Tag: The Shrill Kathy

The Shrill Kathy On Fame And Infamy

September 26, 2018March 19, 2013

by Rick Olson

“Let your family, staff, and friends know that you’re still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.” —Donald Rumsfeld

Kathy Sullivan, in an opposite editorial yesterday asked in the Union Leader, “Is Bill O’Brien really better known than Franklin Pierce? Naturally, this was yet another hit piece on Bill O’Brien. Ben Franklin once quipped, “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do.

Politics meets social science. Result? A conflation of unintended consequences… the outcomes of which were neither foreseen nor intended. It was the

Just How Shrill Can You Be, Kathy Sullivan?

September 26, 2018January 24, 2013

by Rick Olson

“Never argue with a fool – people may not notice the difference.” —Mark Twain

Kathy Sullivan may have topped Tuesday in the Union Leader where she writes, “The NRA stirs up fears by not telling the truth.”

She starts off by calling the NRA’s response to the Newtown Massacre, “ridiculous,” despite the fact that prior to the tragedy upwards of 10,000 schools had armed Security.

The Shrill Kathy on Political Weirdness

September 26, 2018January 5, 2012

by Rick Olson

” The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.” —Marcus Tullius Cicero

The Union Leader has given Ink to the Shrill Kathy Sullivan for yet another inane senseless rant.

I told my friend Steve Vaillancourt it might be a New Year’s Resolution to simply ignore her. But in ignoring her, I think a final analysis is in order.

For all of the useless Pablum The Shrill Kathy has written, she is never lost on attacking anybody with a “R” attached to their name. The Shrill Kathy never criticizes the asinine or silly policies of her liberal friends. The Shrill Kathy never details anything positive coming from the Democratic Party as a juxtaposition to conservatives or Republicans.

The Shrill Kathy quips,

I also hope that 2012 is a year in which common sense, and not ideology, return to center stage, both in New Hampshire and the country as a whole. That is the only statement arguing for common sense in the whole rant.

The Shrill Kathy On Religion, Fatties, Food Stamps, And Republicans

September 26, 2018December 16, 2011

by Rick Olson

“I have a great diet. You’re allowed to eat anything you want, but you must eat it with naked fat people.” —Ed Bluestone

It’s a different kind of day when the Shrill Kathy graces the pages of the Union Leader with feigned pity for Republican candidates. And what can be said of the Shrill Kathy where she takes the opportunity to grossly mischaracterized an ad put out by the Perry Campaign. She states, “Rick Perry Complains…” But does he really? Or are the assertions in the spot a pointed statement about the current and existing situation. Having served in the United States Marine Corps, I can tell you there were individuals present and serving who were gay. And they continued to serve.

The Shrill Kathy And The Birthers

September 26, 2018November 29, 2011

by Rick Olson

“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” —Benjamin Franklin

Kathy Sullivan is not only dishonest, but she is also a rank charlatan. The Shrill Kathy is the epitome of moral bankruptcy when it comes to New Hampshire politics. In the UL today she quips, Why does Speaker O’Brien not call out his birthers? placing responsibility for the less than savory behavior of a few legislators squarely on his shoulders. So, let’s be clear about this because whatever “this” is, amounts to nothing more than another wanton pedestrian rant of the Shrill Kathy.

In prior writings, The Shrill Kathy calls out O’Brien alleging that he fails to respect the process and ignores long-standing rules. Yet here we see a circumstance where Orly Taitz asked for access and redress (due process) that our rules mandate must be provided. And the Shrill Kathy takes O’Brien to task for not stifling that process. Make up your mind! Sulli-Shrill… Which is it? O’Brien squelches? or O’Brien observes?

The Shrill Kathy Spins the Early Primary Notion

September 26, 2018October 19, 2011

by Rick Olson

“I think it’s your own choice if you turn from an angry young man to a bitter, old bastard.” —Billie Joe Armstrong

In yet another Cacophonous rant from the “Shrill Kathy” The Union Leader gave her space and ink yesterday to tell readers “why” a December primary will benefit Democrats and hurt Republicans. But, the title is about the only thing she got right and the remaining 782-word pablum was her usual diatribe against the opposition: Those with an “R” next to their names.

The “Shrill Kathy” suggests that “mere insistence” by Florida and Nevada are the mechanisms driving a December primary and makes no mention of the New Hampshire statute (N.H. RSA 659:3) which states in part, “The presidential primary election shall be held on the second Tuesday in March or on a date selected by the secretary of state which is seven days or more immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election, whichever is earlier … ” So Kathy…it is not “more likely” as you put it, but mandated by statute that the Granite State goes first.

JOHN LYNCH: A STEADY LEADER…WHEN?

September 26, 2018September 22, 2011

by Rick Olson

“Without initiative, leaders are simply workers in leadership positions.” —Bo Bennett

In a letter to French Scientist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in November of 1789, Benjamin Franklin quipped those ever long-enduring and famous words, “[B]ut in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes … ” It would appear Franklin had not contemplated the certainty of blow-hard political hacks and self-aggrandizing opportunists.

