* If true, this is excellent news…

A Chicago minister tells The Associated Press he and other black pastors who previously supported U.S. Sen. Roland Burris now plan to ask the embattled senator to resign.

The minister, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because a meeting with Burris hadn’t yet been scheduled, says the senator can no longer serve effectively.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of a different way of doing business for some African-American pastors who seem all too willing to loudly support seriously flawed political allies. They got played badly by Rod Blagojevich for years, and their support for him after his arrest was embarassing.

* Oops…

If U.S. Sen. Roland Burris misled the Illinois House impeachment committee with a false account of his appointment, he did the same thing with the Illinois Supreme Court last month.

In a lawsuit to force Secretary of State Jesse White to certify his appointment to the Senate, Burris submitted the now-discredited Jan. 5 sworn statement to the state High Court that he earlier had sent to the House panel. The affidavit said it would “set the record straight” about his appointment and show it was “free of taint and entirely lawful.” […]

“He went to the highest court in our state and lied,” said Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago), who said Burris should be stripped of the law license he has held since 1964.

* This revelation isn’t hugely egregious, but it shows how intensely Burris lobbied for himself…

A former top official for then- Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Thursday he got a “courtesy call” from Roland Burris last fall noting Burris’ interest in a vacant U.S. Senate seat—a contact Burris failed to mention to lawmakers in his evolving testimony about how he got the job.

John Filan, former chief operating officer in Blagojevich’s administration, also said Burris called him later—after Blagojevich’s Dec. 9 arrest on federal corruption charges. Filan said Burris asked him to put in a good word with then-Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn if Quinn became governor and inherited the power to make the Senate appointment.

The part that troubles me most is that Burris met with Filan about official state business and brought up his appointment…

Filan said Burris was inquiring about legal business for the Illinois Finance Authority on behalf of the law firm for which he was of counsel. But he also brought up his continued interest in the Senate seat, Filan said. “I think he [Burris] basically said, ‘If it were to come to pass that Pat Quinn would become the governor, would you put a good word in for me?’ ” Filan recalled. “I didn’t do that, however.”

* Rod Blagojevich, Jr.…

Having met with his advisers and decided to fight calls for his resignation, embattled Sen. Roland Burris relaunched his listening tour of Illinois on Friday, but without the reporters who planned to follow him again.

Emerging from his South Side home early morning, Burris quickly entered a vehicle waiting for him outside his home — and shut the door without taking questions from reporters.

* Sen. Dick Durbin cranks up the rhetoric, but stops short of demanding Burris’ resignation…

“It’s sickening,” Durbin said in an interview. “Short of Roland Burris resigning or resolving this issue - if he can, and I don’t know if he can - I don’t know what will stop it. I’m tired of this Blagojevich burlesque that’s been going on for so long. The people of our state should be spared this.”

* The Tribune demands that Democrats take a stand on Burris’ resignation, and the Rockford paper makes this claim…

Burris obviously forgot how harsh the spotlight can be and how uncomfortable questions can become when you say yes to a man who, as prosecutors said, was in the midst of a “corruption crime spree.”

He’s been getting a pass from the Illinois media for so long that he really had no clue what he was in for.

* This doesn’t seem to be going anywhere yet…

Illinois Republicans resurrected calls Thursday for a special election targeted at removing U.S. Sen. Roland Burris from office. […]

They also want a one-time only special election this spring to fill the seat now held by Burris.

Gov. Quinn appears to back the concept, but Speaker Madigan is not enthralled…

But Democrats, who control the legislative agenda, aren’t on board. A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan said Thursday the GOP proposal could result in a protracted legal battle by Burris, as well as cost local election authorities millions of dollars.

And…

“It would be the constitutional equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, but desperate times call for desperate measures,” wrote Garrett Epps, a law professor at the University of Baltimore, who first pointed out the loophole on the political news and opinion Web site Salon.com.

* Related…

* Quinn holds back from demanding Burris resignation

* During ISU visit, Quinn stops short of calling for Burris to resign

* Mayor Daley Says Burris Has Some Explaining To Do

* Hynes calls for Burris to resign

* What people are saying about Burris

* Burris case: Experts say proving someone knowingly lied is tough

* Why Roland Burris keeps fighting

* Burris has two choices

* Burris should know controversy abhors a vacuum

* The real Roland Burris? Please stand up

* How Will Burris Tombstone Read