Blunt's Eckersley Scandal, Day Three

What is it that makes people who are caught in a bad fix continue to do precisely the wrong thing again and again, compounding their own errors and making the final outcome even worse for themselves?

This may be the question about Matt Blunt's total mishandling of the Scott Eckersley situation that is most interesting.  Remember that Blunt had multiple opportunities to get his house in order at various waypoints in this journey. 

Most notably, when it was clear that his office had taken steps in this case that were beyond the pale (not to mention extra-legal) he could have offloaded Ed Martin, citing his behavior as a rogue actor who impulsively fired a staffer who had the audacity to point out that Matt and Ed weren't following the law.  That would likely have staunched the bleeding of damaging stories and allowed Team Blunt to regain its footing.

It's only natural to ask why the Governor opted against that course of action, given that it would seemingly be the best way for Blunt to retain any political sheen coming out of this mess.  Of course, the one scenario under which it doesn't make political sense for Blunt to cast out Ed Martin is if Blunt is fairly certain that Crazy Eddie --if pushed out of the inner circle-- will sing like a canary to anyone who'll listen about all of the other questionable practices engaged in by the Blunt administration.  ­

If you're Matt Blunt, why hang in and take your lumps on this matter unless you believe that the way out will lead to far worse beatings on another front?

This is just speculation, but I'm guessing that the loyalty binding the members of Team Blunt to one another (assuming that was the case at one point) has since been replaced by fear.  The governor's office must be quite a pleasant place to be these days.