多美國人反對特朗普給予馬斯克這麼大的權力，但投票選特朗普的選民則支持馬斯克大刀闊斧炒掉政府員工以縮減成本。一些惱怒的民主黨國會議員，現在都會公然用F字頭粗口或"shit"這樣的髒話去批評特朗普和馬斯克！美國政客有時公開說粗言穢語也不是罕見的，但現在卻變得越來越頻密。
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中譯：七刻
褚簡寧
