After his 2016 Supreme Court nomination, Merrick Garland, according to the New York Times, assured senators that he does not have “a political bone” in his body. That seems to be true, unfortunately.

His current job as attorney general inescapably involves making judgments that are inherently political. They involve exercising discretion about when to wield government power, and for what ends. Furthermore, the best quality of politics at its best is prudence: adjusting tidy principles to untidy realities. This requires making judgments that balance competing objectives.

Read the full opinion at washingtonpost.com.