Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden seems to want to impose a countrywide lockdown in the name of countering coronavirus. While some state governors who have been imposing their own coronavirus crackdowns for over half a year can be expected to cheer such a move by the United States government, other governors, along with many state legislators, can be expected to resist such a US government mass infringement on the liberty of people in their states.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who has resisted since early on the temptation to impose many tyrannical mandates in the name of countering coronavirus comes to mind as a resister to a countrywide lockdown imposed from Washington, DC. Another expected resister would be Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who has reversed many of the coronavirus mandates he had imposed in the state and in September promised “we will never do any of these lockdowns again.”
Now, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves is indicating that he should be counted among the resisters to a countrywide lockdown. In a Thursday video presentation focused on matters related to coronavirus, Reeves declared, “I don’t believe there is any constitutional or statutory authority for any president to shut down Mississippi’s economy.” Further, Reeves stated, “we’re not gonna participate in a national lockdown.”
Though Reeves does not cotton to a lockdown being imposed in Mississippi by the US government, he is far from an advocate for liberty in regard to coronavirus policy at the state level. He makes that clear in his discussion in the video of his latest executive order extending coronavirus-related mandates, including a mandate requiring mask wearing, that he issued on Wednesday.
It looks like a countrywide lockdown effort by the US government may be foiled by governors, and likely legislatures as well, saying “no way” in response. Let’s hope that these countrywide lockdown opponents hold firm and that their numbers grow.
