电影制片人兼历史学家肯·伯恩斯周二警告称，美国正面临第四场重大的国家危机，并指出中期选举的赌注不仅仅是政治分歧，而是关系到民主的生存。在《纽约时报》选举日发表的一篇观点文章中，伯恩斯指责特朗普政府煽动错误信息以削弱法治，并播种分裂，威胁美国民主的根基。
Filmmaker and historian Ken Burns warned Tuesday that the U.S. is facing its fourth great national crisis, arguing that the stakes of the midterm elections extend beyond political differences and spill into the survival of democracy. In a New York Times opinion piece published on Election Day, Burns accused the Trump administration of fueling misinformation to undermine the rule of law and sow divisions that threaten the foundations of American democracy.
“今天我们投票参加这场最重要的中期选举时，正面临我们国家的第四场重大危机，”伯恩斯写道，将当前的政治气候与南北战争、经济大萧条和第二次世界大战相提并论。他认为，过去的危机中，美国的民主制度通过和平的权力交接和司法独立得以经受考验。然而，他指出，这些保障如今正承受前所未有的压力。
“As we go to the polls today in this most consequential of midterm elections, we face our country’s fourth great crisis,” Burns wrote, comparing the current political climate to the Civil War, the Great Depression and World War II. Burns argued that the county’s democratic institutions endured those earlier crises with peaceful transitions of power and the judiciary maintaining its independence. This time, however, he suggested those safeguards are under unprecedented strain.
“选举受到质疑，最高法院似乎已受损，历史被扭曲，书籍被禁，独裁者被宠坏，而我们最亲密的盟友却被嘲笑和忽视，”他写道。“人们正当担心我们的制度是否已达到崩溃的边缘。”
“Elections are in doubt, the highest court seems compromised, history has been distorted, books have been banned, and dictators have been coddled while our closest allies have been ridiculed and dismissed,” he wrote. “People are rightly concerned whether our institutions are at a breaking point.”
伯恩斯的最新PBS纪录片系列聚焦美国革命，他表示，近十年的研究工作为我们提供了关于美国民主脆弱性以及将权力集中于行政部门的危险的教训。他认为，国家的开国元勋会对立法者愿意将宪法权力交给特朗普政府感到失望。
Burns, whose latest PBS documentary series examines the American Revolution, said his nearly decade-long work on the project offered lessons about the fragility of American democracy and the dangers of concentrating power in the executive branch. He argued that the nation’s founders would be dismayed by the willingness of lawmakers to surrender their constitutional authority to the Trump administration.
“我认为开国元勋会极度失望，看到如此多的立法者将大量权力让给行政部门，而行政部门则用腐败和对法治的攻击填补了这一真空，甚至破坏了投票的基本权利，”伯恩斯写道。这位电影制片人还指出，1月……2021年6月，国会大厦遭袭以及特朗普总统和共和党内部持续的选举否认，成为该国民主衰退的标志。尽管他对此表示担忧，伯恩斯仍保持乐观，认为美国人能够克服国家的政治决策，他提到了历史上早期的动荡时期，包括重建时代和越南战争。
“I think the founders would be hugely disappointed that so many members of the legislative branch have ceded so much power to the executive branch, which has filled that vacuum with corruption and assaults on the rule of law, even undermining the fundamental right to vote,” Burns wrote. The filmmaker also pointed to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and the continued influence of election denial from President Trump and within the Republican Party as signs of the county’s democratic decline. Despite his concerns, Burns remained optimistic that Americans could overcome the country’s political decisions, pointing to earlier periods of upheaval throughout history, including during the Reconstruction era and the Vietnam War.
他敦促选民考虑候选人是否愿意维护宪法，而不是仅仅推进党派的政治议程。伯恩斯写道：“大多数中期选举被视为对总统政策的公投。这一次也不例外。但这里还有更根本的东西在于，超越政策差异。”他继续说：“这场选举关乎人民——他们有权制衡我们的行政首脑——以及竞选国会的候选人，他们要么已宣誓效忠宪法，要么希望效忠。”
He urged voters to consider whether candidates seeking office are willing to uphold the Constitution rather than simply advance their party’s political agenda. “Most midterm elections are seen as referendums on the policies of the president. This one is no different. But there’s something more fundamental at stake here, beyond policy differences,” Burns wrote. “This election is about the people — who are empowered to check our chief executive — and the candidates running for Congress, who either have sworn an oath to the Constitution or hope to do so,” he continued.
他补充道：“他们是否准备履行誓言，对所有重视我们——美国——理念的人来说，意义重大。”
“Whether they are prepared to honor their oath should matter enormously to everyone who values the idea of us — the idea of America.”