用法学习: 1. parry [ˈpær.i] I. 格开, 挡开, 格挡, 遮挡. 抵挡. 拨开. to defend yourself from a weapon or an attack by pushing the weapon away or by putting something between your body and the weapon. If you parry a blow from someone who is attacking you, you push aside their arm or weapon so that you are not hurt. I did not want to wound him, but to restrict myself to defence, to parry his attacks. I parried, and that's when my sword broke. The parry is intended to deflect an attack. The combatants engage in a series of attacks, parries, and counter attacks. II. 绕开问题. to manage cleverly to avoid dealing with a difficult question or some criticism. If you parry a question or argument, you cleverly avoid answering it or dealing with it. In an awkward press conference, Mr King parried questions on the allegations. Predictably the president parried enquiries about the arms scandal. Her exchanges consist of only a few lightweight parries. His income tax records were made public during a 2004 legal parry. The prime minister parried the question by speaking of Iran's actions in response to the recent wave of attacks. 2. 美国英国: Hegseth joined in with this condemnation during a press conference on Monday. "Israel has clear missions as well for which we are grateful," he said. "Capable partners are good partners. Unlike so many of traditional allies who wring their hands ( wring your hands 焦虑不已, 急的搓手 If you wring your hands, you show that you are worried or unhappy. If someone wrings their hands, they hold them together and twist and turn them, usually because they are very worried or upset about something. You can also say that someone is wringing their hands when they are expressing sorrow that a situation is so bad but are saying that they are unable to change it. The Government has got to get a grip. Wringing its hands and saying it is a world problem just isn't good enough. Car dealers are wringing their hands over low sales this summer. ) and clutch their pearls( clutch your pearls 惊慌失措, 战战兢兢, 莫名惊诧, 震惊不已 disapproving to behave as if you are very shocked, especially when you show more shock than you really feel in order to show that you think something is morally bad. To react in a scandalized or mortified manner to once-salacious but now relatively common things, events, situations, etc. Parents should try not to clutch the pearls every time their teenagers come out of their room dressed outrageously—it only makes them want to push the envelope even further. My mother would always clutch her pearls whenever I began telling her about a new boyfriend, so eventually I stopped filling her in altogether. You do know that Grandma is going to clutch her pearls when you show up at Thanksgiving with pink hair, right? They clutch their pearls at the rest of the nation's obesity. Only hypocrites clutch their pearls and faint when the truth is spoken. ), hemming and hawing ( hem and haw US = UK hum and haw I. 磨磨唧唧. 磨磨蹭蹭. to be uncertain and take a long time deciding something. To mumble and procrastinate in one's speech, especially with a reply to a hard question or with voicing a decision on a topical matter; to evade a question, giving vague answers; to equivocate or temporize. We hemmed and hawed for months before actually deciding to buy the house. II. 犹豫不已. To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action or making up one's mind. If you hem and haw long enough, someone else will do it first. ) about the use of force. America, regardless of what so called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air fire campaign in history." Starmer announced on Sunday night that the UK would allow the US to use British bases to target Iranian weapons storage depots and missile launch sites. 3. pithy [ˈpɪθi] adj. I. (of a fruit or plant) containing much pith. II. (of language or style) terse and vigorously expressive. (of speech or writing) expressing an idea cleverly in a few words. A pithy comment or piece of writing is short, direct, and full of meaning. His pithy advice to young painters was, 'Above all, keep your colours fresh.' Many of them made a point of praising the film's pithy dialogue. Emily Brontë said it best when she wrote pithily: 'Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.' a pithy remark. "his characteristically pithy 一语中的的 comments". Over on the Instagram post of news outlet The New Daily sharing the news, former Bachelor and podcast host Matty J offered a pithy response: "Who would've thought that years of casual misogyny on radio might have consequences," he wrote. 4. I have a bridge to sell you (idiomatic, derogatory, US) An indirect way of expressing that the addressee is gullible. Used to indicate that one believes someone is especially gullible. A reference to the con man George C. Parker, best known for "selling" property that he did not own, most famously the Brooklyn Bridge. A: "They said that I would get returns as high as $20,000 if I gave them an initial investment of $1,000." B: "Wow, you fell for that? Well, I have a bridge to sell you, if you're interested!" If you really think that these companies have your best interests at heart, then I have a bridge to sell you! If you're not one of the boss's favorites, and you think you're gonna get a promotion, I have a bridge to sell you! Leopards Eating People's Faces Party or the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party 引火烧身, 搬起石头砸自己的脚, 自食其果 (Internet slang, sarcastic, politics) A notional political party supported by people who believe its cruel, unjust, or extreme policies and rhetoric