Jackson Jambalaya

Bill, the mandate, issued by Executive Order under the declaration of an emergency was not issued under existing state statute to cure the virus.

The emergency was the potential overwhelming of the hospital and medical system. There was, as you are well aware, at the time a shortage of hospital and ICU beds, with the potential need to create special facilities at Shelby and other possible locations.

The state statutes - you are familiar with them as a former legislator - allow the Governor and the State Health Officer to establish such mandates when there is a health crisis such as we faced this time last year - not just when there is a disease or a virus existing. (State statutes do not, however, provide that emergency power to Mayors despite many doing it anyway without such authority; their emergency power covers natural disasters, riots, etc but not health issues)

Yes - I agree, as did the Governor - that masks should still be worn, social distancing in certain groups should continue to be practiced, and hands should still be washed.

But the statutory authority to maintain mandates on who can attend funerals, weddings, family gatherings; what businesses can be open, and wearing of masks does not provide for one individual to make such rules, sans an emergency.

Hospital beds are now plentiful, as are ICU beds. We have learned much more about how to treat the virus; dont need the ventilators to the degree we thought, although we have plenty of them now thanks to innovation and massive spending.

Your belief that a single person, not the government, should have the arbitrary ability to issue mandates until the virus is cured doesn't fit with our democratic principles. If it is a good idea, as you believe, then the legislature should enact such a law. It should not be done by Executive Order using power given by emergency statutes when the emergency no longer exists. Only the virus does, and will probably for a long long time.

In order to attack Reeves, again, Crawford sows fear. You're pathetic Bill.

That may be true, Pete, but he didn't have to say anything.

But,since he did, he could have said, " I have no authority to continue the mask mandate because I'm limited to mandate to insure our hospitals aren't compromised.
Nevertheless, I cannot urge everyone to continue to wear masks, social distance, wash hands and get vaccinated as soon as possible. We have made great progress in vaccinating and it is hoped we can very shortly fully open."

But he didn't say that. He didn't look for authority under restaurant or bar licensing either.

He never made any attempt to enforce the mandate and I seriously doubt that anyone was going to challenge him on the the statutory authority.

So, he is going to have a hard time convincing anyone, given the timing, that this was other than political and Trump genuflecting.

Those of us who have given significant amounts of time and money to the GOP, know that it's no longer a defender of smaller government and fiscal responsibility and economic vision. It's not conservative or Libertarian. If anything coherent, it's nihilism or idolatry or a gathering at the psyche ward.
There are moderates we can find to support until the insanity and cowardice or self aggrandizement ends.

12:30 pm

Well said

12:39, I'm sorry, but I believe he did say so. He said that the emergency was due to the hospital and medicial potential crisis. He did say that wearing masks should continue, on a voluntary basis. (I don'think he went into washing one's hands, but that should seem not to need a Governor's suggestion in any situation.}

He did say that we have made great progress in vaccinating and that he wanted that to continue to increase.

He did say that the EO was premised on an emergency, not on an attempt to cure the virus.

Of course he didn't make any attempt to enforce the mandate - the only "police power" the Governor might have is the MHP, and they are clearly defined as NOT BEING a state police force. Any enforcement would be up to local LEOs, if one really wants an attempt to be made at enforcing such a mandate.

You are probably correct in that nobody "was going to challenge him on the statutory authority" - but if you were really a supporter of conservativism or Libertarianism, you would want your elected officials not to act outside of their authority just because "nobody was going to challenge them". Frankly, I appreciate the fact that he operated within the bounds of his legal authority, not exceeding them 'just because'.

I basically oppose governing by Executive Order. I realize that there are times and conditions when they are absolutely appropriate, necessary, and must be used. But to try to govern by EO rather than within the bounds established by legislative structure, even if nobody is going to challenge it, in my opinion is wrong. I disliked the excessive use of Executive Orders by President Obama. I continued disliking their use by President Trump. And I don't like current President Biden doing it either.

Reeves' orders that established the mask mandate, social gatherings, etc were appropriate at the time - there was a true emergency with the overwhelming of the medicial system in the state due to an unknown and unprecedented virus. Over time, we have learned more about how to treat the virus, how to help avoid the spread (through actions included in the mandates), and now have vaccinations available. The virus still exists - and like I said earlier, will probably exist for quite some time. But the emergency that justified the order doesn't.

Maybe I listened to a different press conference than you did, Mr/Mrs Anonymous, but I did hear the Governor say a good bit of what you suggest he "could" have said.

