美国前国防部长RUMSFELD是学者出身,所以其言论绝不可以视为草莽之语。他的很多富有哲理的说法深刻影响了美国政治与国家战略。比如说,对于美国面临的威胁,RUMSFELD有如下发人深省的名言:“There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns; there are things we do not know we don’t know.”
据考证,其实“unknown unknown"并不是RUMSFELD的发明,在一篇题为“克劳塞维茨与现代战争演习”的论文中,一位美军将领就用了这个词组。
RUMSFELD在伊拉克战争中还有一句名言:"Free people are free to commit crimes."
自由人有自由犯罪。这句话见仁见智者有之。但大部分人都象理解言论自由一样误解了。
在美国,你有言论自由,说什么都行,政府一般不会根据言论的内容预先堵住你的嘴(prior restraint)。
但这并不等于你发出言论之后可以不负责任。 |