will only harm other people, and are then shocked or displeased when these policies and rhetoric have adverse consequences on themselves. "Leopards ate my face" is a political meme and idiom describing someone who voted for a harsh policy or politician, only to suffer the negative consequences themselves. It signifies a, "I never thought leopards would eat my face," realization, highlighting ironic, self-inflicted harm or voter remorse. have news for someone = have (got) news for (someone) 不好意思, 实话对你说 used to say that someone is going to be unpleasantly surprised because something will not be as they want it to be: I've got news for him, if he thinks he can keep living here free of charge. used when one is making a definite and forceful statement that someone does not expect, know about, or agree with "You think you're going to win? Well, I've got news for you: you're not." People tell me that my business will never succeed. Well, I have news for them. I'm going to make a profit by the end of the year. quick draw = fast draw 快速把枪 I. a game or competition in which the winner is the quickest person to draw a handgun from a holster and sometimes to fire it and hit a target. wiki: Fast draw, or quick draw, is the ability to quickly draw a handgun and accurately fire it upon a target in the process. This skill was made popular by romanticized depictions of gunslingers in the Western genre, which in turn were inspired by famous historical gunfights in the American Old West. be quick on the draw 拔枪太快 I. to be quick about removing a gun from where it is kept. to quickly draw a gun and be ready to shoot it —often used figuratively. Critics may have been a little too quick on the draw. II. American English informal to be good at reacting quickly and intelligently to difficult questions or in difficult situations. diarrhea of the mouth 乱喷, 满嘴喷粪, 机关枪似的说 (slang, derogatory, vulgar) Foolish talkativeness, logorrhea. A tendency speak constantly or at length without thinking. I get so nervous every time I'm around police officers that I have diarrhea of the mouth and can't seem to shut up! If you want this to stay a secret, don't tell Mike—that guy has diarrhea of the mouth, I swear. A: "Why are you afraid of the CEO?" B: "Because I tend to get diarrhea of the mouth around important people, and I don't want that to happen with her!" motormouth (informal) One who talks very quickly or incessantly; a chatty or loquacious person. He's such a motormouth that I can never get a word in. 5. to the skies highly; extravagantly. To the highest degree; excessively. All the film critics have been praising her performance to the skies, but I thought it was a bit wooden 表情呆滞, 僵硬, 太木, to be honest. Your previous boss praised you to the skies in his letter of recommendation, so we have high hopes for you here. praise (someone or something) to the skies I. To be especially thankful, as to God or some other higher power, for one's good fortune. I praised the skies for the opportunity He had given me. Everyone in the community is praising the skies that the missing girl returned home safely last night. II. An exclamation of joy or relief. A: "Hi, Mom, I'm home." B: "Oh, praise the skies! I got so worried when I hadn't heard from you all night!" So it sounds like the bank is willing to increase our borrowing limits—praise the skies. take to the sky/skies to begin flying The new airliner will take to the skies next year. the sky informal The highest possible level of achievement, attainment, or success. My parents always taught me to reach for the sky when I was growing up—that I could be anything I set my mind to! With all your talent and money, you could do whatever you want. The sky's the limit, kiddo! skies the sky in a particular state or place: For weeks we had cloudless blue skies. Sir Keir Starmer has told MPs that the government "does not believe in regime change from the skies", putting him at odds with President Trump over the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. skies of We're off to the sunny skies of Florida. The campsite promises cool evenings under wide open skies. For holiday, I want to go somewhere with sunny skies and white sandy beaches. noncing (UK, Ireland, derogatory, prison slang) The act of having sexual intercourse with someone under the age of sixteen. nonce [nɒns] a person who commits a crime involving sex, especially sex with a child. 6. 法美外交: French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said the US ambassador had now provided assurances he had not meant to interfere in "the internal sphere of France." As to Kushner's initial no-show when summoned, Confavreux made allowances for ( make allowances for 考虑特殊情况, 体谅 to take circumstances, limitations, etc. into consideration. To make allowances for someone is to think about their characteristics and not judge them too severely: You should make allowances for him - he's been quite ill recently. "This is a poor piece of work." "Yes, but you should make allowances for the fact that she's only seven." Some reviewers did make allowances for the playwright's youth. Even making allowances for the public's changing tastes, these paintings seem extremely dreary. As an outsider, I hope you will make allowances for my ignorance!) the American real-estate magnate, who only took up his functions as ambassador to Paris in July, being relatively new to the more genteel world of diplomacy. To summon an ambassador is completely part and parcel of 常有的事, 稀松平常的事 diplomatic grammar. And so sometimes when you have ambassadors