As to the headling, which I assume comes from words in the column, "Reeves' actions" are not what could risk lives. It would be the actions of individuals that might risk their or other lives. Reeves' action removed a mandate, it didn't remove or suggest that paying attention to the situation is still not needed.

Maybe Reeves should issue orders mandating people stay away from people with measles - wear masks when around them, and wash their hands if they touch them. Should do the same thing about being around people with mumps. And TB. Maybe even leprosy. Whatever the illness is, if the Governor doesn't issue a mandate to take proper actions, does that mean that if someone catches something contagious it is the Governor's inaction that risked their health? Absolutely not. It is the inaction of the individual to not follow good practice.

Signing off this discussion now. Disagree if you choose, but think about the reality, not the attempt to make a political statement.

Reeves PR move and then backtracking places him more in the Australopithecus afarensis species instead of Homo neanderthalensis.

Pete

We get it.

You agreed with Tate....how convenient.

Tate failed Mississippi miserably. He failed to take any actions when it mattered most....at the beginning. He waited months to do anything....and as we knew then and found out through unnecessary suffering and death....time was of the essence and he did zero. Meanwhile he kissed Trumps boots to garner favor....and we all paid the price.

Go back to trying to collect debts from the city of Jackson for thrice paid taxes for road improvements.

How many years need to pass before it's not considered 'hasty'.

There are moderates we can find to support until the insanity and cowardice or self aggrandizement ends.

Nope. Trump happened because conservatives got sick and tired of the Barbours of the world bending over to assume the position over and over again in the name of compromise. Screw the RINOs.

#TATEReeves2023

How is it hasty? I'm sure Florida and Texas gave the matter all due deliberation before taking their course of action. And Tater had plenty of time to think before he tagged along.

I can't believe that I'm agreeing with Crawford, but he is correct in calling Reeves a "wannabe national political figure". With his latest move, our governor has again made sure that Mississippi looks like a bunch of barefoot redneck idiots.

During the past year, did Reeves ever look at the number of cases and deaths and say he should have done something sooner or been stronger in enforcing the facemask mandate? Probably not. In the coming weeks, will Reeves look at the daily cases and deaths and say that his removing restrictions was wrong? Probably not.

Reeves has been more worried about pleasing Trump, who has only himself to blame in not being reelected president and losing Georgia senate races, which meant losing control of the Senate.

The 7 day rolling average of new cases is 398. The last time it was this low was on June 24, 2020. One month ago, the 7 day rolling average of new cases was 954. Even that is down from the record of 2,288 new cases per day on January 9, 2021. Celebrate it. This is a win.

297,581 Mississippians have tested positive for SARS-COV-2. This number is a little suspect, because some people may have been exposed to SARS-COV-2 and yet they never tested for it. Perhaps they were asymptomatic, or perhaps the disease was not that bad for them. The number is also suspect because others have tested positive for SARS-COV-2, yet never had the disease COVID-19. Perhaps this was due to a false positive, or perhaps it was for some other reason. I fall into this case since I tested positive for SARS-COV-2, and eight subsequent antibody tests have turned up negative.

270,210 Mississippians are fully vaccinated. Over 120,000 vaccinations are given per week. Celebrate it. This is a win.

25% of vaccinations are going to African Americans. We are higher than any other state in the nation. Celebrate it. This is a win. Mississippi is finally first in something good. This could be higher. This should be higher, but a win is a win.

Tomorrow I will be vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson's one shot vaccine. I will still wear a mask, out of love for my neighbor. I realize that the pandemic is not over, but after running 26 miles in this marathon, we can see the finish line, and it is only 2 tenths of a mile away.

2:16 PM - You are exactly right. The only, and only, reasons Trump won both the Republican nomination and the Presidential election was because NO ONE in Washington was doing their jobs. Lirerally everyone of our elected officials were part of the problem, not the solution. Thank you for educating those to f##king dumb to grasp this.

Reeves is operating from a position of least government involvement. Let business owners and citizens THINK for themselves. Unfortunately, many people need to be assisted with common sense and common courtesy these days.

So, by lifting the mandate (for whatever combination of reasons or for none at all) and leaving the decision up to adults as to how they and their families will go forward...Reeves is somehow risking lives?

Show me three people in this state who look to the governor (any governor) for their health and well-being advice. Those who followed the executive mandate did so because it was an executive mandate, a lawful order, not because Tater issues wise medical advice.

If Mr. Crawford, headed down a highway, comes up on a flashing sign that says, "Reduce Speed To 35 mph - loose rocks and debris ahead", then two miles later, another sign says "Resume normal speed with caution"....and Mr. Crawford picks up speed to 65 and tears his front-end up after hitting something in the road....Will he blame D.O.T. for increasing his speed?

