Martin: Can we change the subject, please?
So news broke on Friday that Scott Eckersley's wrongful termination suit had been settled. Defendants Matt Blunt, Ed Martin and three other former staffers finally settled the suit, but only after it cost the state $2 million to resolve. After such a long, embarrassing ordeal, you might think that Ed would lay low for a little while.
Why lay low when you can get your name in the paper for a major non-event like writing a letter?
Ed Martin, the former chief of staff to Gov. Matt Blunt who now heads Term Limits for Missouri, is calling for a Show-Me Smackdown over term limits.
He wants to go toe to toe with state Rep. Chris Kelly, a Democratic state lawmaker from Columbia, who spoke out last weekend about his interest in seeing term limits loosened in Missouri...
[I]n a letter to Kelly today, Martin said he found his observations "unsatisfying or at least incomplete..."
Martin offered to debate Kelly "any time, any place."
If we get a response from Kelly, we'll let you know.
Leaving aside the question of why we're supposed to care what Ed Martin thinks about anything at this point, Steve Kraske's story on this supposed "rumble" completely ignores the fact that this is anything but a two-person debate. If Martin really wants to engage in a "Show-Me Smackdown," he may need to prepare for a tussle with Senator Kit Bond, Congressman Todd Akin, Speaker Ron Richard, Rep. Gayle Kingery (R-Poplar Bluff), Sen. John Griesheimer (R-Washington) or Gary Nodler (R-Joplin) --- all of whom want to end term limits, extend the existing limits or have voiced concern about the effects of the current limits.
So how about Bond, Nodler, Kinder, Greisheimer, Kelly and Kingery v. Ed Martin? That's a rumble I'd pay good money to see.
One other note: Also left unmentioned in the article is the fact that Eddie's current term limit proposal is would impact just four statewide officeholders (including Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder), and has nothing to do with the state legislature.
