And then there were two....

The Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta is stepping down next month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta submitted his resignation effective on July 7, White House spokesman Tony Snow said on Friday.

"He has informed the president that after five-and-a-half years he will be stepping down," Snow told reporters.

Mineta assumed a higher profile after the September 11, 2001, attacks when he spearheaded an unprecedented overhaul of transportation security.

The only Democrat in President George W. Bush's Cabinet, Mineta spent most of his tenure juggling the fallout of the hijackings on the transportation system, including the near collapse of the U.S. airline industry.

That only leaves Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfield and Sec. of Labor Elaine Chao left of President Bush's original cabinet.

I for one won't be missing Mineta. Transportation Secretary has been a position for political hacks for.... maybe as long as the cabinet position has existed. He was no better than his predecessors and in some ways worse. Michelle Malkin reminds us of DOT and their misplaced interest in political correctness. I doubt Mineta's departure will change anything. Bureaucracy is bureaucracy, they only change under extreme duress and then as little as possible.

Who Bush will appoint to this department is anyone's guess. I'm available.(Just kidding) Enjoy your retirment Norm.

Open Post- Third World County, Basil's Blog,