NPR loves transcendental aspirations. This is from Monday, I believe.
The sudden eruption of second-term scandals in his administration will have many costs for President Obama, but surely the most grievous will be the lost opportunity to transcend the partisan wars of Washington. That aspiration was his fondest dream for his second term, much as it was for his first. Now it seems destined to be dashed once again. . . .Obama's aspirations were different. He never thought he could win 40 states or 60 percent of the popular vote. He knew he was struggling for just enough votes to win.
And so the transcendentally aspirational 44th President let slip the dogs of government on Tea Partiers, the Associated Press, any one who did not actively hate Mitt Romney, or Mormons, Jews and Catholics. Four people were murdered and tortured in Libya in direct disobedience to the transcendental aspirations of the White House. There would be no beer summit for the bereaved.
I Googled Aspirational + Obama and found 2, 870,00 items. It is a word that works for Obama and his disciples but affects me in the same manner as tin foil on an exposed dental nerve. I can do without it.
Little kids wear capes and cast spells living out their wildest aspirations. The older they get the more they turn to Progressive politics. It's got all of spells and maledictions without all of the study and hassle of learning anything.
Obama managed to get elected twice because most other people love aspirational stuff, transcending race, politics and credibility over and above powers of mere mortal men, compelling narratives and soaring rhetoric.
To aspire to something lofty was, at one time, a goad to purposeful actions. Today it seems to mean getting a high paying job for which you have absolutely no other qualifications than some people think you are just swell. Illinois would not be laughing stock of the nation were not for such aspirational leading lights as Gov. Pat Quinn, Sen. Dick Durbin, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, CCB President Toni Preckwinkel, or Rahm's CTA time server Forrest Claypool. They are all bona fide Progressives.
The Progressive develops a Hegelian Will to Aspire - rise above the vocational gradus and land sinecure. All that is required is gleeful willingness to group think even if a baby's spinal chard needs a good snipping. President Obama is a standout Progressive.
Given the second time the NPR writer employed the word. aspirational seems to imply ambition. Not the good kind, but the ambition that leads to purges
Aspiration is not a virtue and makes about as much sense as a compliment as, " Losers have potential."
Aspiration is not a virtue and makes about as much sense as a compliment as, " Losers have potential."
aspirational-showing that you want to have more money and a higher social position than you now have:
adjective/ˌæs.pɪˈreɪ.ʃən.əl/
/-pɚˈeɪ-/ UKDefinition
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(Definition of aspirational adjective from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus© Cambridge University Press)
