文字难度：★★★☆
A few blocks from the White House, on the busy corner of H and 9th streets, stands a 1)bland, unnamed, nine-story office building. On a wall in the lobby, large silver letters spell out the words “Worthy of Trust and Confidence.” That is the motto of the Secret Service, and the anonymous tan-brick building is the agency’s headquarters. “The phrase,” said former director Lewis C. Merletti, “is the absolute heart and soul of the 2)United States Secret Service…And it must never be compromised.” Lest they forget, all agents have the motto 3)emblazoned on their IDs. So, how would you feel if a frowning man with dark sunglasses and wires in his ears grabbed the back of your pants every time you walked into a crowd? That’s just one of many less-than-enjoyable aspects of presidential life that the Obama family—4)christened with their official Secret Service code names: 5)Renegade (Barack), 6)Renaissance (Michelle), Radiance (Malia), and Rosebud (Sasha)—have been living with.
离白宫几个街区远,在H大街和第九大街交汇的那个繁忙角落里,矗立着一栋稀松平常,楼高九层的无名办公大楼。大厅的一面墙上,一些巨大的银色字母拼出了几个词——“值得托付信赖”。那是美国特勤局的座右铭,而这栋无名的棕色砖墙建筑则是特勤局的总部所在地。“这几个字”,特勤局前局长刘易斯·C·默尔提说道,“是美国特勤局绝对的核心和灵魂所在……这是决不能背叛的。”唯恐遗忘,这一座右铭在所有特工的证件上都用纹章装饰标记出来。那么,如果有这么一个眉头紧锁,戴着黑墨镜和监听耳塞的男人,在你每次走进人群时都在后面扯住你的裤子,你会有什么感觉?总统生涯开始后,这只是奥巴马和家人一直得忍受的众多烦事之一。并且,特勤局还给他们分别起了秘密代号:奥巴马是Renegade(叛徒),第一夫人米歇尔是Renaissance(复兴),大女儿玛丽亚是Radiance(光辉),小女儿萨莎是Rosebud(花蕾)。
Of course, the Obamas aren’t the only ones having to tolerate the Secret Service being around. Using 7)gadgets that would make 8)James Bond envious, agents sweep offices and hotel rooms for surveillance devices, test food for poison, and measure air quality to check for dangerous bacteria. But all the technology and planning in the world can’t protect a candidate or president if he won’t do what he’s told. Some politicians have been cooperative—9)Dwight Eisenhower, 10)George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, for example—while others have gone 11)rogue; Bill Clinton, Franklin Roosevelt, and 12)Lyndon Johnson all loved to make 13)mischief.
当然,奥巴马一家并不是唯一一群随时被特工跟着的人。特工们利用连詹姆斯·邦德也会心生嫉妒的高科技装备,查探办公室和旅店房间是否被装上监视装置,检测食物是否有毒,测试空气质量,检测其中是否含有危险的细菌。但如果这些总统候选人或是总统不按吩咐的去做的话,世上任何科技和部署都保护不了他们。有些政客很配合工作,如德怀特·艾森豪威尔、乔治·H·W·布什、乔治·W·布什,然而也有些政客特立独行,不按规矩办事,比如比尔·克林顿、富兰克林·罗斯福,还有林登·约翰逊都喜欢胡来添乱。
Acting as human surveillance cameras, Secret Service agents observe everything that goes on outside of public view. So what are the secrets behind the scenes? Revealing anecdotes from administrations past gives us a peek at the real life of both the agents and the politicians.
作为“人肉”监视器,特勤局的特工们监视幕后发生的一切。那么幕后有着什么秘密?从往届特工管理层的口中透露的总统奇闻轶事也许能使人们得以一瞥特工们和政客们的真实生活。
“On my second day on the job as an agent, they put me in the 14)rear seat of the president’s 15)limousine,” says former agent Larry D. Newman. “A supervisor on 16)the detail placed a 17)Thompson submachine gun on my lap. I had never seen a Thompson, much less used one.” Over the next several years, Newman received a total of ten weeks of training, consisting of four weeks on law enforcement procedures at the 18)Treasury Department and six weeks of Secret Service training. But he never could figure out why locked boxes of shotguns were kept in the White House for the Secret Service, yet only the White House police had the keys.
