"Politics are dirty--That's why I don't get involved."

Many people justify their disconnect from current events and their ignorance of national and world conditions by copping out thusly: “I don’t get involved with politics because politics are dirty.”

But the fact remains that the country is run by politicians, no matter how much we decry some of their principles, practices, and tactics—and guess who chooses the politicians.

So, we can either meekly accept what they dole out, or we can stand up and be heard—and sometimes the only way to be heard is to wave our arms and shout, no matter whose delicate sensibilities are ruffled.

Winston Churchill was vilified by his own countrymen when he stepped on toes and spoke the truth about the rising menace of Adolph Hitler’s Germany—and didn’t pull any punches in doing so.

His gentle and inoffensive rival, Neville Chamberlain was treated like a hero when he got off the airplane and waved a piece of paper that supposedly guaranteed “peace in out time.”

Unfortunately, it took millions of casualties and inestimable national treasure for a discomfiting Churchill to be proved right and a reassuring Chamberlain to be proved wrong.

In my book, we are at a point where the “undecideds” and those who would rather stay safely in their own comfy cubbies need to wake up to the danger that looms over us all—and to warn their neighbors, no matter how uncomfortable it may be to do so. If they don’t, it’s entirely possible that they’ll rue the day they failed to stand up to be counted, no matter whose delicate sensibilities they stepped on.

I wonder how many 1930s Germans wished they had been more outspoken instead of not risking offense. Standing on the deck of the Titanic and (safely) whispering “Iceberg ahead” wouldn’t have scared anyone or disturbed the ongoing social festivities, but it also wouldn’t have raised the warning in a timely or effective manner. Sometimes the watchmen on the tower wake those who are peacefully sleeping with their battle cries.

A final thought: According to the following article, some people are sheep, some are wolves, and some are sheepdogs—and generally speaking, the sheep don’t appreciate the sheepdogs until the wolves are among them. I know which type of critter I am, even if I’m more suited for verbal and/or electronic sparring than pistol packing.

http://mwkworks.com/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html