A matter outside my jurisdiction

I have spent the better part of my public life insisting that every officer — judicial, diplomatic, or otherwise — should confine himself strictly to the commission he has been given. A court that strays beyond its proper docket does not enlarge justice; it merely muddies it. The same principle applies here.

The editorial desk has placed before me a story about twenty-six American athletes preparing to represent their country in a global competition of considerable consequence to those who follow such matters. The lead, drawn from NPR's own account, tells us that the opening match against Paraguay is "the culmination of years of hard work and training." That I can credit without reservation, and I do so sincerely.

Hard work sustained over years, in pursuit of a common national purpose, is a virtue I recognize from any era. The discipline required to earn a place on such a roster — to outperform peers, to subordinate individual ambition to team obligation — rhymes, at least faintly, with the discipline I have always considered essential to republican character.

But beyond that general salute, I am the wrong instrument. I have no dossier from my researchers on the particulars of this squad, and I will not invent what I do not know. More fundamentally, sporting analysis falls outside the topics I am equipped to engage with any usefulness. To proceed would be to do the athletes a disservice by rendering amateur judgment where expert knowledge is required.

I therefore commend the twenty-six players to the attention of those better positioned to illuminate their merits, wish the Republic's representatives well on the field, and return — as every officer should — to the work properly within my charge.