Logic, tradition, and theoretical national emergencies combine to produce... nothing.

Here's the top of a Washington Post story that you might have missed. As someone who long ago was drafted (but enlisted in the Air Force instead), anything that mention possible changes in the draft catches my eye.

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to revive a lawsuit challenging the nation’s male-only draft registration policy as unconstitutional.

The American Civil Liberties Union, representing two men and a group called the National Coalition for Men, called the requirement that men, but not women, register with the Selective Service System at age 18 “one of the last sex-based classifications in federal law.”

The Trump administration had defended the policy. President Biden’s acting solicitor general Elizabeth B. Prelogar had advised the court not to take up the issue now, because Congress is considering a national commission’s recommendation that women be included in draft registration.

“Any reconsideration of the constitutionality of the male-only registration requirement … would be premature at this time,” Prelogar wrote in a brief to the court.

The brief did not state whether Biden thinks women should be included, nor does it defend the current system, which requires only men ages 18 to 26 to submit their information should a military draft be needed again.

“Congress’s attention to the question may soon eliminate any need for the court to grapple with that constitutional question,” Prelogar wrote.

I am not certain a compelling case still exists to maintain the Selective Service System these days, but that was not the issue. The suit asked to have the system stop requiring only males to register. I am guessing that technology has advanced and government records at some level must be able to identify the names and birthdates of the vast majority of young citizens, if needed.

And modern war is unlikely to provide enough time for the country to gear up for mass mobilization in preparation for WWII-style battles. Threats to nations are much more likely to come in the form of cyber attacks... and by some definitions we may be at war right now with several rival governments.

I have little faith that a national commission of any kind will actually produce any action on this issue -- it's possible, certainly, but only a fool would bet on Congress agreeing on anything beyond which direction the sun comes up.

But, if you take the Biden administration at its word, there is a process underway, and this is one of those times when doing nothing is precisely the correct call. No outright yes or no decisions here, but a vague "maybe later" promise is fine with me.