who are not career diplomats, it can lead to some incomprehension," he said of the father of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Yet beyond the ruffling of French feathers by a lack of diplomatic niceties lies the deeper question of how to handle increasingly obvious American attempts to interfere in European domestic matters – often using the very public platform X. All three cases demonstrate at once a break with traditional diplomatic form, the use of social media rather than back channels, and a new willingness on the part of Washington to involve itself more aggressively in the judicial or political processes of other countries, and specifically European ones. The next step will be for Kushner and Barrot to meet in person, which the ministry spokesman expects to happen within the next few days. The truth is that no one wanted a diplomatic rupture(verb. to (cause something to) explode, break, or tear: His appendix ruptured and he had to be rushed to hospital. figurative This news has ruptured (= violently ended) the delicate peace between the rival groups. rupture yourself If you rupture yourself, you break apart the wall of muscle that keeps your stomach and your bowels in place, usually by lifting something too heavy. noun. I. an occasion when something explodes, breaks, or tears: a rupture of the pipeline. II. figurative a rupture (= an end to a friendly relationship) between the families. III. (= hernia) 疝气 a medical condition in which the wall of muscle holding the stomach and bowels in place inside the body is broken apart: You're going to give yourself a rupture if you lift that. ) in this of all years. A point made repeatedly in recent months by representatives of the US: that friendship should allow for truth to be spoken to allies. The question is how diplomatically each truth can be told. 7. Kyle And Jackie split: Man I cant even listen to it more than 1min, his language is actually abusive, I mean in the sense that he talks over her, tells her to shut up, makes wild accusations and then when she calls him out he goes "I don't have to prove anything" ahh what? If you claim something, you absolutely do have to prove how its true. He's a total cockwomble (cockwomble (UK, Ireland, slang, humorous) A foolish or obnoxious person.). She's a cunt too she's a total flake but his language is horrible, the people that listen to that show must be so vapid (vapid [disapproval] If you describe someone or something as vapid, you are critical of them because they are dull and uninteresting. offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging; bland. "tuneful but vapid musical comedies". ...the Minister's young and rather vapid daughter. She made a vapid comment about the weather. ). 8. turf something out UK informal to get rid of a number of things or something large that you do not want: I turfed out a load of old shoes last week. turf someone out 赶出, 踢出 UK informal to force someone to leave a place or an organization: She'll be turfed out of the study group if she carries on being disruptive. We hear stories of people being turfed out and ending up on the streets. The party was turfed out of office after 15 years. ...the right wing landslide which has turfed out the government. trammel deprive of freedom of action. "we have no wish to be trammelled by convention". The trammelling of the show's success, and arrest of its proposed march to national domination promptly amplified the voices of its critics. pummel [ˈpʌml] 锤击, 捶打 I. strike repeatedly with the fists. The boxer had pummelled his opponent into submission by the end of the fourth round. "he felt like a boxer who had been pummelled mercilessly against the ropes". II. informal North American English criticize severely. "he has been pummelled by the reviewers". III. to defeat someone easily at a sport: They were pummelled in the second round. arrest 阻止, 遏制 I. to stop or interrupt the development of something: The treatment has so far done little to arrest the spread of the cancer. II. to attract or catch someone's attention: A photo of a small boy arrested my attention. pincer movement 两面夹击, 两面包抄, 左右开弓 (pincer: 拔钉钳) a movement by two separate bodies of troops converging on the enemy. "allied forces swept into the town from the south in a pincer movement". II. used in reference to a situation involving pressure from two different sides or forces. "we are now caught in the pincer movement of rising domestic costs and a rising exchange rate". But the fact that we are now staring at the smoking embers of arguably Australia's most successful radio pairing surely must be linked to a pincer movement of increasingly uncomfortable commercial and community pressures. a bridge too far I. 太过了. 雄心太大, 野心太大. a step or act that is regarded as being too drastic to take. A step or action that is too ambitious; an act of overreaching. An act or plan whose ambition overreaches its capability, resulting in or potentially leading to difficulty or failure. Taken from the 1974 book A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan, which details the Allies' disastrous attempts to capture German-controlled bridges in the Netherlands during World War II. The multi-million-dollar purchase of the small startup proved a bridge too far for the social media company, as the added revenue couldn't make up for the cost in the end. Look, I'm happy to help you guys out, but I'm not willing be the primary investor in your invention—that's just a bridge too far. Apparently, signing an A-list player is just a bridge too far for this team! They'd rather wallow in their mediocrity, I guess. "having Botox would be a bridge too far". II. something that is very difficult to achieve. "that second goal proved a bridge too far".
