It's only the middle of January, but this has been an incredible political year so far.

I wrote about the crazy Presidential races recently on this blog, but let me tell you, national politics have nothing on local politicos when it comes to controversy and intrigue. Tuesday was a great example.

It started with a letter faxed to media outlets by Frances Semler. She's become a household name around here, after Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser named her to the parks board last year. Turns out, she's a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group that opposes illegal immigration, often in ways that many civil rights groups find offensive. Funkhouser was urged to fire Semler and when he stood by her, several groups pulled their conventions out of KC.

Now, Semler has resigned. And who did she cite as one of the major reasons? Funkhouser himself, who Semler says betrayed her. She apparently felt like a political pawn to garner support for the mayor in the conservative Northland and also didn't like the mayor asking her to stay away from a Minuteman convention next month. Funkhouser took a lot of heat for Semler, but it apparently wasn't enough.

But that was just Part One of the topsy-turvey political day around here. A rumor started floating around that Missouri Governor Matt Blunt was going to drop his bid for a second term. Even well-connected insiders in Jeff City said the rumor was unfounded. Until it wasn't. Sure enough, the Guv released a video, saying he had accomplished everything he set out to do in one term, so there was no need for another. Wow.

Now the Missouri Governors race is thrown into chaos. It was going to be a bloodbath between Blunt and Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon. It's still going to be a lively race, but for totally different reasons. The Republicans need to find a candidate who can run strong, despite a very late start. Nixon needs to change his campaign after planning for years to run against Blunt.

So you thought Obama and Clinton getting personal was great political theater? That the wide-open Republican presidential field was fun to watch? Well, they don't have anything on us here in the middle of the country. You want political fireworks? Come to Missouri.