So says the Washington Post in calling for an investigation of issues related to U.S. Sen. John Ensign’s affair with his former best friend’s wife. “Mr. Ensign should realize that no one is being served by the lingering and troubling questions surrounding his sordid affair. He should welcome any inquiry that will help put them to rest,” the Post says.

Sure, that will happen.

Meanwhile, in addition to dragging his wife, children, parents and close friends into his icky sex life, Ensign has now ensnared fellow U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, who lives with Ensign in a house on Captiol Hill run by a shadowy religious group. Coburn counseled Ensign to stop being such a douche (we’re paraphraising), advice that clearly went unheeded.

After first saying that Ensign could have saved himself a lot of trouble by listening to his advice, then saying cuckolded husband Doug Hampton was lying when he was interviewed last week on Face to Face with Jon Ralston, Coburn clammed up, saying he enjoyed doctor-patient and priest-penitent privilege for his conversations with Ensign. (Coburn is a doctor, and a deacon in his church.)

Alas, Coburn’s hometown paper isn’t buying that, and calling on the wacky Oklahoman to tell what he knows.

Meanwhile, conservatives such as Chuck Muth are openly calling on Ensign to quit; conservatives such as Steve Wark are saying it’s harder and harder for Ensign to stay on; and Ralston had an excellent column Sunday wondering what Sanctimonious Prick Ensign would tell Humiliated Hypocritical Ensign. (We’re paraphrasing, again.)

What will Ensign do? He says — over and over again — that’s he’s not going to quit and that he’s going to work harder than ever. Uh huh. Given that his hardest work up until now appears to be the passage of a bill that bans the interstate transportation of roosters for the purposes of cockfighting, we cannot wait to see what comes from this most recent maelstrom of hard work.

UPDATE: This devastating blog from Muth is a must-read. He takes on Ensign defenders from his mailbag, and hits each reason why this scandal simply isn’t going away. And recall that Muth is a genuine conservative, not one of us wild-eyed socialist liberal bloggers bent on Democratic dominance of the Senate.