On Thursday, July 10th, governor Tate Reeves dictated that everyone must wear a mask in the 13 most populous counties starting Monday, July 13th with a tentative end date of July 20th.[1][2]

The same day, former representative of House District 28 in the Legislature of Mississippi, Robert Foster, announced on facebook and twitter that he would disobey the order, stating,

“I have not worn a mask in my business yet and I have not made any of my employees or customers, and I will not be making one either. If they choose to wear one, and some do, then I will support them as I have been. But, this guilt trip nonsense claiming that if we don’t all comply with masks that we will cause people to get sick and die, is ludicrous.

If people don’t like how I’m running my business, or think its not safe, they don’t have to come support my business. If my employees don’t like it or don’t feel safe they can quit. That’s how free markets work.”

[…]

I’m calling for you to be Civilly Disobedient. I’m calling for you to defy these unlawful Liberty infringing and financially crushing small business mandates. What’s it going to be Mississippi? Liberty or Tyranny?

If the government wants anymore of our Liberties then I say to them, Molon Labe!”[3]

Is Robert Foster the King of his castle or is Tate Reeves the King, making laws because he says so (rule by dictate)?

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” -CS Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (1948) via Mark J Perry of the American Enterprise Institute[4]

The government can enforce the lockdown and mandates so long as the dollar is King.[5]

Additionally, his dictate violates Article IV, Section 4 of the US Constitution,

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.”

Dictatorship, rule by dictate, is illegal

[1] https://mspolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Executive_Order_No._1507.pdf

[2] https://mspolicy.org/violators-of-face-mask-order-subject-to-500-fine-and-6-months-in-jail/?fbclid=IwAR3woX-mzd-VUXler1cQ7NC9kSpQdHp3iBISgnqIGYy216l-MKC0d9S3VB8

[3]https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1784587818345784&id=479968185474427

[4] https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/quotation-of-the-day-on-moral-busybodies-vs-robber-barons-and-self-medication-as-a-basic-right/

[5] https://www.hamiltonmobley.com/blog/interest-rates-and-inflation?rq=Inflation