What shall we make of the surprise pronouncement in President Barack Obama¡¯s State of the Union address that a belated investigation has been launched into the role of fraud in the financial crisis?

This much is clear: Despite rampant illegalities, bank fraud and countless cases of perjury, the response to date ¡ª at the federal level and from most, but not all, states ¡ª has been underwhelming, cowardly even.

A few principled holdouts ¡ª the attorneys general of Delaware, New York, Nevada and California ¡ª refuse to rubber-stamp a pre-investigation settlement with banks, but that¡¯s all.