I don’t view politics as left or right, red or blue. I view politics through a lens that cuts deeper than party lines or platforms. I call it the “hard decision lens”—a framework that separates true leadership from the performative kind. It’s not about what’s popular. It’s not even about what works right now. It’s about whether an elected official is willing to make the hard decision—their hard decision.
And here’s the twist most people miss: what’s hard for one politician might be easy for another. Political courage isn’t one-size-fits-all. Take government cuts, for example. That’s a hard decision for a Democrat—cutting funding to agencies or social programs goes against their base instincts and political narrative. But for a Republican? Cutting government is often the easiest applause line in the room. It’s low-hanging fruit.
So if you're watching Donald Trump talk about gutting departments or killing off regulations, you’re not witnessing political bravery. You’re watching a man doing what his crowd demands. There’s no resistance, no internal conflict, no sacrifice of political capital—just red meat tossed to a hungry base.
If we’re being honest—and I believe we must be—Trump’s record on courageous decision-making ranks about a 2 out of 10 in my book. Most of what he’s done—cabinet picks, Ukraine positioning, and even the roll-out of the so-called DOGE regime over Congress—have all been easy, pre-loaded decisions. He hasn’t sacrificed anything. That’s not courage. That’s calculation.
Now let’s shift lenses to the other side of the hemisphere—Guyana.
The ongoing breakdown in the negotiations between the opposition parties, the PNC and the AFC, is being interpreted by some as dysfunction or weakness. But through the hard decision lens, I see something else. I see a refusal to take the easy route. A refusal to paper over differences with a bad agreement just to look united.
Declining a deal that’s not good enough—even when the optics aren’t great, even when it leaves the opposition fractured—is a hard decision. And the leader of the PNC made it.
Whether it ends up being the right decision isn’t the point. What matters is that it was the hard one, made in the moment, with long-term integrity in mind.
This is what I believe politics is missing across the board: a demand that our leaders make the hard decisions. Not every time, not perfectly, not always with the right result. But consistently. Boldly. With their eyes on the next generation, not just the next news cycle.
Because here’s what separates the great from the merely elected: the ability to make the hard decision and survive politically to tell the story. That’s where true political skill shines—not in ducking hard truths, but in absorbing the blow and using it to build credibility.
In the end, we need more leaders willing to do what’s difficult because it’s right. And we, the people, need to stop rewarding the easy way out. Because the hard decision, when made well and communicated with integrity, has the power to become not just a turning point—but a legacy.
Spot on!