Two clients of Speaker of the House Rod Jetton and a senator with no love-loss for Southwest Missouri lawmakers took up the filibuster mantle late Thursday night and early Friday morning in an attempt to block the village law repeal that Jetton opposes.

The debate, led first by Sen. Luann Ridgeway, R-Smithville, and then Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, is about two hours old as of this writing. It’s the third (or fourth) attempt by Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon to get the Senate to give final approval to the village law repeal in the past two days.

Ridgeway and Crowell are both clients of Jetton’s political consulting firm. They joined Democrats Victor Callahan and Chris Koster, who led the filibuster charge earlier in the day. Both of those Democrats claimed their work had nothing to do with Jetton. It’s tougher for Ridgeway and Crowell to make that claim, as they pay Jetton for political advice.

Also getting into the game — and that’s what Crowell called it — was Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia. Graham is a veteran of filibusters, having tried, and failed, to block the name-change of Missouri State University in Springfield. The topic came up during the discussion.

Also during the filibuster, Sen. Tim Green, D-St. Louis, and Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, offered stinging criticism of those participating in the filibuster. “This is a joke,” Griesheimer said.

The filibuster was watched by more than a dozen House members who lined the gallery and benches on the side of the Senate. Some of them were openly critical of Jetton for using his clients to carry out the filibuster.

As I type this, Crowell has turned his attention to the press. Perhaps he’s running out of steam. Crowell is praising Gov. Matt Blunt and suggesting that stories about his e-mails are nothing but a distraction and that the governor will be remembered for leading a quality administration.

All of the senators speaking against the village law already voted for it in February, when it passed the Senate unanimously.