"I could be honest and get fired. I could be polite and suffer silently."
I hate being put in that situation. It seems to be a very common and very unpleasant manipulative technique.
But when it's voluntary - I surprise myself these days with the ease with which I politely ignore elephants in the room.
Basically because it's not good to be friendly to everyone else and not be friendly to me - if I am going to be savaged for speaking up then that's a valid reason to weigh in for not doing it.
I'm very comfortable in my elephant-free zone and always ready to accept reality checks.