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すべては道徳観の欠如のせいで
米下院司法委員会は先月中旬、クリントン大統領の不倫問題をめぐる独立検査官の捜査報告書を公開した。大統領の浮気心のせいで、さまざまな悪影響が出てきている、と筆者は考える
All for Want of Morals
By JOHN GATHRIGHT
For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horseshoe nail. This verse of Benjamin Franklin's and the story of the great oak are two of my favorite moral allegories.
It is not the gale force winds, blasting blizzards, heavy snows or even fiery lightning bolts that fell the great oaks of the forest. It is the little bugs that nibble into the bark of trunks and slowly munch into the core, that topple great oaks with a big crash to the forest floor.
The moral is that it is not large catastrophes, or a lack of judgment in matters of dire consequence, but the failure to recognize or act on seemingly small, trivial or insignificant things that can ruin people, or even topple countries.
People around the world are asking themselves how Bill Clinton, an intelligent, convincing, decisive and powerful leader blessed with intuition and vision, could submit to such blatant lack of judgment as having an affair with Monica Lewinsky.
It is not his lack of leadership in world conflicts or macroeconomics, it is the missing nails of his moral character and the chronic flirtation bugs eating at his trunk that have toppled him.
Personally, I am fed up with the whole affair and its snowballing influence on America and the world as a whole. Flirtations gave birth to adulterous acts, which spawned lies and cover-ups, which led to accusations of misuse of presidential power. Impeachment could rob the world of a president with the talent and leadership abilities to help it during these perilous times. Meanwhile, the details of these sexual exploits are beamed into living rooms all over the world, showering both children and adults with often X-rated content. The court proceedings have even had a direct effect on Wall Street prices.
According to testimony by Monica Lewinsky, the whole ludicrous and idiotic affair started with eye contact and flirting. These planted the bugs that would later devour the president. It was because of the president's lack of an "honesty nail" that he lost the chance to rectify the situation quickly.
Even though I am sick of the whole affair and of splitting hairs over what does and doesn't constitute a crime, I don't think it is wise to forget what has happened. There is a great lesson here to be learned by world leaders and all people.
All for a wink, the president's morals were forgot. For want of morals, the president's credibility was lost, for want of credibility, the nation's trust was lost, for want of trust the presidency was lost, for want of a presidency, the country was lost. All for want of a country, global prosperity was lost.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horseshoe nail. This verse of Benjamin Franklin's and the story of the great oak are two of my favorite moral allegories.
It is not the gale force winds, blasting blizzards, heavy snows or even fiery lightning bolts that fell the great oaks of the forest. It is the little bugs that nibble into the bark of trunks and slowly munch into the core, that topple great oaks with a big crash to the forest floor.
The moral is that it is not large catastrophes, or a lack of judgment in matters of dire consequence, but the failure to recognize or act on seemingly small, trivial or insignificant things that can ruin people, or even topple countries.
People around the world are asking themselves how Bill Clinton, an intelligent, convincing, decisive and powerful leader blessed with intuition and vision, could submit to such blatant lack of judgment as having an affair with Monica Lewinsky.
It is not his lack of leadership in world conflicts or macroeconomics, it is the missing nails of his moral character and the chronic flirtation bugs eating at his trunk that have toppled him.
Personally, I am fed up with the whole affair and its snowballing influence on America and the world as a whole. Flirtations gave birth to adulterous acts, which spawned lies and cover-ups, which led to accusations of misuse of presidential power. Impeachment could rob the world of a president with the talent and leadership abilities to help it during these perilous times. Meanwhile, the details of these sexual exploits are beamed into living rooms all over the world, showering both children and adults with often X-rated content. The court proceedings have even had a direct effect on Wall Street prices.
According to testimony by Monica Lewinsky, the whole ludicrous and idiotic affair started with eye contact and flirting. These planted the bugs that would later devour the president. It was because of the president's lack of an "honesty nail" that he lost the chance to rectify the situation quickly.
Even though I am sick of the whole affair and of splitting hairs over what does and doesn't constitute a crime, I don't think it is wise to forget what has happened. There is a great lesson here to be learned by world leaders and all people.
All for a wink, the president's morals were forgot. For want of morals, the president's credibility was lost, for want of credibility, the nation's trust was lost, for want of trust the presidency was lost, for want of a presidency, the country was lost. All for want of a country, global prosperity was lost.
Shukan ST: Oct. 2, 1998
(C) All rights reserved
- nail
- くぎ
- shoe
- (=horseshoe)てい鉄
- being overtaken and slain by the enemy
- 敵に追いつかれて殺されて
- verse
- 詩の一節。この詩は "Poor Richard's Almanack"(1758)からの引用
- Benjamin Franklin
- アメリカの政治家・著述家(1706-90)
- oak
- オーク(ブナ科の木の総称)
- allegories
- 寓意、真意を他事に託してほのめかすこと
- gale force winds
- 暴風
- blasting blizzards
- 吹き荒れる吹雪
- fiery lightning bolts
- 稲妻の火柱
- bugs
- 虫
- nibble into 〜
- 〜 をかじって入り込む
- bark
- 樹皮
- trunks
- 幹
- munch into 〜
- むしゃむしゃ食べて 〜 に入り込む
- core
- 中心部
- topple
- 倒す
- with a big crash
- 轟音を立てて
- catastrophes
- 大失敗、大変動
- dire consequence
- 悲惨な結末
- act on 〜
- 〜 に基づいて行動する
- trivial
- ささいなこと
- insignificant
- とるに足らない
- ruin 〜
- 〜 をだめにする
- convincing
- 説得力のある
- decisive
- 決断力のある
- 〜 blessed with 〜
- 〜 に恵まれた 〜
- intuition
- 直感力
- vision
- 洞察力
- submit to 〜
- 〜 を見せる
- blatant
- あからさまな
- having an affair with 〜
- 〜 と関係を持つ
- conflicts
- 紛争
- macroeconomics
- マクロ経済
- missing nails of his moral character
- 彼の道義に「くぎ」が欠けていること
- chronic flirtation bugs
- 慢性的な浮気の虫
- am fed up with 〜
- 〜にはうんざりだ
- snowballing influence on 〜
- 雪だるま式に大きくなっていく〜への影響
- Flirtations
- 好意を持つ異性の気を引くような行動をすること
- gave birth to 〜
- 〜の原因になった
- adulterous acts
- 不倫行為
- spawned lies and cover-ups
- うそと隠ぺい工作を生んだ
- accusations
- 告発
- misuse of presidential power
- 大統領の職権乱用
- Impeachment
- 弾劾
- rob 〜 of 〜
- 〜 から 〜 を奮う
- perilous times
- 危険な時
- sexual exploits
- 大胆な性的行為
- are beamed into 〜
- 〜に放映された
- showering 〜 with〜
- 〜に〜を浴びせて
- X-rated content
- わいせつな内容
- court proceedings
- 法廷での進行
- (have)had a direct effect on 〜
- 〜に直接影響している
- Wall Street prices
- 株価
- testimony
- 宣誓証言
- ludicrous
- こっけいな
- idiotic
- ばかげた
- planted
- 植え付けた
- devour 〜
- 〜をむさぼる、食い尽くす
- rectify the situation
- 状況を修正する
- am sick of 〜
- 〜にうんざりしている
- splitting hairs over 〜
- 〜についての重箱の隅をつつくような論議
- what does and doesn't constitute a crime
- 何が罪で何が罪でないか
- lesson
- 教訓
- All for a wink
- ウインクひとつのために
- credibility
- 信頼性
- global prosperity
- 世界の繁栄
-