Thread by @ashtonpittman

THREAD: As Mississippi hospital hallways overran with patients without beds & statewide ICU availability tanked to 7%, Gov. @TateReeves has gone 11 days without a press conference.

He did, however, stage an announcement to declare today a "Day of Prayer, Humility & Fasting."

In prayer tweets today, Gov. Reeves asked God to "grant wisdom to elected officials...who've been asked to make tough choices with no playbook in this time."

But we have a playbook—and expert voices crying out in the wilderness for Gov. Reeves to issue a statewide mask mandate.

God sent Gov. Reeves four prophets last month, who wrote:

“The upcoming winter is going to be difficult for Mississippians. We know that wearing masks will ... protect all Mississippians from this deadly virus."

They were four of the state's top doctors. mississippifreepress.org/7177/health-le…

How did Gov. Reeves respond to those medical prophets warning of the current hospital crisis & urging a statewide mask order? By attacking them:

“I get frustrated when SO-CALLED EXPERTS decide that if we just did one more thing, that we could change this."mississippifreepress.org/7203/gov-reeve…

"There is no one thing I as a leader or that we as Mississippians can do to make this go away," said Gov. Reeves, who said he heard medical experts and hospitals leaders' pleas for a statewide mask order, but decided he knew best & stuck to county orders. mississippifreepress.org/7576/be-ready-…

Predictably, compliance with county-level mask orders is less robust vs the state mask order, which Reeves bragged in September was responsible for beating back the summer COVID-19 wave.

We know people take statewide orders more seriously than county ones.mississippifreepress.org/5988/mississip…

In Gov. Reeves' prayer thread today, he prayed for God to "help us...not lean on our own understanding" & for us to follow God "without our arrogant resistance."

This after he derided four of the state's top medical experts as "so-called experts" & ignored their counsel.

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/1340690563893518336

When asked why he ignored top public health experts' advice & holding Christmas parties at the governor's mansion, he replied that he listens, but it "doesn’t mean we agree on every single decision that has been made."
mississippifreepress.org/7442/gov-reeve…

When leaders substitute action with public prayer and fasting (at a time when many are going hungry) while ignoring experts on actions they could take to make the situation better, I'm reminded of Isaiah 1 & God's weariness with prayers and sacrifices. google.com/amp/s/www.bibl…

My prayer today is for leadership from our governor and others, that, indeed, does not lean on its own understanding, but hearkens unto the wise counsel of health experts whom God hath sent—our pandemic prophets. They warned us of a dark winter. Why didn't our leaders listen?

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1317544489318273024

As recently as Dec. 2, when Mississippi had already repeatedly broken the summer peak's daily case records & exceeded summer hospitalization highs, Gov. Reeves was downplaying the situation, calling @nickjudin's statement of these plain facts "false." mississippifreepress.org/7282/mississip…

Now, as we officially step into the "darkest winter" tomorrow, it's time for our elected leaders to lead us, not in prayer (we have faith leaders & prayer closets for that), but out of this calamitous period of death as we await wide vaccine availability. mississippifreepress.org/7363/covid-19-…

A side note for Christian folk in positions of power—

Matthew 6:5
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full."

Matthew 6:6
"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." google.com/amp/s/www.bibl…