Roy Temple, a Missourian blogger and capable muckraker, recently tried to attend a bill signing by Gov. Matt Blunt – the son of Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) who’s shown himself to be worthy of having his muck raked.
Well, Blunt’s handlers didn’t appreciate Temple showing up. Blunt’s communications director, Spence Jackson, tried to bar Temple from attending at all, saying that the signing was only open to journalists and “invited guests” (as Temple notes, some of those guests were registered lobbyists). When that tactic appeared doomed, he resorted to calling Temple — who had been chief of staff to former governor Mel Carnahan (D) — a “physical security threat to the governor.”
It went downhill from there, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
At Jacksonâs request, Temple was escorted out of the office by Capitol police. At one point, five officers surrounded him, Temple said. They later told Temple that no charges would be sought, but that he would not be allowed in the governorâs office.
Jackson said that was his decision, and that he had good reasons. He called Temple one of the âCarnahan hate-bloggersâ¦The Carnahans have a deep and visceral hatred for the Blunt family.’â
Jackson also accused Temple of having âTimothy McVeigh-like fantasies.’â
Temple, a lawyer, said he was struck âspeechless’â by Jacksonâs McVeigh statement, and is weighing whether to seek legal action. Temple noted that McVeigh, convicted and executed for the Oklahoma City bombing, was âa mass murderer.’â
Temple added that he didnât believe that the governor viewed him as a physical threat. A few weeks ago, both shared the same elevator and talked about their family activities the previous weekend, he said.
