Looks like Roland Burris needs a crisis management team to handle his recent attempts at crisis management. That whole PR campaign he's embarked on in the past week...not really working.

First, Illinois Republicans called both for a perjury investigation and for Burris's resignation, but then again, what else would one expect from them? Burris's problems escalated on Tuesday, however, when the Democratic Speaker of the Illinois House, Michael Madigan, referred the Burris matter to the Sangamon County States Attorney. But now things have gotten even worse with calls for Burris's resignation coming from Burris's two hometown newspapers: The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post (h/t Political Machine.)

Here's The Trib's take on Burris's constantly evolving version of events:

The story gets worse with every telling.

Enough. Roland Burris must resign.

His protests that he had nothing to hide just don't square with his obvious attempts to hide something, as evidenced by the evolving truths in three sworn statements to the House impeachment panel. His Jan. 8 testimony before that panel contradicted the affidavit he'd filed three days earlier. On Feb. 5 he submitted a "clarification" detailing the contacts he'd failed to mention on the stand.

Now he has admitted that the governor's brother hit him up to raise campaign cash, and in at least one conversation, Burris raised his prospects for being appointed to the Senate. [...]

The hole just gets deeper and deeper, and Burris keeps digging. He has no credibility.

WaPo concurs:

Mr. Burris's story has more twists than the Chicago El, and none of them good. Caught in a swirl of accusations of perjury and calls for his resignation from state Democrats and Republicans alike, Mr. Burris said yesterday, "I welcome the opportunity to go before any and all investigative bodies, including those referred by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Senate ethics committee to answer any questions they have." When that opportunity arises, why should anyone believe him?

From the moment that Mr. Burris was selected, he strove to portray himself as a blameless public servant. The sad pictures of Mr. Burris being cast out into the rain by the Democratic leadership of the Senate, which initially refused to seat him, turned public opinion in his favor. Mr. Burris got his seat. But this latest revelation makes a mockery of his professions of no quid pro quo. It is a violation of the public trust. The people of Illinois have suffered enough. Mr. Burris should resign.

Burris is getting to a point where his legal guilt and innocence are irrelevant; that's a very bad place to be. As clammyc puts it, "Political guilt is different from guilt in a court of law" and it's pretty clear that Burris is tainted by the former if not the latter. At the very least, as WaPo states plainly, Burris has violated the public trust. His constant protestations to the contrary just become all the sadder with every new revelation.

The next step must be for Democratic Senate leaders to demand his resignation and for the Illinois legislature to do what it should have done much earlier: call for a special election to fill the seat. I agree with The Tribune:

Strip this whole wretched process out of the hands of the politicians and give it back to the people.