Trump's Relentless Self-Promotion Fosters an American Cult of Personality 英雄崇拜, 个人崇拜: President Trump has engaged in a spree of self-aggrandizement unlike any of his predecessors, fostering a mythologized superhuman persona and making himself the inescapable force at home and around the world. The racist online video that President Trump recently shared and then deleted generated a bipartisan furor because of its portrayal of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. What was little remarked on was how it presented Mr. Trump himself — as the "King of the Jungle." After a year back in the White House, Mr. Trump's efforts to promote himself as the singularly dominant figure in the world have become so commonplace that they no longer seem surprising. He regularly depicts himself in a heroic, almost godly fashion, as a monarch, as a Superman, as a Jedi knight, as a military hero, even as a pope in a white cassock. While Mr. Trump has spent a lifetime promoting his personal brand, slapping his name on hotels, casinos, airplanes, even steaks, neckties and bottled water, what he is doing in his second term as president comes closer to building a cult of personality the likes of which has never been seen in American history. Other presidents sought to cultivate their reputations, but none went as far as Mr. Trump has to create a mythologized, superhuman and omnipresent persona leading to idolatry [aɪˈdɒl.ə.tri](I. very great admiration or respect for someone or something, often too great. If you refer to someone's admiration for a particular person as idolatry, you think it is too great and uncritical. Their affection for her soon increased almost to idolatry. idolatry of someone 崇拜, 个人崇拜 He makes no attempt to conceal his idolatry of his teammate. idolatry of something The idolatry of money is a flaw in the country's national character. Newton was revered 尊崇, 崇敬 to the point of idolatry. II. the act of praying to a picture or object as part of a religion: Father Brown considers the notes and flowers left near the statue to be close to idolatry.). His picture has been splashed all over the White House, on multistory banners on the side of federal buildings, on annual passes to national parks and maybe even soon on a one-dollar coin. His name has been etched on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on the U.S. Institute of Peace, on federal investment accounts, special visas and a discount drug program and, if he has his way, on Washington Dulles International Airport, Penn Station in New York and the future stadium of the Washington Commanders. His White House is pressuring the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery to display portraits of Mr. Trump by his supporters. A group of cryptocurrency investors has shelled out $300,000 to forge 打造 a 15-foot-tall gold-covered bronze statue of Mr. Trump called "Don Colossus" to be installed at his golf complex in Doral, Fla. His administration is considering designating a new class of battleships in Mr. Trump's name. His allies are pressuring foreign leaders to endorse his bid for the Nobel Peace Prize and threatening consequences for resisting. Some supporters in Congress have even proposed adding his face to Mount Rushmore, an effort that, for the moment, has gained little traction. This spree of self-aggrandizement goes beyond mere vanity 虚荣, although Mr. Trump suffers from no particular shortage in that department. "I really have a big ego," he noted at the National Prayer Breakfast this month, an assessment that drew no disagreement. What Mr. Trump is actually doing, though, is making himself the inescapable force in American life. "This is not just egotistical self-satisfaction, it's a way of expanding presidential power," said Michael Beschloss, the presidential historian. "A president is more powerful, I assume he believes, if he is ever-present than if he keeps his head down." Cults of personality are traditionally associated with dictators and demagogues, not democrats. They are figures like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Benito Mussolini and more recently the shirtless, horseback-riding Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. But Mr. Trump does not seem concerned that he might be heading down a dangerous path. Indeed, last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he suggested that authoritarianism was not necessarily something to eschew. "Usually they say, 'He's a horrible dictator-type person, I'm a dictator,'" he said after delivering a rambling speech. "But sometimes, you need a dictator." His staff did not reject the notion that he was fostering a cult of personality 搞个人崇拜 when asked for comment. Indeed, it released a statement seeming to argue that one would be deserved. "President Trump is going to go down in history as the most successful and consequential president in our lifetime," Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said in the statement. "He built the most powerful political and cultural movement ever. His successes on behalf of the American people will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and will be felt by every other White House that comes after him." But even some former Trump aides said his fixation on glorifying himself served a hunger for dominance that had not translated into making the