We all knew it was coming and now here it is. I’m sure The One will be game, too: He’s hinted about bringing Schwarzenegger onto the team before, and now that the tax deal’s finally given his approval rating a pulse, why not push the bipartisanship by hiring one of America’s most famous centrist conservatives? Better yet, why not bring on a bunch and finally fulfill the dream of a RINO superfriends team? Arnold and Specter and Crist, oh my!

Gov.-elect Jerry Brown will be inaugurated in less than three weeks. Still, when Schwarzenegger was asked in a meeting with Times editors and editorial writers what he planned to do once his term ends, he initially said, “There’s no rush…. It’s not like I have something in my mind.”

Then, asked if he would consider a post in the Obama administration, he said yes and began to riff on his credentials. “I’m a very big believer in environmental issues,” said the governor, who considers legislation to combat global warming one of his major achievements in office. “I’ve traveled the world…. I’m very familiar with the world.”…

Once out of office, he said, he “has plans to go back to Washington with Secretary [George] Schultz and others” to push for a new approach to energy policy. He said the country needs to bring Democrats and Republicans together on energy policies that both sides can agree on in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil and become competitive, “rather than always talking about global warming, which turns some people off.”

Why waste him on green issues? No agenda is deader in the new Congress than ambitious environmentalism. Make him Michelle’s deputy as “Food Czar” and have him travel the country telling kids that if they want really big muscles, they need to consume a lot of, er … milk.

Exit question one: Are we sure Arnold and Obama are sympatico? Even RINOs have their limits, my friends. Exit question two: Does this actually reveal the silver lining in Murkowski’s victory over Joe Miller? Look at it this way — given the way she’s been voting lately, he’d probably be ready to make her Oil Czar or something.