Upon Seeing the Union Leader Headline Tuesday, “Gov. Lynch will leave office very popular, and for good reason“, and who the author was, predictable is the litany and diatribe that follows. And, with the whole and complete certainty of death and taxes, the “Shrill Kathy” hath delivered. In the 779-word bloviation, the “Shrill Kathy” delivered a mere 199 words extolling Lynch’s virtues and reserved the remaining 580 words for her usual and expected attack on Republicans, checkered with a contrast and comparison-like tone…Make no mistake about it…Lynch’s announcement, as with most other political events, is a mere pretext for her visera.

THE SHRILL KATHY And Her Bill O’Brien Rant

September 26, 2018August 9, 2011

by Rick Olson

“Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.” ~Ronald Reagan

When one reads the Shrill Kathy’s latest diatribe in the Union Leader, there is one theme that plays like a broken record: Tax, Tax, Tax…Spend, Spend, Spend. The Shrill Kathy complains, “a 10-cent cut in the cigarette tax, did not change prices for smokers because the tobacco companies raised their prices…” I think I missed something because the former argument of the day was that the tobacco tax reduction would increase youth smoking. So, now here’s Kathy Sullivan arguing the ill merits of a tax typically inflicted upon Granite Staters who earn the least….a tax on the poor…which of many, smoke.

Next, the Shrill Kathy complains that, “House budget writers ignored every signal that the federal government was about to impose a $35 million penalty for Medicaid errors dating back to the Benson administration…” adding that, “Their irresponsibility has caused a gaping hole in their ballyhooed ‘balanced budget’.” How conveniently she ignores the fact that her beloved Democratic party, led by Teri “Billion-dollar deficit” Norelli had two full terms to reconcile and fix this issue, but did not do so. Instead, they created more layers of government, increased over one-hundred fees and taxes and put into motion record unsustainable budgets, creating the fiscal mess this state now faces.

The Shrill Kathy whines, “New Hampshire hospitals are laying off hundreds of employees because O’Brien and his Republican colleagues took away federal money that had paid hospital costs for the poor…” Yet it hard to ignore the countless millions of construction dollars hospitals are using to competitively outspend one-another in an unquenchable drive to be better than the next facility. Now that the Democrats have created yet another constituency cash cow that becomes as angry as any other when bloated coffers are not being filled, The dependable Shrill Kathy is all too willing to step into the limelight and pimp their cash loss off onto the poor. Isn’t it about time we stop the demagoguing and manipulation of the less fortunate? Let’s be honest here; You don’t really care about poor people, Kathy.

Mayor Gatsas is no different than any other cash cow constituent, be it Republican or Democrat. Every entity that gets some form of funding for something from the state or federal government cries, cut theirs…but NOT MINE! Cuts made to the at-risk juvenile program, shows no indication of any highly-paid hacks taking any pay cuts or losing their jobs. Nope! self-preservation trumps program delivery.

The Shrill Kathy Spins the Polls

September 26, 2018May 10, 2011

by Rick Olson

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” – British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, (1804-1881)

In yet another boring and putrid diatribe about the “out of touch” Republicans, Kathy Sullivan is predicting a widespread ousting of Republicans in Concord in 2012. In the Union Leader’s Another View Opposite Editorial, the Shrill Kathy declares, “Granite Staters already regret voting Republican last November”. Relying on a May 3 UNH Survey Center Poll, the Shrill Kathy asserts, “The results show New Hampshire residents, or at least those providing this snapshot, rejecting the hard-right turn taken by Republicans since the 2010 election…” Wow! that’s pretty grim. Or is it really?

But unlike the Shrill Kathy, I provided a link above that enables the reader to actually look at the actual data. And what Andrew Smith of the UNH Survey Center says about the data is, “Lynch remains popular in the state, growing concern about the direction of the state.” That is significantly different from what the Shill Kathy’s interpretation tells us. Factually, the narrative states that 54% of New Hampshire adults feel the state is heading in the right direction, 39% think the state is seriously off on the wrong track, and 7% don’t know. This Legislature and Senate is four and a half months into the term. Granite-Staters, nearly always express concern about legislative initiatives, but they are also fair-minded people and a lot less partisan that the Shrill Kathy would have us believe.

The Shrill Kathy and the Business Finance Authority

September 26, 2018April 19, 2011

by Rick Olson

The “Shrill Kathy” Sullivan has a bee in her bonnet over Executive Councilor’s St. Hillaire, Sununu and Wheeler’s “vote to table” the April 13 agenda items two, three and four regarding the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority request for a public guarantee for small business loans.

An in her normal, usual and customary fashion of pandering, demagoguery and straw politics, the Shrill Kathy pens her diatribe in the Union Leader Op-Ed section, grossly mischaracterizing the meeting vote as being anti-small business and anti-job creation.

The Shrill Kathy’s first shot is at District 5 Executive Councilor Dave Wheeler and she quips, “Wheeler’s votes often lack thoughtfulness…” Really? How thoughtless? Councilor Wheeler posited the following question, “What does the thirty-five million look like to the bonding companies regarding state debt? and Wheeler adds, “We increased state debt tremendously in the last four years…how does this fit into that picture?” To which the response was given, “This is reflected as a ‘contingent liability.'”

In that context, we should define, “contingent liability“. A contingent liability is The possibility existent of an obligation to pay certain sums dependent on future events. Liability which is difficult to quantify, or which may or may not come to pass, such as an outstanding lawsuit or a guarantee such as this.