lives of everyday Americans better. "This is a man drunk on power 醉心于权利 with an already enormous ego that was further inflated by winning the presidency again — and the popular vote," said Sarah Matthews, who was a deputy White House press secretary for Mr. Trump in his first term before resigning in protest after the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Ms. Matthews, now affiliated with an opposition group called Home of the Brave, said that rather than focusing "on what's best for the American people," the president was concentrating on "building monuments to himself" and exacting revenge against perceived enemies. "It reinforces the perception that this presidency is more about elevating one man than serving the country," she said. The notion of a cult of personality has become an increasing theme of the political discourse in recent months. Consider the last 10 days alone: Curt Mills, the executive director of The American Conservative, referred to "the personality cult of Trump." Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, addressing a Democratic convention, said Republicans were "nothing more than a personality cult." And Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said democracy "will prevail over cult of personality." Other presidents have encouraged hero worship 英雄崇拜 and plenty have been honored with monuments. But for the most part, they were more restrained than Mr. Trump, leaving the most ostentatious expressions of reverence to others and generally after they had left office. George Washington set the standard from the start. Knowing that as the first president he would be establishing precedent, he deliberately shunned the trappings of royalty and declined to be called "Your Majesty" or "Your Highness," opting instead for the more humble "Mr. President." It is true, of course, that the capital of the new nation was named after Washington during his presidency, a decision made by three commissioners he appointed. But historians said he had no known hand in 自己不知情 encouraging it. "He was surprised that the commissioners chose the name, though he did not object," said David O. Stewart, a Washington biographer. "As near as the evidence shows, George Washington very much liked having the city named after him. He was not without ego, and devoted great energy and attention to developing the capital city." The iconic Washington Monument, however, came decades after his death, much as the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and Kennedy Center were not erected or named until the presidents they honored were gone. Mount Rushmore was carved after Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt were all in their graves. No sitting president ever had his face put on a coin while in office except for Calvin Coolidge, whose laconic personality(laconic [ləˈkɒnɪk] 沉默寡言的, 话不多的, 少言寡语的, 说话简短的, 言简意赅的 adj. (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words. using very few words to express what you mean: She had a laconic wit. "his laconic reply suggested a lack of interest in the topic". If you describe someone as laconic, you mean that they use very few words to say something, so that they seem casual or unfriendly. Usually so laconic in the office, Dr. Lahey seemed less guarded, more relaxed. 'At least we weren't kidnapped.'—'I'm glad of that,' was the laconic response. A week or so later he laconically announced that Digby had been transferred to another post. A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal austerity and were famous for their often pithy remarks. A laconic phrase may be used for efficiency (as during military training and operations), for emphasis, for philosophical reasons (especially among thinkers who believe in minimalism, such as Stoics), or to deflate a pompous speaker. The Spartans were especially famous for their dry, understated wit which is now known as "laconic humor". This can be contrasted with the "Attic salt" or "Attic wit" – the refined, poignant, delicate humour of Sparta's chief rival, Athens. tectonic [tekˈtɑnɪk] I. relating to the structure and movement of the surface of the earth. relating to the structure of the surface of the earth and the way it is formed, changed, and moved by forces inside it: the motion of the earth's tectonic plates (= sections of the planet's surface). II. usually before noun tectonic changes 翻天覆地的, 改天换日的, 惊天动地的 are very large and significant. A tectonic change is a very important one that will have major effects: He led the company through a period of tectonic shifts in the movie industry. The process of writing is in the midst of a tectonic change caused by changes in the technology writers use. The tectonic shift in the American church isn't coming – it's here. Something's changing and it feels tectonic.) did not exactly lend itself to cults. And Herbert Hoover surely would have preferred not having his name attached to the Great Depression shantytowns called Hoovervilles, although the Hoover Dam was named for him while he was in office. (Franklin D. Roosevelt stripped the name; Harry S. Truman restored it.) "Presidents don't name things after themselves, people name things after presidents — and there is a big difference between the two," said Jennifer Mercieca, a communications professor at Texas A&M University and the author of "Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump." "One is an expression of power and a demand for respect and status," she said. "The other is an acknowledgment by the public of a job well done, a grateful public giving a president respect and status." Many presidents have enjoyed being the center of attention. Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth notably said her father "always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening." Others struggled with that kind of politics. George H.W. Bush painfully tried to avoid the first-person singular "I" in sentences because growing up his mother taught him that it sounded boastful. Boastful is not something Mr. Trump ever learned to avoid, nor can he fathom why predecessors passed on self-promotion. When he visited Mount Vernon during his first term, he expressed surprise that Washington did not name the estate for himself. "You've got to put your name on stuff or no one remembers you," Mr. Trump told people. With Mr. Trump, it goes beyond names and memory. He wants to be seen as superlative in every way — and flawed in no way. His first-term executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout wrote in her memoir that when she expressed concern one day that he seemed exhausted, she was remonstrated by Hope Hicks, the president's close adviser: "Donald Trump is never tired and he is never sick." To even question his health, Mr. Trump himself said in December, is "seditious, perhaps even treasonous." Personality-driven politics serve to bind followers of a movement to their leader more than to any particular policy prescription, making his success or failure their own. Veneration 崇敬 and loyalty are central and ideology secondary. The leader is presented as infallible, uniquely qualified, even divinely delivered for this moment in history. Mr. Trump has played to these themes since taking the national political stage. "I alone can fix it," he declared when running in 2016. "I was saved by God to make America great again," he said on being inaugurated again last year. The efforts to exalt himself(exalt [ɪgzɔːlt] 盛赞, 高度赞誉, 赞美, 赞扬, 表扬 To exalt someone or something means to praise them very highly. However difficult she might have been, this book exalts her as both mother and muse. His work exalts all those virtues that we, as Americans, are taught to hold dear. The poem, which appeared in 1890, is an exaltation of married love. exaltation [ˌeɡ.zɒlˈteɪ.ʃən] 幸福 a very strong feeling of happiness. Exaltation is an intense feeling of great happiness. The city was swept up in the mood of exaltation. ), however, have accelerated in the past year far beyond his first term and have increasingly come to resemble eccentric regimes in far corners of the world. To those who have spent time in the former Soviet Union, the "Don Colossus" statue bears a striking resemblance to the rotating gold statue erected by Saparmurat Niyazov, the megalomaniacal former dictator of Turkmenistan who called himself Turkmenbashi and even renamed the months of the year after himself and his family. "There is no settled definition of a cult of personality, but for us this qualifies," Benjamin E. Goldsmith of the Australian National University and Lars J.K. Moen of the University of Vienna, who have studied Mr. Trump's hold on his supporters, said in a joint email. The two scholars, who published a paper on the phenomenon in the Political Psychology journal, said the personality cult allowed Mr. Trump to dominate Republican primary contests, right-wing media and his party's majorities in Congress. Those who stand against Mr. Trump are deemed traitors and punished accordingly. "For us, this is the major threat to U.S. democracy from Trump's cultlike following," they wrote. "Congress is transformed into an enabler, even when the executive makes disastrous policies, undermines the rule of law or might attempt to fix elections. The system can transform into an electoral autocracy. Our bet is that we're already far along that path." lionize [ˈlʌɪənʌɪz] 崇拜 (worship)(A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, is the result of an effort to create an idealized and heroic image of an admirable leader, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Trump's Relentless Self-Promotion Fosters an American Cult of Personality: President Trump has engaged in a spree of self-aggrandizement unlike any of his predecessors, fostering a mythologized superhuman persona and making himself the inescapable force at home and around the world.) give a lot of public attention and approval to (someone); treat as a celebrity. to make someone famous, or to treat someone as if they were famous. If someone is lionized, they are treated as if they are very important or special by a particular group of people, often when they do not really deserve to be. By the 1920's, he was lionised by literary London. The press began to lionize him enthusiastically. In 1936, Max Schmeling had been lionised as boxing's great hope. "modern sportsmen are lionized and feted". NSW Premier Chris Minns condemned the lionising of the ayatollah. fete [feɪt] verb. If someone is feted 欢呼, 庆祝, 欢迎, 赞扬, they are celebrated, welcomed, or admired by the public. to praise or welcome someone publicly because of their achievements: She was feted by audiences both in her own country and abroad. Anouska Hempel, the British dress designer, was feted in New York this week at a spectacular dinner. The metamorphosis from anxious wife to feted author was rapid and dramatic. noun. A fete is an event that is usually held outdoors and includes competitions, entertainments, and the selling of used and home-made goods. a public event, often held outside, where you can take part in competitions and