Thank You for being a ... friend?

Senator Mike Duffy is finding that it's good to have friends, even if your friends, are hand picked, may not be particularly close, but come bearing gifts.

In the case of his new bestie Nigel Wright, 90,000 dollars to help him out of his accommodation travails in Ottawa.

The Senator from PEI (sometimes) has been the eye of an Ottawa hurricane this week, as revelations continue to swirl over the nature of his arrangement with his friend Mr. Wright, who also spends a good portion of his day job helping out his boss, Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Needless to say, the optics of the whole hand off of cash to Mr. Duffy is raising more than a few eyebrows around the Capital and once again, a percolating scandal  is stirring the thoughts that maybe Canada might just be better off without a Senate.

A case against that isn't particularly helped by the recent press generated by Senators Duffy, Harb and Brazeau.

The calls for Mr. Duffy to resign are starting to gain volume as the story continues to spin off in any number of directions, including some questions of the PMO itself.

The lingering question as to the Senate's credibility and efficiency still to be debated we imagine, with the odds declining by the day, as to Canadians resolve on keeping the Chamber of Sober Second thought.

A place where it seems from time to time, some of the residents don't give a second thought to the consequences of their actions.

As for Mr. Wright, if he's going to be dispatched with regular abandon to lend financial assistance, one hopes that he doesn't have many folks listed as friends on his facebook page (if he has one).

Friendship it seems could be a very expensive proposition to keep alive.

National Post-- The only right thing left for Mike Duffy to do now is resign
Toronto Star-- Senate scandal has now reached into the Prime Ministers Office
Toronto Star-- Why Mike Duffy should quit Canada's Senate
Globe and Mail-- Mike Duffy scandal finds the Tories in a moral maze without a compass
CBC-- PM's chief of staff paid off Mike Duffy's Senate expenses
CTV News-- Mike Duffy made secret deal with Harper's chief of staff during audit
Maclean's-- Mike Duffy can't control the story