Who is brave enough to “BELL THE CAT” ?
To “Bell the Cat”, meaning to perform a dangerous or difficult task. It is taken metaphorically from the Aesop fable about a mouse who proposes to put a bell on a cat, so as to be able to hear the cat coming. A wise idea but who will be brave enough to do the act?
I heard this phrase today on the BBC. The discussion was about the ever mounting concern to have the Prime Minister Tony Blair step down. The interviewer was listing some of Mr. Blair’s most egregious decisions and the man being interviewed broke in to say, “It’s too late to ‘Bell the Cat’ now”.I thought that was wonderful.
Just think of the implications on our political scene, for example. If we were brave enough as a nation we could insist that our elected servants wear a metaphorical “bell”. We would be able to check their motives & decisions before we were blindsided by them. We would listen for the tinkle of the bell and be forewarned.
Our government gives lip service to free speech, while it demotes and punishes those of us who disagree with their policies. A person who hates war, as I do, and particularly this fiasco in Iraq is labeled as “un-American” and not supporting our troops. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Let’s all “Bell the Cat” and make our politicians stand up for the values on which they are elected.