Black and white gloves... and one red and one yellow rose... on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s and Zelda Sayer’s grave: Somebody who obviously knows Fitzgerald’s use of color in The Great Gatsby, especially black and white, and his roses visited the gravesite at Old St. Mary’s Graveyard in Rockville, Maryland, at least a couple of days before I got there. The gloves are wet from rain and the roses are wilted, which makes the symbolism perfect.

Quoting the late President Reagan in my response to the Tea Party mouse roaring in the Washington halls of power, “There you go again.” ...Same song, second verse, could be better, but it’s likely to be worse. The folks who swept into Washington claiming they were bringing a mandate from THE PEOPLE are saying now that THE PEOPLE want fundamental (a favorite word of religious conservatives) changes in health care, the environment, and abortion rights... meaning, of course, THEY, THE PEOPLE, want to do away with all of the health benefits to the poor and needy assured by legislation passed when there was a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress; THEY, THE PEOPLE, want to continue to corrupt the environment by eliminating regulations and controls which limit what companies and individuals are permitted to do to degrade the natural world if those regulations affect the bottom line in corporate budgets; and THEY, THE PEOPLE, want to go back to a time when there was no such thing as a “legal” abortion and government regulations drove women, even in cases of rape, to seek remedy in illegal back room abortion operations. I am confident that americans are better than that; no mandate of that kind exists. And about government regulations prohibiting women from exerting control over their own bodies. Isn’t it time to say something about blatant inconsistency in the Tea Party’s litany of demands. Isn’t their goal to stop government from regulating what Americans may do and may not do. Obviously, they want it both ways: “government control” in matters consistent with tenents of their religion; no regulations when it comes to the environment and the economy.

I don’t live in a cave. I spend my days out in the world with intelligent, responsible people, most of whom are citizens of the United States of America. I rarely come across anyone who would seriously like to deprive anyone of appropriate health care and other basic human needs. Most of the people I know don’t keep company with rich and famous sports people and entertainers who earn obscenely large salaries, and I don’t have regular conversations with corporate executives or with people who have regular conversations with corporate executives who enjoy multimillion dollar salaries; so I don’t hear much about protecting the salaries of really rich people from having to pay taxes at a higher rate than I pay. So where are THE PEOPLE of the mandate? Don’t my waste time quoting Palin, Bachman, Limbaugh, and Trump. They don’t represent the people of the United States of America. Sarah Palin quit her job as the elected governor of Alaska, and she has not been elected to a legislative position in Washington. Her use of the word mandate is typical of intellectual silliness that infuses her conservative political rhetoric. Michele Bachman was elected by a majority of the citizens of the 6th district in the state of Minnesota. She may say her election in the 6th District implies “mandate” from THE PEOPLE of the United States, but even she knows that isn’t true.

The Tea Party agenda is clear and has little to do with the security and welfare of American people or with strengthening government of the United States of America, which were the major goals of framers of our extraordinary Constitution almost two-and-a-half centuries ago. Not all of the Tea Party politicians are religious people, but they definitely know what they must say to get elected and reelected to public office. They must say what the voters who identify with mainline conservative Christian denominations in America want to hear. Even if they are not personally religious, to get elected and reelected they must imply commitment to tenents of conservative religious groups. Because the United Methodists Book of Discipline contains explicit language that says God doesn’t approve of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender folks, the Tea Party platform must stand against giving GLBT citizens the same rights other people enjoy. Because the Southern Baptist Denomination stands against abortion under any circumstances, the Tea Party must rail against Planned Parenthood even if it means lying blatantly about the services provided to Americans by that organization. The Bible says God, who controls everything, has given man dominion over all the earth; so Tea Party candidates can say we shouldn’t worry about the environment. We can leave that responsibility with God. Mike Huckabee probably wouldn’t do well in a run for office in Japan.

Most Americans are basically good people. Even with our peculiar individual flaws and foibles, we are generally in favor of good health and security for all Americans. In the months ahead we Americans who are eligible to vote and who actually do vote are going to try to figure out which candidates for national offices honestly, intelligently, and consistently represent us so we can know for whom we should vote in the next election cycle. Americans enjoy being entertained by silliness. How else can we explain the reality of Donald Trump and the Washington Post report that polls show him with a 17% approval rating among Republicans. In some quarters 17% is considered mandate. We relish the humor of a television programs like “Laugh In,” but that doesn’t mean most of us would be in favor of electing Goldie Hawn to represent us in congress because her staged silliness in a television program thirty years ago amused us. On the other hand, we probably shouldn’t ignore that old adage about history having a way of repeating itself.