W hen President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts for the Supreme Court in July, critics of the White House’s selection cited the New Yorker’s inexperience.

Three months later, Bush has gone to great lengths to enhance Robert’s image as both worthy and prepared for the job.

Much like the “Family Guy” episode in which an average Meg looks fabulous when a less-than-average sidekick is hired to stand next to her, Roberts looks better than he ever has.

What better way to make a person with less than a quarter century of political and legal work under his belt seem like a savvy vet than to nominate someone who has never been a judge – ever – at any level?

But disagreeing with Bush’s choice because Harriet Miers has never decided a court case in her life would be too easy.

There is other, more disturbing, evidence against Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s potential replacement.

Miers, a Texas native (go figure), is in fact familiar with the White House.

She has held three different jobs under the Bush administration since 2001 – either she moves up quickly or wears out her welcome in a hurry.

She made the leap from staff secretary, to deputy chief of staff for policy and then to legal counsel. She must be impressing the right person.

Maybe it was the thousands of dollars she donated to Bush’s campaigns that set her apart from all the other candidates.

Or was it working in her home state as head of the Lottery Commission when Bush was governor? Possibly, just possibly, it was her years of close friendship with the president; a friendship that, according to her hometown paper The Dallas Morning News, has made her one of Bush’s closest confidants.

And she’d have to be a close friend, considering she worked as his personal lawyer for a number of years.

We’re not saying she doesn’t understand how a courtroom works. She is one of the top lawyers in the country, according to The National Law Journal.

We know there have been a number of Supreme Court nominees that have no prior experience as a justice.

The Northern Star just feels cronyism in Washington is at such a high level, the public should be leery.

After the Federal Emergency Management Agency mishaps with Michael Brown, double, triple and quadruple checking a government official’s qualifications is a must. We have to be certain a person who will be creating the highest precedents, and deciding the future of our country, received the position entirely on her own merit as a lawyer – not her merits as a friend.

This is a lifelong position, not a lifelong returned favor.

But what do we know about making crucial decisions, we’ve never been a judge before either.

Agree? Disagree? Contact us at

www.northernstar.info.