共和党将在几周后面临惨败，届时民主党将有机会夺回国会至少一个甚至两个议院。如果这种情况发生，请相信，这绝不会是美国历史上任何一个普通的民主党主导的立法机构：它将成为这个国家有史以来最极左的多数派，由一群激进分子组成，他们信奉一种具有破坏性的社会主义意识形态——这种意识形态将美国视为世界范围内的独特反派，更倾向于支持古巴甚至中国这样的共产主义国家，同情伊斯兰极端分子，并认为美国活该遭遇9/11事件；他们还想要废除宪法、国界和全球资本主义。
The GOP is cruising for a bruising in a few weeks, when Democrats have their shot to retake one or both chambers of Congress. If that happens, rest assured that this will not be a Democratic-controlled legislature like any other in American history: It will be the most far-left majority the country has ever seen, filled with radical people who are committed to a destructive socialist ideology that sees the United States as a unique villain on the world scale, that prefers to root for communist nations like Cuba or even China, that sympathizes with Islamic extremists and believes America deserved 9/11, that wants to throw out the Constitution and borders and global capitalism.
而且，他们对权力极度渴望。听听最近对或许是最激进人物的采访就知道了：达里亚利扎·阿维拉·舍瓦利耶（Darializa Avila Chevalier），一位来自纽约市、意图竞选众议院议员的候选人。阿维拉·舍瓦利耶明确阐述了她一旦进入政府后将采取的行动：她会自豪而愉快地按照自己的判断行使政府权力。事实上，她认为如果民主党人对行使权力有所顾虑，就必须尽快克服这些顾虑，好让她的社会主义革命成为现实。
And they are positively thirsting for power. Just listen to this recent interview with maybe the most radical figure of all: Darializa Avila Chevalier, a would-be House member from New York City. Avila Chevalier spelled out exactly what she will do when she gets into government: She will proudly and happily wield government power as she sees fit. In fact, she thinks that if Democrats have qualms about exercising power, they need to get over those real quick, so that her socialist revolution can become reality.
听听这段发言。刚才发言的是阿维拉·舍瓦利耶，以及坐在她旁边的另一位国会候选人克莱尔·瓦尔德斯（Claire Valdez），她们正在阐述自己的理论：政府权力是一种中立的工具。我个人则不同意，而且强烈反对。我认为这种说法把问题美化得太过分了。行使政府权力——也就是政府强制力——是一件丑陋而野蛮的事情。
Listen to this. That was Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, another congressional hopeful, who was sitting next to her, articulating their theory that government power is a neutral force. I, for one, disagree, and disagree strongly. I think that’s putting the matter far too nicely. The exercise of government power — government force — is an ugly, brutish thing.
它意味着某些外部力量夺走你辛苦赚来的钱，并告诉你该如何生活：你可以在自己的财产上做什么，在什么条件下与其他个人或团体签订合同，你究竟拥有多少自由。是的，不幸的是，我们确实需要某种形式的政府来抵御外部威胁，并惩罚和拘押罪犯。
It’s some external forces taking your hard-earned money and telling you how to run your life: What you can do on your own property, what terms under which you can enter into contract with other people or other groups, how much freedom you really have. Yes, unfortunately, is necessary to have some kind of government to defend us from external threats and to punish and detain criminals.
这正是我们的建国者们为我们设想的：一个权力受到严格限制的联邦政府，其职责仅限于保护我们的生命与自由。然而令人遗憾的是，两党的政治家都极大地扩大了联邦政府的职权范围——我当然也将特朗普总统归入这一行列。他利用行政特权发动新的战争、征收关税，以及采取其他明显超出其国会授权的行为。但听听像阿维拉·舍瓦利耶这样的激进社会主义者都在说什么吧。
That’s what our Founders envisioned for us: An extremely constrained federal government that was limited to just protecting our lives and our liberties. Sadly, politicians in both parties have greatly expanded the purview of the federal government — and I certainly count President Trump in that camp. He has wielded executive privilege to launch new wars, impose tariffs and do other things that clearly exceed his congressional authority. But listen to what radical socialists like Avila Chevalier are saying.
他们并没有主张民主党人应该努力限制政府权力，约束那些鲁莽的政治家。他们说的是，一旦掌握权力，他们就会照搬特朗普的做法，甚至变本加厉：按照自己的意愿来运用政府权力。我们完全清楚他们将要做什么。他们首先会推行毁灭性的经济政策，例如对科技行业实施大规模的新规、没收成功人士的财富、施加沉重的劳动限制，以及环境限制，这些都将让购房或创业变得更加困难。
They are not saying that Democrats should work to limit the powers of the government and keep reckless politicians in check. They are saying that once they have control, they are going to exactly what Trump does and then some: wield government as they see fit. We know exactly what they are going to do. They will start by pursuing ruinous economic policies, like massive new regulations on the tech sector, confiscation of wealth from successful people, onerous labor restrictions and environmental restrictions that will make it even more difficult to buy a home or to start a business.
但阿维拉·舍瓦利耶还计划将政府权力用于更阴险的目的：废除人民、废除边境、废除资本主义本身，甚至废除宪法——这正是她所属组织“美国民主党社会党”章程所倡导的。而她对此毫不退缩。她既没有否认这些主张，也没有表示不同意。她甚至没有说：“嗯，这听起来是个好主意，但我们做不到。”她就是要这么做。而且她并不会因为“行使权力本质上是一件令人不快的事情，本质上与我们的自由相悖”这一观念而有所收敛。
But Avila Chevalier plans to use government power for even more sinister ends: abolishing the people, the border, capitalism itself, and the Constitution — that’s what the charter of the organization she’s a member of, the Democratic Socialists of America, calls for. And she’s not backing down from that. She hasn’t renounced it, or said she disagrees with it. She hasn’t even said, well, it’s a nice idea, but we can’t do it. She wants to do it. And she is not going to be constrained by the idea that wielding power is an inherently unpleasant task — inherently contrary to our liberties.
这些社会主义者会错误地声称他们是在保护你的自由，即使他们正在推行的政策会让你的生活变得糟糕得多。我多么怀念那些竞选公职的人至少还会含糊地承诺，他们参选只是为了让你能过安稳日子的那些日子啊。
These socialists will wrongly say they are protecting your liberties, even as they enact policies that will make your life much worse. How I miss the days when people running for office would at least make vague promises that they want to get into office so they can leave you alone.
他们经常违背那些承诺，但至少还试图表达出这种态度。但现在这一切都结束了。一个主张积极作为的国会即将当选。他们不会利用新获得的权力来遏制政府的过度行为，以防止任何人滥用职权。他们会全力以赴地推行自己的极左议程。罗比·索夫是《国会山报》评论节目《崛起》的联合主持人，也是《理性》杂志的高级编辑。本专栏是他每日评论的编辑版文字记录。
They often violated those promises, but at least they tried to express the sentiment. That’s all over now. A do-something Congress is about to be elected. They will not use their newfound power to curb government excesses so that no one abuses the office. They will go all out to enact their far-left agenda. Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.