Tuesday, June 15, 2021

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 that they could hear the cat creeping up on them. A wise idea but who would be brave enough to actually put the bell on the cat to begin with.

I heard that phrase on NPR a few days ago in reference to politics. The discussion was about the difficulty of getting anything done in the Senate on a bi-partisan basis since the Republicans have openly expressed that their only desire is to block any and all of the Democrats proposed legislation.

The speaker used the phrase and added “if we were brave enough as a nation we could insist that our elected servants all wear a metaphorical bell that would check their motives and honesty”. If we heard the tinkle of the bell we would be forewarned and could call them on it.

All well and good but it takes courage. Let's all of us “Bell the cats”, those House and Senate members who represent our 50 States. Let's listen for the tinkle of the bell when the politicians speak and make them pay for it when we hear it. It's about time that they stand up for the values on which they were elected. 


 

5 Comments:

Blogger Arkansas Patti said...

Maybe we can bypass the bell in the voting booth and just get rid of them.

1:38 PM  
Blogger Marie Smith said...

If polls are correct, the people support proposed legislation. Why don’t their representatives? A phone call to one’s elected rep is in order maybe.

5:55 PM  
Blogger Anvilcloud said...

I haven't heard that phrase for a long time, and I think I have only heard it used once.

4:11 AM  
Blogger troutbirder said...

I I Bell the local feral cats when they come onto my property and kill the birds who frequent my birdfeeders then I'd trapped them on my property with my raccoon trap then taking them for a swim in the trap in the local pond.

5:48 PM  
Blogger Joared said...

I don't recall hearing that phrase but absolutely agree with your suggestion we apply that concept to our Representatives and Senators.

11:08 PM  

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