STOP LYING THROUGH YOUR TEETH
Exposure of Ulterior Motives Behind Stigmatization of China with COVID-19 (Part VI)
别再“睁眼说瞎话”
——揭批借新冠肺炎疫情抹黑攻击中国的叵测居心（六）
By Jun Sheng
■钧声
A western idiom goes like this, “There are none so blind as those who will not see”. We’ve long known that lying through their teeth is the “survival skill” for some American politicians, but we never expected it to become their “only skill left”. Unfortunately, this is exactly the reality now. Their desperate attempt to peddle lies only attests to the exhaustion of their tricks.
有句西方谚语说：“视而不见者为瞎子。”人们早就知道，睁眼说瞎话，一向是某些美国政客谋生之“必备技能”；只是没有料到，睁眼说瞎话，如今竟然会成为这些政客谋生之“仅存技能”。拼了命般睁眼说瞎话，只能说明某些人“黔驴技穷”了。
With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of American politicians has staged one farce after another. If they just told a lie every once in a while, they would have given themselves away occasionally; now that there is basically no truth left, the audience could only take them as a circus.
一段时间以来，随着新冠肺炎疫情蔓延，这些政客真是丑态百出。如果只是时不时撒个谎，那也只是时不时露出“马脚”；现如今撒着欢儿说瞎话，演给世人的也只能是“马戏”了。
But how clumsy the performance is! By declaring that “the virus came from China”, or “China caused the spread of the virus by covering it up”, these American politicians have discarded the basic dignity and decency as humans and public servants. They have spurted baseless accusations without any scruple. In the meantime, some western media have played along and made up accusations in defiance of freedom and democracy that they have been priding themselves on, reducing themselves to the politicians’ bullhorns by politicizing the pandemic and exercising double standards.
然而，这戏演得拙劣极了！说什么“病毒源于中国”，说什么“中国隐瞒导致疫情蔓延”……美国一些政客丢弃了做人从政最起码的尊严和体面，信口开河、肆意栽赃。与此同时，一些美西方媒体也跟着“起哄架秧子”，再也顾不上其一向标榜的“自由”、“民主”，捕风捉影、诋毁诬陷，将疫情政治化、双标化，沦为随政客们嗡嗡叫的“政治苍蝇”。
The truth will teach these contemptible people a hard lesson. Regarding the origin of the virus, China, WHO, and many others with vision have made solemn statements over and over again. The prestigious academic journal Nature apologized to China for once associating the coronavirus with Wuhan. As to the claim that “China caused the spread of the virus by covering it up”, a quick look at the epidemic-control timeline would show who has wasted the time. When looking back on the White House’s epidemic containment efforts, the New York Times pointed out that it squandered a whole month from late January to early March.
对于这些丑恶嘴脸，真相从来不吝惜打脸。关于病毒源头，中国、世界卫生组织以及国际有识之士已多次严正表态，国际知名学术期刊《自然》更是为其曾将新冠病毒与武汉关联向中国道歉；关于“中国隐瞒导致疫情蔓延”，只要简单捋一捋疫情时间线，就能发现“时间都去哪儿了”，《纽约时报》在追踪美国政府疫情防控情况时指出，从1月底至3月初，“一个月的时间被白白浪费了”……
Certain American politicians are asking for disgrace between telling lies and having them belied. During the Iraq War, the weapons of mass destruction that they had once been so certain about were eventually unaccounted for; during the Syrian conflict, the iron-clad evidence of the attacks with chemical weapons that they claimed proved to be schemed by the politicians themselves. Having been slapped in the face by truth so many times, the American politicians, this time around, are simply repeating their vicious rumors about the pandemic again and again, which, infuriating as it is, comes as no surprise. Their creed is that “a lie, when repeated a thousand times, may become truth”, with which they intend to bring their unspeakable motives into reality - putting a lock on China’s development and clearing themselves of any responsibility for the epidemic response fiasco. What a pipe dream!
某些美国政客总是在撒谎和打脸间自取其辱：伊拉克战争时，曾经“言之凿凿”的大规模杀伤性武器最终“下落不明”；叙利亚冲突中，号称“铁证如山”的化学武器袭击也被证明是这些政客“自导自演”。令人愤怒但不意外的是，一次次被“打肿脸”的美国政客，此次“复读机”一般喋喋不休地重复其关于疫情的恶语谣言。他们奉行着“谎言说一次是谎言，但说一千次就可能会成为事实”的可耻信条，怀着不可告人的阴暗目的——给中国发展“上锁”，为自身应对疫情无能“解扣”。好一场一厢情愿的春秋大梦！
As another western idiom goes, “Lying is the first step in being a thief.” The COVID-19 outbreak, like a mirror, reflects the American politicians’ heinous true colors of “running the country with lips”. When the outbreak hit, the first move they took wasn’t protecting people’s lives and safety, but babbling to find excuses for themselves and flinging mud at others. They have been trying to deflect people’s attention in an attempt to steal votes from the constituencies and pursue personal gains.
还有一句西方谚语说，“撒谎是做贼的第一步”。新冠肺炎疫情犹如照妖镜，照出了美国一些政客“靠嘴执政”的丑恶面目。疫情面前，他们最先想到的不是民众的生命安危，而是单凭一张嘴，想方设法替自己找补，千方百计给别人抹黑。归根结底，他们转移的是民众的视线，盗取的是选民的选票，谋求的是自己的利益。
“Liars begin by imposing upon others but end deceiving themselves.” It would not be so absurd if the politicians tell a lie or two now and then, but it’s truly shameful and pathetic that they would rely on lies for sustaining their political career. Just recently, when China was busy helping other countries battle the outbreak, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was flinging mud at China at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and on other international occasions. Even American scholars couldn’t bear to see such shameless moves on the US part, commenting that Pompeo was busy slandering China while China was busy helping others.
“撒谎者从骗人开始，以骗己告终。”睁眼说瞎话，如果作为政客的政治伎俩不时抖搂一下倒也不足为怪，然而可耻可怜的是，睁眼说瞎话，竟会成为美国一些政客的“立身之本”。近期，就在中国忙于援助他国抗击疫情时，美国国务卿蓬佩奥居然在七国集团外长会等多个场合给中国“泼脏水”。对其可耻行径，就连看不下去的美国学者都评论称：中国忙着帮助别人，蓬佩奥忙着诋毁中国。
The clownish words and deeds of these American politicians have become a laughing stock in the international community. An ancient fable says that a rabbit used to have a long tail, which becomes short because it is bitten off for telling lies. This fable is both informative and remonstrative for the American politicians - stop lying through your teeth, otherwise your personal credibility, political career, and the “America great again” you promise the American people will, like the rabbit’s tail, be cut short for sure.
美国一些政客满嘴谎话的丑恶嘴脸，早已沦为国际笑柄。有一则寓言说，兔子的尾巴曾经很长，但因为说谎被咬掉一大截，从此尾巴就短了。这则寓言对某些美国政客大有警醒意义：别再睁眼说瞎话，否则你的个人信用、执政生涯和向民众承诺的所谓“再次伟大”，也注定是“兔子尾巴长不了”！
