HEY, THEY BEGAN BY PROTESTING TAX INCREASES THAT DIDN'T EXIST, SO WHY ...

... would they stop complaining about an economic downturn just because it's over, Arnold?

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger believes that the tea party movement is "not going anywhere."

Schwarzenegger, speaking Tuesday night with Fox News's Greta Van Susteren, said the grass-roots movement is only "an expression of anger and disappointment."

"People meet. They talk about it. What can we change? How? And it's all healthy and it's all good,” California's Republican governor said. "But I'm just saying they're not going anywhere with it because nobody is coming up and saying, 'Here's our candidate, here's our solution, here's what we're going to do, and have a whole policy debate over the various different issues.'" ...

"In the end, when the economy comes back, I think that the tea party will disappear again," he said. "It will, you know, twinkle and disappear, and that will be it."

Hey, Mr. European, that may be how they do things in Euroweenie Land -- you know, protest about actual government policies and demand an actual set of alternate policies -- but that's not how we roll in the U.S. of A., Jack. Here we start a protest movement called "Taxed Enough Already," and the people who show up are protesting a guy who didn't raise taxes, and, in fact, gave out tax cuts. That's because (a) we're proudly ignorant in America and (b) what's really being protested is the really, really unfair fascist rigged system whereby moderate Democrats who live in the North are sometimes allowed to run things rather than extremely right-wing Southerners who listen to country music, the group that should run things all the time.

The tea party movement will break up, of course ... the minute Republicans gain control of all three branches of government. Then they'll be told, "Adios, suckers! Thanks for the votes!" "Twinkle and disappear"? Nahhh. More like "be purged and disappeared" (at least on Fox).