Just as Chief Justice John Roberts starts his workday…

President Bush has chosen Harriet Miers, White House counsel and a loyal member of the president’s inner circle, to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court, a senior administration official said Monday.

If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, Miers, 60, would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the nation’s highest court.

Miers, who has never been a judge, was the first woman to serve as president of the Texas State Bar and the Dallas Bar Association.

Without a judicial record, it’s difficult to know whether Miers would dramatically move the court to the right. She would fill the shoes of O’Connor, a swing voter on the court for years who has cast deciding votes on some affirmative action, abortion and death penalty cases.

I can’t say that I’m impressed with the president’s nomination of Miers, as she has no judicial experience; not to mention that his choice smacks of cronyism. I was really hoping that he’d stand up to the left and nominate someone more qualified.