“我当上特工的第二天,他们就让我坐在总统专车的后座上,”前特工拉里·D·纽曼说道,“特勤局的一位上级主管把一把汤普生自动步枪放在我的膝上。我从未见过汤普生自动步枪,更别说用过了。”在接下来的几年时间里,纽曼一共接受了十周的训练,包括在财政部为时四周有关执法程序的培训,以及在特勤局的六周培训。但他从来搞不懂,有一箱箱枪支锁在白宫供特勤局的特工使用,为什么只有白宫警察才有其钥匙。
When it comes to the private life of the presidents, there are many 19)juicy details to be revealed. In the agent’s eyes, 20)Richard Nixon was “the strangest modern president,” and his successor, 21)Gerald Ford, was nice but “cheap.” Former agent Robert B. Sulliman Jr. was angry because 22)Jimmy Carter would get to the office about 6 a.m. and “do a little work for half an hour, then close the curtains and take a nap” without informing the media of his breaks.
说到总统们的私生活,有很多奇趣秘闻可以透露一下。在特工们的眼里,理查德·尼克松是“当代最奇怪的总统”,而他的继任者杰拉德·福特虽然友善,却“吝啬”。前特工小罗伯特·B·苏莱曼透露,吉米·卡特会在早上6点到办公室,接着“干半个小时的活,然后拉上窗帘小睡一会儿”,对媒体他则只字不提自己的这些频繁歇息。说起这个,苏莱曼就来气。
The busy, self-important agents also disliked23)tardiness, which is one reason they couldn’t stand Bill Clinton or 24)Al Gore. Former agent Dave Saleeba waited impatiently for Vice President Gore one day, only to discover him “eating a 25)muffin at the pool.” On the other hand, the agents found President 26)Ronald Reagan “a 27)down-to-earth individual”; his successor, George H.W. Bush, “a great man, just an 28)all around nice person”; and George W. Bush “down to earth, caring.” Agents loved to “chop wood” with the younger Bush and appreciated “the fact that Bush is punctual.”
忙碌、自视甚高的特工们还讨厌人“拖拉”,这也是他们无法忍受比尔·克林顿或者阿尔·戈尔的原因之一。前特工戴 夫·萨利帕有天不耐烦地等着副总统戈尔,却发现他“在泳池边吃着一块松饼”。另外,特工们发现罗纳德·里根总统是个“务实的人”,他的继任者乔治·H·W·布什是个“很棒的人,一个面面俱到的好人”,而乔治·W·布什则“务实、有同情心”。特工们喜欢和小布什一起“劈柴”(编者注:小布什在得克萨斯州有一个名为“克劳福德”的家族农场,而他本人很喜欢回到该农场休假),欣赏“布什是个守时的人”。
Meanwhile, presidential kids often give their protectors trouble. Tricia Nixon was called a “tough and troubled cookie” for ordering agents to29)wait on her hand and foot, then claiming that she caught them staring at her legs. Luci Johnson liked to race ahead of agents in her car, trying to lose them in traffic. One time, she slipped out the back door during a private party so that she and her fiancé could enjoy a night on the town free of surveillance. In a famous First Kid 30)escapade in 2001, Jenna and Barbara Bush used Jenna’s fake ID to order drinks at a bar in Austin, Texas. Secret Service agents 31)hustled the girls out before police officers could 32)detain them, but they were later 33)cited for underage drinking.
同时,总统的孩子们常常给特工们惹麻烦。特里西亚·尼克松被称为是一个“野蛮而爱惹事的家伙”,因为她曾命令特工们贴身伺候她,事后又说发现他们在盯着她的腿看。露西·约翰逊喜欢开着自己的车跑在特工前头,试图在车流中甩开他们。有一次,在一个私人派对上,她从后门溜走,如此一来,她和未婚夫就能在镇上享受一个不受监视的夜晚。2001年,在一次出名的“第一家庭孩子越轨”事件中,詹娜·布什和芭芭拉·布什在得克萨斯首府奥斯汀的一间酒吧里用詹娜的假身份证点了酒来喝。在警官逮捕拘留她们以前,特工就赶紧把她俩拉走了,但她们后来因未成年饮酒而被传讯出庭。
玛丽莲·梦露和约翰·肯尼迪
In the eyes of agents, it seems that many politicians lead a double life—like 34)John F. Kennedy. He was the 35)charismatic leader of the free world, but in his other life, he was the cheating husband. “He had36)liaisons with Marilyn Monroe,” a Secret Service agent says. “The Secret Service knew about it.” And, of course, this is what people are really interested in behind the scenes.
在特工们眼里,似乎很多政客都过着双重生活。比如约翰·F·肯尼迪,他是美国这个自由国度里具有超凡魅力的一位总统;但在另一重生活里,他又是个对妻子不忠的丈夫。“他和玛丽莲·梦露之间有奸情,”一位特勤局的特工说,“特勤局知道这事。”当然,这才是人们真正感兴趣的幕后故事。
