Séamus Ahearne: Musings, Ruminations and Ponderings…

Casual Thought Provoked By The Cherry Blossom And Trump

These are strange times. I must be dithering. Or dawdling around faraway days (which now seem wonderful but never were) or even drifting into the long past. Is it nostalgia or a mind that is becoming old? I am looking for a happier world; a song of life; some poetry; some light artistic strokes on the canvas of life. Like Seamus Heaney’s poem The Diviner, the hazel twig of searching for the sacred (the water of life) is a teacher. And now as the crocuses fade; the daffodils flourish and the Cherry Blossom is whispering along the roadways. There has to be Lenten new life in us; a Springtime; (we don’t need all this repentance stuff or the giving up; it is the seeing and marvelling that matters in humility).

I was thinking of those days long ago when we were ‘young ones becoming clerics.’  There was a Booklet which was a serious educational offering. It was called ‘Courtesy for Clerics.’ I can’t recall a thing from it, but the idea amuses me. And it was an appropriate idea. I do hope that some of us manage (and have managed) to live the assumed contents of that Book.

Religion needs a light touch and a gentleness. I believe there is too much negativity around. The very air of politics is polluted with anger and bitterness and viciousness. That also seeps into Religious Dialogue. Communion has to mean that we attempt to listen and learn. We respect and reverence each other. The Synodal pathway suggests that this has to be the only way forward. We can become too strident. We can be strong. We can be bold. We can be critical. But we don’t have to be vicious. We have to keep the heart of faith alive in every discussion or argument. Those who are full of certainties will never help the evolution of ideas. And sometimes the noisy ones destroy the chance of furthering the discernment. I was thinking such thoughts as I read the material below. Could this give rise to a new booklet: Courtesy in Public Life?

The German Army Chief (Major General Wolf-Jurgen Stahl) Is Wary Of An  ‘Egomaniac’ In The White House.

He described President Trump as an “egomaniac, narcissistic, erratic dealmaker with authoritarian leanings.” He also spoke of his concerns, “The world is coming apart at the seams. It’s turbulent. It’s rough. It’s lawless. It’s in a state of disorder… We urgently need to work on shoring up our foundations.” He then went on to say: “My biggest intellectual challenge is the President. I saw at the (Munich) security conference that I’m not the only one who has difficulties here, the Americans do, too. They have an erratic president. And so it’s hard for me, whenever they all say, ‘No, we’re staying in Europe, a stable Europe is a vital interest for us and we need it for our own security’ and then we experience a president like this.”

The Supreme Court Ruling:

And then there is the reaction/response of Trump to the Decision by the Supreme Court on Tariffs. He said that he was deeply disappointed and absolutely ashamed that they didn’t have the courage to do the right thing for the Country. (There was much more).

The State of the Union (and what a state in the union!)

The State of the Union and following: Trump was rather vicious on Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib (two Muslim legislators). He saw them as corrupt and crooked politicians. “When you watch Low IQ Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib as they screamed uncontrollably last night at the very elegant State of the Union, such an important and beautiful event, they had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalised,” Trump wrote.

“When people can behave like that, and knowing that they are Crooked and Corrupt Politicians, so bad for our Country, we should send them back from where they came – as fast as possible,” Trump said. “They can only damage the United States of America, they can do nothing to help it,” he added.

And then there was Robert De Niro:

Trump then turned his ire towards some of his biggest celebrity critics, writing that Omar and Tlaib “should actually get on a boat with deranged Robert De Niro, another sick and demented person with, I believe, an extremely Low IQ(!), who have absolutely no idea what he is doing or saying – some of which is seriously CRIMINAL.” (Trump did not elaborate on what he believes De Niro did, that was unlawful.) 

“When I watched him break down in tears last night, much like a child would do, I realized that he may be even sicker than Crazy Rosie O’Donnell, who is right now in Ireland, trying to figure out how to come back into our beautiful United States.” He continued: “The only difference between De Niro and Rosie is that she is probably somewhat smarter than him, which isn’t saying much,” the president wrote, “the good news is that American is now Bigger, Better, Richer and Stronger than ever before, and it’s driving them absolutely crazy.”

Seamus Ahearne osa   27th February 2026.