buy small things and food, often organized to collect money for a particular purpose: a summer fete. village fete. They're holding the village fete on the green. fetter [fetər] verb. [literary, disapproval] If you say that you are fettered by something, you dislike it because it prevents you from behaving or moving in a free and natural way. to keep someone within limits or stop them from making progress: fettered by He felt fettered 绑住, 束缚住 by a nine-to-five office existence. ...a private trust which would not be fettered by bureaucracy. The black mud fettered her movements. noun. I. [literary, disapproval] You can use fetters to refer to things such as rules, traditions, or responsibilities that you dislike because they prevent you from behaving in the way you want. ...the fetters of social convention. II. Especially in former times, fetters were chains for a prisoner's feet. He saw a boy in fetters in the dungeons. unfettered [ʌnˈfɛtəd] 不受束缚的, 不受约束的, 不收禁锢的, 不受控的, 随心所欲的, 没有牵绊的, 毫无保留的, 无拘无束的 adj. unrestrained or uninhibited. "unfettered artistic genius". If you describe something as unfettered, you mean that it is not controlled or limited by anyone or anything. not limited by rules or any other controlling influence: Poets are unfettered by the normal rules of sentence structure. ...unfettered free trade. Unfettered by the bounds of reality, my imagination flourished. He demanded unfettered access to a new nuclear facility.
Australia and the “Epstein Coalition”. Invasion of Iran a disaster: It's only Day Five of the war, but surely the epic stupidity of Australia so cravenly ( in an extremely cowardly (= not brave) way. in a cowardly or mean-spirited manner I cravenly agreed, simply in order not to antagonize him. He wrote to her afterwards, hoping cravenly that she had not been hurt. ) backing the US-Israeli invasion of Iran is evident by now. We are led by fools and sycophants. The illegal, unprovoked invasion of Iran is not just garden-variety stupidity. This is stupidity on a grandiose, stratospheric scale. The Israeli propaganda narrative that Iranians would sprinkle rose petals 净水泼街欢迎, 撒花欢迎 at the feet of their invaders has not come to pass. It has already been demolished in fact. Instead of bringing freedom and democracy – ‘regime change’ – we have brought chaos, possibly a world war, and definitely the destruction of the Middle East. The world economy is being hit hard as we write; oil prices spiralling, energy prices about to soar, and the inexorable [ɪnˈɛks(ə)rəbl] 停不了的 ( I. impossible to stop or prevent. continuing without any possibility of being stopped. continuing without any possibility of being stopped: Aging is an inexorable process. the inexorable progress of science. "the seemingly inexorable march of new technology". You use inexorable to describe a process which cannot be prevented from continuing or progressing. ...the seemingly inexorable rise in unemployment. ...his steady, inexorable decline. The crisis is moving inexorably towards war. II. (of a person) impossible to persuade; unrelenting. "the doctors were inexorable, and there was nothing to be done". ) spectre of inflation and recession. This was a war of choice. Even without the “Epstein Coalition” – as the Iranian media so aptly dubs their invaders – murdering 168 Iranian school girls on day one, ‘peace through strength’ was never going to happen. Quite the contrary. The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Iran has hardened the resolve of Iranians, who are massing in their hundreds of thousands across the country to mourn their dead and chant Death to America, to back their regime. The Epstein Coalition killed the Ayatollah, who was actually against nuclear power; he was a moderate. Did Albo and Penny Wong not seek advice from Foreign Affairs that attacking Iran was folly, that the anti-regime protestors were a minority, that the pre-invasion protests were a Mossad and CIA psyop (Psychological Operations 心理战: (PSYOP) are planned, strategic, and tactical military actions designed to influence the emotions, attitudes, and behaviors of foreign audiences—governments, organizations, and populations—to support, promote, or uphold national objectives. Formerly known as psychological warfare or propaganda, these tactics use communication (social media, radio, leaflets) to weaken enemy morale and encourage compliance. ), that Iran might attack US proxy states in the region, that invasion would be a Brobigdadgian mistake? Or did they ignore the advice in favour of a Washington regime compromised by the Epstein pedophile scandal?And now, we see the feeble, hypocritical whining by Israel and its supporters about Iran attacking the Gulf states. Is that our only moral defence? Decades of supporting these regimes: Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – US proxy states all – regimes now unravelling, the oil price is soaring, inflation and recession are beckoning globally. Images are emerging from Bahrain of locals cheering on the Iranian missiles. Were DFAT and our politicians unaware of popular angst in the Gulf states against American imperialism? And what did they expect Iran to do in the face of this existential threat? Not blow up American bases and infrastructure while the US attacked them; after the US betrayed them at the very negotiating table when they were offering significant concessions on nuclear enrichment, all to avoid war? This war. Australia, the US flunkies: Yet here was Australia, Saturday night, first out of the blocks worldwide 第一个冲出来 to throw its support