Via Hetty Litjens: Feeling betrayed by his party, one Republican has had enough:

I still believe in the vast power of markets to inspire ideas, motivate solutions and eliminate waste. I still believe in international vigilance and a strong defense, because this world will always be home to people who will avidly seek to take or destroy what we have built as a nation. I still believe in the protection of individuals and businesses from the influence and expense of an over-involved government. I still believe in the hand-in-hand concepts of separation of church and state and absolute freedom to worship, in the rights of the states to govern themselves without undo federal interference, and in the host of other things that defined me as a Republican.

My problem is this: I believe in principles and ideals which my party has systematically discarded in the last 10 years.

…

Enough is enough. I quit.

Q: Why do firemen wear heavy-duty suspenders?

A: To hold their pants up. Each fire fighter wears and carries 59 to 130 pounds of gear.

See this New York Times story on the burden of saving lives:

Last week, the [New York City fire department] announced plans to outfit fire-fighters with a new state-of-the-art escape system, including steel hooks, Kevlar ropes and a modified rock-climbing device to slow firefighters’ descent.

The kit weighs about six pounds, including a harness that wraps around the hips and legs, and is worn at all times, since there is no time to put it on in an emergency.

Six more pounds may seem a minor inconvenience for a lifesaving system designed to get firefighters out of a building in under 10 seconds. But the weight will be added to an already cumbersome array of protective clothing and gear that has grown heavier in recent years and is worn in extreme heat. Officials say they will affix the rope device to the harness in a pouch, with the weight balanced, but still may have to issue stronger suspenders for the pants.

Click the link labeled “Specialized firefighting equipment” for photos and more details.

This is bad news:

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, announced today that she is resigning, setting off what is expected to be a tumultuous fight over confirming her successor.

Justice O’Connor, 75, is widely viewed as the critical swing vote on abortion, affirmative action and other hot-button issues that have divided the court, and her departure is sure to ignite a passionate ideological battle throughout the summer.

There were rumors that O’Connor joined the execrable 5-4 decision in Bush v. Gore, making George W. Bush president by stopping the counting of actual ballots cast by actual voters, because she wanted to retire, and wanted a Republican president to name her successor.

I don’t know whether those rumors were true. Certainly, she didn’t retire during Bush’s first term. Maybe she felt guilty, seeing that everyone saw right through Bush v. Gore. Maybe she was appalled by the lunatic fringe ideologues Bush was appointing to federal courts.

O’Connor was appointed by Ronald Reagan, and started out as a reliable conservative vote on the Court. With the elevation of William Rehnquist to Chief Justice and the addition of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas to the Court, O’Connor has seemed less ideological, often casting the swing vote in hotly divided cases and providing the voice of sanity and reason. Her departure will be a great loss to sanity and reason, because George W. Bush will choose her replacement.

Another Scalia, another Thomas, another Rehnquist would not bode well for the Court or the country.

One friend likes to remind me that Dwight D. Eisenhower named Earl Warren to the Supreme Court, and was deeply disappointed when Warren turned out to be his own man. Maybe Bush’s nominee will disappoint Bush by being better than planned?

Sadly, I don’t think so. The Republicans have gotten really good at the art of the ideological litmus test. Scalia and Thomas are two examples. They’re the two justices George W. Bush admires most. Bush’s nominee will help shape the Court, the law, and the nation for twenty to thirty years to come. I see dark days ahead.