Missouri leaders mired in e-mail mess

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

I have to admire Gov. Matt Blunt’s courage in bucking conventional wisdom. Most people who find themselves stuck in a deep hole decide to stop digging. Instead, our governor says, “Hand me a bigger shovel.”

Blunt’s excavation project started when Tony Messenger, a former Tribune columnist, now an editor at the Springfield News-Leader, made a request for copies of e-mail correspondence between Blunt Chief of Staff Ed Martin and anti-abortion activists Martin enlisted in a campaign to…