It’s an interesting question, but the short answer is: No. Because Detroit doesn’t want to be rescued.

Which is to say, Detroit’s political class doesn’t want anything to change. The people might hope for an economic dictator to cull the mess in city hall, but everyone else has a vested or an ideological interest in the “emergency city manager” failing.

By the same token, Stewart, Colbert, et al will jump all over this with both clown feet. The memegasms of Romney in Fuhrer-wear will tumble out of Facebook. The persistent disaster that has been progressive governance of Detroit these past fifty years will be shunted aside in favor of interviews of somebody’s grandmother being laid off from her clerk’s job.

And when the 18 months are over? Everything will go right back to where it was.

Not even Detroit is too big to fail. Let’s have that lesson learned.