President Horst Koehler’s shock resignation recently came after mainstream media jumped on comments about Germany’s overseas role that they would have missed if it hadn’t been for bloggers.
在主流媒體緊緊抓住德國總統柯勒有關德國在海外所扮演角色的評論不放後，柯勒最近意外宣布辭職，但 假如不是部落客發現，柯勒的說法可能根本不會引起注意。
Koehler, whose job was largely ceremonial but who spoke as a kind of moral arbiter, was on his way back from visiting German troops in Afghanistan when he gave an apparently innocuous interview to a German radio station.
德國總統為虛位元首，但總統的言論卻象 徵著某種道德仲裁者，柯勒是在探視駐阿富汗德軍部隊後，接受一家德國廣播電台一段顯然完全無害的訪問。
In the interview, aired on May 22, Koehler appeared to imply that military operations like in Afghanistan were, in part, commercially motivated and necessary to protect Germany’s economic interests.
在這段於5月22日播出的訪問中，柯勒似乎暗示，類 似德軍在阿富汗所進行的這類軍事行動，有一部分是出自商業動機，為保護德國經濟利益的必要行動。
Newspapers and magazines went wild, with the president accused by commentators of advocating "gunboat diplomacy." Stung to the quick by the criticism and saying that he had been misunderstood, and to general surprise, the popular Koehler quit as Germany’s head of state.
柯勒總統這段話引起報紙與雜誌瘋狂 報導，柯勒更被評論者指控為倡議「砲艇外交」。柯勒深受批評打擊，並堅稱他的談話遭到誤解，更令眾人意外的是，人氣極高的柯勒乾脆辭去德國總統職務。
Jan-Hinrik Schmidt, a media expert at Hamburg University, said that ultimately, it wasn’t the Internet that brought down the president. "But what is interesting is the exchange between blogs and established media," said Schmidt. "The blogosphere has become part of public opinion."
漢堡大 學媒體專家史密特表示，歸根究柢，總統並非是被網路拉下台。「但有趣的是網誌與主流媒體間的互動，」史密特說。「網誌世界已成為輿論的一部分。」
新聞辭典
arbiter：名詞，指仲裁者、裁決人，如the arbiters of fashion/taste時尚／品味的仲裁者，或The government will be the final arbiter in the dispute over the new road.（有關這條新道路的爭議將由政府來做最後的裁定。）
innocuous：形 容詞，指無害的、無毒的或乏味的、不引起爭議的，如an innocuous novel（一本無趣的小說）。
stung/cut to the quick：片語（通常用被動式），指觸及痛處、一針見血，quick在此為名詞，原指（指甲下方的）嫩肉，如 Their callous treatment cut her to the quick. （他們的冷漠對待令她深感痛心。）
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