曹长青，一个从受人尊重的新闻工作者变成如今的一个阴谋论者（观点）
许多年以前，大中报（如今的大中网/096.ca)的读者推荐我去看看曹长青先生的文章。我一下子就喜欢他的作品。他当年是华人当中非常稀罕的，有独立见解的新闻工作者。
Many years ago, a reader of Chinese News (a Toronto Chinese Newspaper, now 096.ca, an online publication) recommended me to read the articles of Mr. Cao Changqing. I appreciated the depth of his work immediately. He was one of few overseas Chinese journalists with independent views.
观察了他一段时间后，我与曹先生联系，看看大中报能否刊登他的文章。曹先生很慷慨，几乎不需要大中报给予报酬的情况下就同意让我们刊登他的文章。
After following him for a few months, I contacted Mr. Cao to see if Chinese News could publish his works. Mr. Cao was very generous and agreed to let us publish his works with little pay or even without pay.
我们之间一直保持着专业人员的关系，相互尊重。我去他所在的城市去旅游时，他还做东，请我和太太吃饭。我们谈得很投机，尤其是在中共专制政权的话题上。
We have always maintained a professional relationship and respected each other. When I travelled to the city where he was living, he hosted lunch in a restaurant for my wife and I. We talked about a few topics, especially those related to the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian regime.
在我和曹先生交流的过程中，唯一让我有点诧异的是，他多次强调不要告诉任何人他究竟住在哪个城市。我尊重了他的要求。但我总是觉得很奇怪，因为我们的职业本身很难保密，属于公众人物。
The only thing that I felt a little bit odd during my communication with Mr. Cao was that he repeatedly forbid me to tell anyone which city he lived in. I promised him not to tell and kept my promise until today. But I always found the request strange because it is difficult for us as journalists to stay out of the public eye.
如果我的记录没有错误，大中网最后一次刊登曹先生的文章是2018年7月7日，标题是：曹长青：祝美国生日快乐！
If my records are correct, the last time Chinese News published Mr. Cao's work was on July 7, 2018, with the title: Happy Birthday to America!
2020年美国大选以后，曹先生的评论与我们大中网的理念（准确、公平和平衡）越来越格格不入，尤其是他认为美国2020总统大选，川普败给拜登是因为选票作弊。
After Trump became president in 2016, Mr. Cao's works became increasingly incompatible with the principles (accuracy, fairness and balance) of Chinese News, especially his belief that Trump lost to Biden in the 2020 US presidential election because of voter fraud.
2020年美国大选前后，我认为曹先生已经从一个令我尊重的新闻工作者成了川普的吹鼓手。
Before and after the 2020 US election, I thought Mr. Cao had gone from a journalist I respected to a propagandist for Trump.
2022年4月，当我看到曹先生的一个推特后，我决定做一个视频，评论曹先生的一个贴子。我的视频题目是：看到曹长青先生曲解“言论自由”很遗憾。
In April 2022, when I saw a tweet (today’s X) from Mr. Cao, I decided to make a video to comment on one of Mr. Cao's posts. The title of my video is: It is a pity to see Mr. Cao Changqing misinterpret "freedom of speech".
我不知道是什么原因让曹先生不断重复川普2020窃选的指控。他为何连美国一个最基本的法律概念都没有，那就是“举证责任”。
I don't know what caused Mr. Cao to keep repeating the allegation by Trump that the 2020 election was rigged. Why doesn't he even have the most basic legal concept in the United States, what our system of democracy is founded upon called "Burden of proof".
在一个民主系统，如果你指控一个人，无论是他/她/它损害了你的经济利益，或他/她/它有刑事犯罪行为，举证责任都落在指控人肩上。换句话说，如果是2020美国总统大选的窃选行为导致川普败选，川普自己需要拿出证据来。
In a democratic country like the US, if you accuse someone, whether they caused financial damages to you or they committed a criminal offense, the burden of proof falls on the shoulders of the accuser. In other words, if the 2020 US presidential election was stolen from Trump, it is up to Trump to produce evidence.
如果不需要证据就把别人定罪，那美国就不是民主国家了。
If you convict someone without evidence, then the US is not a democratic country.
我们都知道Fox News因指控Dominion Voting Systems参与窃选而在诽谤诉讼前一天选择庭外和解，向Dominion Voting Systems赔偿7.87亿美元。如果Fox News手中有证据，它绝对不会向Dominion Voting Systems赔一分钱。因为凭借Fox News的经济实力，拿出100万甚至更多的奖赏来收集证据，或请美国最优秀的私人侦探收集证据根本就是小菜一碟。
We all know that Fox News chose to settle out of court the day before the defamation lawsuit trial began because it accused Dominion Voting Systems of participating in the election theft, and paid Dominion Voting Systems $787 million in compensation. If Fox News had evidence in its hands, it would never pay Dominion Voting Systems a penny. Because with Fox News's financial strength, it would be a piece of cake to offer a reward of 1 million or even more to collect evidence, or to hire the best private detectives in the United States to collect evidence.
曹长青先生和我都是右派，我们都为右派注重常识（Common sense）而自豪。遗憾的是，曹先生在窃选这个问题上，他即没有吃透法律原则，又违反了基本常识。
Both Mr. Cao Changqing and I see ourselves as conservatives, and we both believe that common sense should prevail. Unfortunately, when it comes to the 2020 presidential election, Mr. Cao fails to understand what the rule of law is and has lost his understanding of common sense.
我不知道曹先生作为新闻工作者的结局如何，我相信有一点是可以肯定的，他这样“醉酒驾驶”，栽在沟里只是迟早的事。
I don't know what will happen to Mr. Cao as a journalist, but I do believe one thing is certain: it is only a matter of time that he will get into trouble if he continues sailing like a drunk sailor.
