They would be almost certain to get three or four Republican Senators for anything sensible.  Once they have those, the rest will fall in line like good Republicans always do.  But I think this could move much quicker than January.  The big problem is preventing Paulson from steering any intervention into the pockets of soon to flee cronies.  To the extent that that happens, I would hope they would find it necessary to seek refuge someplace like the Central African Republic, where the rulers could readily be bribed to deliver their heads on a plate. (Getting their money back could be harder.)

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."