Looks like we should consign that little part of us awaiting answers on the intelligence failures that led us into Iraq to that same purgatory where we still expect a verdict in the Plame case. It didn't have to be that way. Liberals weren't happy when Kansas Senator Pat Roberts condemned the intelligence verdict on the Bush administration to "Phase II", which would only emerge after the election, but still, we understood. Were we Republicans, tasked with defending a President who'd obviously massaged inadequate intelligence into the shape he wanted, we'd want the report to come out post-election as well.
But even I didn't think they'd just stonewall the thing. Even I didn't think they'd just bog down the investigation and let it fizzle out of its own accord. But that's exactly what Roberts has done. No administration officials have been interviewed, obstacles set up by the OSP (a bunch of neocons who seem responsible for much of the mess) have not been bypassed, and Roberts has declared the investigation "on the backburner", which ensures that it'll never singe Bush.
Checks and balances indeed.