Answer: YES. He will blame D.O.T. He reduced speed because he was told do by authorities. He picked up speed only after the sign indicated he could, but, with caution and he couldn't figure out what to do. So, automatically, the damage is the fault of someone else.

I know this ex-legislator used to take advantage of the daily per-diem allowance, but how did he manage to get to Jackson and back to Meridian without daily instruction? And if he would up in Laurel, whose fault was it?

" Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson"

That's about all one needs to know.

But the big question remains, (going into week 3)...does Crawford even have water down his town of Jackson ?

How dare Tater let grown ass adults make their own decisions. Anyone with access to the Internet (evidently we don’t need to listen to Biden about who can do that) can look at these numbers on the CDC site and see we in Mississippi are all headed for instantaneous COVID!!! After 100 days we will possibly see a 2% increase!!! Even though as far as numbers go they are statistically insignificant.

During March 1–December 31, 2020, state-issued mask mandates applied in 2,313 (73.6%) of the 3,142 U.S. counties. Mask mandates were associated with a 0.5 percentage point decrease (p = 0.02) in daily COVID-19 case growth rates 1–20 days after implementation and decreases of 1.1, 1.5, 1.7, and 1.8 percentage points 21–40, 41–60, 61–80, and 81–100 days, respectively, after implementation (p<0.01 for all) (Table 1) (Figure). Mask mandates were associated with a 0.7 percentage point decrease (p = 0.03) in daily COVID-19 death growth rates 1–20 days after implementation and decreases of 1.0, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.9 percentage points 21–40, 41–60, 61–80, and 81–100 days, respectively, after implementation (p<0.01 for all). Daily case and death growth rates before implementation of mask mandates were not statistically different from the reference period.

7:51 is exactly right and he took his information directly from the CDC website.
MASKS MAKE NO STATISTICAL DIFFERENCE- it is just that simple. If you disagree, go to the cdc and read the study.
Sorry if this truth is uncomfortable.

1:50, I'm sure you are right that Perry supports Tate. But we also get that you dislike Tate and anything he may do. Just like Crawford, who was probably a paid shill for the Hospital Association during the last election and wrote anything he could imagine negative about him, his mother, his basketball skills, or his hairstyle if he couldn't find anything of interest at the time. I imagine now he continues this only because he enjoys it. Just like you do.

But at least Perry is making a point about the legal question that you and others seem to want to ignore as you continue your bashing

We get it. Both sides.

A year ago when all this started Tate said, Trust the power of prayer! Amen to that. We just need to pray more, people. Down on your knees, not in subjugation but in adulation. The. This pestilence will disappear! Amen, Tate, amen!

Abilene Paradox definition

The Abilene Paradox refers to a situation when a group makes a collective decision that is counter to the thoughts and feelings of its individual members. The Abilene Paradox occurs because individuals do not want to ‘rock the boat’ or ‘be a killjoy,’ even though their perceptions of the other members’ feelings are incorrect. the paradox may be driven because individuals believe they will experience negative attitudes or feelings if they ‘speak up’ on a topic. Of course, if no-one speaks up, the group will make a decision that is counter to the wishes and feelings of the group.

" Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson" That's about all one needs to know.

Crawford is a product of Meridian and lives there. Thank goodness - We have enough liberal ass-hats in Jackson!

This past weekend I went to 2 upscale restaurants,a grocery store, and 2 Lowe’s. Everyone was still wearing masks without a mandate from the Governor. I also went to an outdoor burger joint and almost no one was wearing a mask.Tate didn’t say not to wear a mask anymore.BTW I have had both shots and the tail I grew looks good with shorts.

there are a lot of redneck keyboard cowboy commentators here that have obviously never had corvid .

I’m not a Tater Tot but, I don’t think any of us can cast judgement on the decisions he and the MDH made in the last 14 months. What state do. You want to nominate as being the best, New York? Their Gov was on. CNN e dry day telling the nation how great a job he was doing.
The first few months the e experts were hanging their minds almost weekly.
I will say that whoever headed up the vaccine program has done a great job. It’s easy to register and the Guard has been terrific. The mayor of Jackson complains about his citizens being left out. Why doesn’t he get his ass I gear and suggest a program using the neighborhood churches. I will wear a mask when using business that ask us to.

I'd be interested to see anyone provide a link to the 'science' that we're supposed to follow that would prove that masks (especially paper hospital ear loops and homemade cloth masks) help prevent the spread of a virus.

We just passed the one year anniversary of the two weeks to slow the curve.