Yes, I think that this is the problem wtih "everything is political" takes -- sometimes we want things to be political in different ways or with different standards than a ward heeler. So anything a judge does is "political" but we would prefer for there to be variations in the standards of politics and the aim of those politics. That does entail the societal and official imposition of penalties for violating those codes, which means (going one step back) that we need to have some positive, animating vision for what such codes should contain. That's not naivety but situationally appropriate thought!