behind Donald Trump and his preposterous “Operation Epic Fury”, a probable pedophile being blackmailed and led around by the genocidal Benjamin Netanyahu like a pony at the fairground show. “Operation Epstein Fury”, it was fast labelled. The soaring, craven stupidity is hard to grasp. Both major parties backing it. Albo first, then Angus Taylor rushing to tow the Donald’s line. Then, Pauline Hanson, too, who even congratulated and praised Netanyahu. We are led by fools and sycophants. The flawed defence of atrocity: To address the empty rhetoric 空洞说辞 of the pro-war lobby, criticism of this war does not equate to support for the regime in Iran. Defenders of the US-Israel atrocity are busy with their swarms of social media bots peddling the argument that “you are an Islamist terror supporter” if you criticise the invasion. This is the 2026 version of “You are a Hamas supporter” if you argue against genocide in Gaza. The cold facts of this debacle are that regime change does not work, that Iran did not want this war, that Iran appears to be exceptionally well prepared – even winning the war – that the Epstein Coalition, which Australia supports, is daily backing war crimes: blowing up hospitals, schools and civilian infrastructure. This is a war which has already been lost. The obvious reality is that regime change wars are a demonstrable failure. Vietnam. Iraq. Afghanistan. Iraq – a million dead, irretrievable regional stability. In Afghanistan, 20 years, trillions of dollars spent, four US presidents, six Australian PMs – all to replace the Taliban with the Taliban. And here we are, the world’s busybodies, doing it again. Who would ever negotiate with the US in good faith again, or Israel for that matter? Iran did not want this war. Iran has not attacked another country in 300 years. The US lured them to the negotiating table, then, without warning, murdered their leadership. This echoes last year’s 12-day war, where Israel and the US lured them in on the premise of good faith talks, then murdered them and now play the victim. What did they expect Iran to do in the face of this existential threat? The record speaks for itself. The US is the biggest invader of other countries in history. Israel has, last year alone, attacked Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia, Malta, and Greece. Six illegal attacks of sovereign nations, as well as three illegal attacks in international waters equals 9 all up. In one year. And now they are invading Lebanon again, seizing more territory as their puppets, America, fight their campaign against Iran. Albo, what are you doing? We know who the war mongers are. We are the war mongers. Yet, in his bizarre statement of support, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was the fastest out of the blocks of all the allies on the weekend, issuing a false statement. The claim, echoed by the usual warmongers of the Lib-Lab establishment, is that Iran is guilty of attacks on Australian soil, referencing alleged attacks on a deli in Bondi. Apart from the common sense, why would Iran commit an act of terror on a deli in Bondi? Senior police have conceded that there is no evidence of this. The nuclear furphy: Then there is the age-old claim that Iran is about to produce nuclear weapons. The US and Israel’s nuclear risk claims have been so roundly discredited it’s a joke. Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to instigate a war against Iran for 30 years – claiming Iran is days away, weeks away, months away from nuclear missiles. And they were at the negotiating table again when the Epstein forces murdered them. The propaganda: We are now seeing mainstream media decry the ‘illegal attacks’ on Israel and the Gulf states. Yet the ‘victim card’ is tapped out 不好使了. Around the world, outside the legacy media propaganda, there is little sympathy for Israel having razed Gaza and slaughtered between 72,000 and 700,000 Palestinians while stealing more land in the West Bank daily. It will continue. The media and political classes have failed so majestically that they can only try to salvage their authority with more propaganda. The deplorable coverage of the murdered schoolgirls in Iran is a case in point. The “40 beheaded babies” and the “mass rapes” of Hamas filled the headlines in the West on October 8, 2023. Yet real murders – 170 murdered schoolgirls – have hardly rated a mention. Yes, a mention perhaps, but a side story, buried, no headlines of outrage. Can’t handle the truth? Is the truth too hard to handle? Is it not evident to everybody except the most brainwashed advocate of the Epstein lobby that Israel – the government, the state – is the problem here? Netanyahu has won his ambition to drag America into a war against Iran, and if you follow the money, while world stock markets teeter, the stock market in Tel Aviv is surging, replete with weapons companies as it is. Meanwhile, the ASX is tanking, ergo [ˈəːɡəʊ] 因此, 相应的 (Consequently, therefore, or thus. "she was the sole beneficiary of the will, ergo the prime suspect". ) our savings. Oil prices are surging, ergo higher energy prices and inflation. The Houthis, Iran’s allies, are shooting again in the Red Sea while, on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, Iran has blocked the Straits of Hormuz, choking off a large chunk of the world’s oil supply. Higher prices in India and China will mean higher prices for imports and inflation around the world. The lessons of history have not been learnt; in fact, they have been discarded in spectacular fashion.
