It’s crunch time in the Missouri Legislature.By all accounts it’s not a good place to be right now. With three weeks to go in the regular session, the Capitol has become a battlefield of opposing factions. Recriminations are flying and frustration is overflowing.The Senate has all but ground to a halt while key pieces of legislation languish. There is talk that a special session may be necessary to finish the budget. The governor and a senior GOP senator have declared war on each other.Tensions often run high the last few weeks of the session because that’s typically when the real work gets done. But one lawmaker told us it’s the worst it’s been in years. He described the atmosphere as “demoralizing.” That’s saying something considering recent history.To be sure, there is still time to turn things around. But it wasn’t supposed to be this way. With Republicans holding super majorities in both chambers and the governor’s office, it should have been smooth sailing to pass a bevy of conservative legislation.There was a general consensus on a number of priorities. Expectations were high when the Legislature passed and the governor signed right-to-work legislation in early February.The water has been a little rougher since then in the Legislature. And the tempest driving the churn and holding back compromise is a familiar issue in the Missouri Legislature — ethics reform.And the governor has no one to blame but himself that he is just another politician in the scrum instead of the change agent hired by the people to clean up the mess.That is the brand he created for himself on the campaign trail. Gov. Eric Greitens had the pedigree to pull it off. An outsider, Navy SEAL and a war hero who returned to civilian life to form a nonprofit to assist veterans, Greitens could claim the moral high ground. His mission was to restore integrity to the political process. He made ethics reform his signature issue.He was a White Knight on a quest to terminate the irremediable corruption in Jefferson City. That was his message on the campaign trail and he rarely passed up an opportunity to blast the career, self-serving politicians who were at the root of the problem.That rubbed many lawmakers the wrong way. Greitens’ high-toned campaign rhetoric on ethics was viewed by many lawmakers as a little too self-righteous. Republicans bit their lips and held their powder, not wanting to openly criticize their new governor whom they would have to work with during the upcoming legislative session.When news broke that Greitens’ campaign was fueled by millions in so-called “dark money,” the governor suddenly had his own potential ethics challenge. As the stories mounted, it became clear transparency was not this governor’s strong suit.He could have taken the high ground and cleared the air by disclosing the donors. Instead, he doubled down, refusing to reveal the sources, as well as refusing to disclose other information on matters such as the amounts of private contributions to his inauguration and private donations to pay for air flights around the state.Compounding the issue is a nonprofit organization that was recently formed to promote Greitens’ agenda that is funded by — you guessed it — anonymous donors.Greitens arrogantly dismissed the mounting criticism over the secrecy, saying that it was not an issue that voters care about — just reporters and Democrats.Turns out some Republicans care about the issue too or at least are willing to point out the governor’s hypocrisy in the context of sparring with him over ethics reform legislation.There is still time for the governor to reclaim the high ground by doing an about-face and disclosing his donors. This legislative session could still be salvaged. Greitens could outflank his critics and do an end-run around recalcitrant Republicans and possibly push through an ethics reform bill and other key legislation.