KGO-TV anchor and social scene observer, Kristen Sze, is in a hot potato because of this.I suppose I should not be naïve to say I don't get all the fuss.
Seems Sze and other People Are Mad About Sasha And Malia Obama’s $20k State Dinner Dresses.
OK.
I'm hearing from KGO sources that there's enough of an outcry over Sze's tweet, since deleted, that some are calling for her suspension.
Ridiculous.
I have issues with Sze. She's not my favorite anchor but she shouldn't be suspended over this act. Get a grip.
For starters, the big brouhaha over the Obama daughters pricey dresses is fair game. The president and first lady had to know their daughter's appearance at their first state dinner would generate quite a bit of publicity, especially in this social media frenzy world in which we're a part of. Normally, the kids of any presidential couple are off limits --it's a time-honored tradition, but in this case, the Obamas chose to let them attend the dinner. Good for them, but there are consequences --they knew that.
And KGO, of all local stations, has to be chided for its apparent idea of considering suspending Sze. They, the mother of all "let's tweet and Facebook the shit out of everything." If anything, Sze should be high-fived for doing precisely the thing that KGO management encourages. So now, they're criticizing? Give me a break.
Inevitably, a chorus of political brew will percolate over all this; naysayers will comment we're all picking on the Obama kids. And the inevitable comments section will bring out the anti-Obama lunatic fringe. It's the world we live in. I'm a two-time Obama voter so leave me out of the fray.
Sze might want to reconsider her choice of targets --but in this instance it could have been far worse. Like I said, I don't get all the fuss but that's just me.
How naïve.
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Ridiculous and I'm not the biggest fan of the President. This was the kids first State dinner. They are the daughters of the POTUS. Who cares what their dresses cost? In the scheme of all things it is a de minimis expense. As long as the young ladies feel good about what they are wearing, that is the important thing. Kristen Sze needs to get a grip!
ReplyDeleteTotal bullshit. Those freakin' dresses were paid for by all of us, and so some hypocrites who keep bleating about "income inequality" can have their spawn dressed up on our dime. Make that Benjamins.
DeleteDisgusting, and it is NOT about "as long as the young ladies feel good". It is NOT the taxpayer's responsibility to provide self-esteem for these sponges. That is the role for their parents. Shocking as that concept may be around the Bay Area...
Understand your disgust but where does it end. Do we put a ceiling on what they spend on White House China & furnishings? Those dresses will go to the Smithsonian as the 1st daughters first State dinner dresses. I would have an objection if they were spending $20k every week but that has not been the case.
DeleteHaving said that, is it ridiculous that any dress would cost that much: yes.
I would rather spend my time questioning our State policies. Should "illegal" immigrants get free health care on my tax dollars, preference & instate tuition to public universities subsidized by my tax dollars, and wasted public funds on quicker 19th century modes of transportation, High Speed Rail Authority. Not to mention all the wasted tax $$$ being spent in state to "clean the air" so that China can continue to pollute and we get to breath that air a few days later.
Now there is real waste in the billions spread over a smaller pop. base not $20k over a national base.
Totally with you on those bigger points!
DeleteWhile I'm not real supportive of some of the president's policies overseas, his daughters should really be off-limits. What the president and the First Lady spend on their children is no business of mine. President Obama and the First Lady should be proud to have raised what appear to be two wonderful young ladies.
ReplyDeleteThere are many more upsetting things in the world to be upset about, such as the genocide of Christians, Yazidis and others in Iraq and Syria. Dresses, in comparison, don't even register on my outrage scale.
As for the reporter, having been a media manager of many reporters in the past, it wouldn't bother me at all. After all, KGO is in the business of free speech, and unless there is something in her contract that prohibits her exercise thereof, let it go KGO.
9:38 You got it wrong
ReplyDelete9:47 You got it right
10:05 You got it wrong.
Delete10:05 Definitely wrong.
Delete11:19 Wrong
Delete3:08 Right
The President...ANY president...draws a nice salary, right? They live rent-free in the White House (though I recently heard that all Presidents get a monthly "bill" for sundries/toiletries, etc!!)
ReplyDeleteHe...or ANY president...can then spend his salary however the hell he wants. If the dresses are donated, fine: It save the taxpayers $$. I seem to recall Nancy Reagan constantly receiving freebie dresses/jewelry, etc.
If you think that they paid for those dresses themselves I have low income housing in Los Gatos to sell you.
DeleteI know Kristen. I like Kristen. Is she demanding? Yes. Has she said absolutely vile things to her colleagues' faces? Yes. But this? This is a 'move along, nothing to see here' situation.
ReplyDeleteSeems like she was trying to start a conversation aimed at working moms. Like the ones Trixie says are the station's target demo. The "family decision makers." Like Rich says, she was trying to do what the station has rammed down its talent's throats.
When I read that Jennifer Aniston pays $600 for a haircut, with a 20% tip, that is $720. When Vanna White gets 8 million a year for turning numbers, what's wrong with 20k for a couple of dresses? Hell, I paid 70 cents for a lemon yesterday at the grocery store....it's just money!!
ReplyDeleteHow do you advocate for the poor and under privileged and let your teen age daughters wear $20,000 dresses? How many meals could be bought for the homeless with that many $$$$? How about $1000 dresses and donate $38,000 to charity? Talk about the 1%ers!
ReplyDeleteAmen! Thank you! But they will all have you believe it's all those mean ole Republicans. Dems are HALF the issue.
DeleteThank you!!!! Finally someone spells it out so even a Clinton supporter could understand it.
DeleteThat's the problem so many people don't get about social media. It's very openness can backfire, especially if you work at a company owned by Mousechwitz.
ReplyDeleteBlack.
ReplyDeleteSo what's going to happen if someone posts something profane, racist, sexist or something deemed bad? Weak shit, KGO.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. She did nothing wrong. She just posed a question. It wasn't necessarily an opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnd besides, the station has bigger problems hiring a mickey mouse duo on the morning show. Just because someone tweets a lot doesn't mean they're good on air.
All she was trying to do was to keep up with the station mandate to start to use social media like the mickey mouse duo.
What a shame for a veteran anchor/reporter to go through this while the mickey mouse duo remains unscathed.
Geez people, NO ONE actually buys those designer gowns unless they f-up and throw up on them. They're loaned to the wearer for the publicity. We're they $20K gowns? Of course, but trust me, not a cent changed hands and the gowns are likely back on the rack of the designer.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if Natasha Zouves or Reggie Aqui had done that tweet it would have been okay since they'd be closer to the same generation as the Obama girls. Kristen Sze is a mother with children of her own, she's too old to be tweeting about children that are now her own. Tweets by Zouves or Aqui wouldn't be seen as critical because they have each carry a formal "pass" on race criticism card. Sze is just coming off as another better-then-everyone-else Asian. Even a white guy like Ashley would be tormented for such a tweet.
ReplyDeleteSo, it's OK to stereo type Asians as having a "better-than-everyone-else" attitude, but not OK to note how many blacks and latinos are massively racist?
DeleteRegarding the POTUS daughters being off limits, the Obamas tossed them into the game when they let them attend the dinner in the first place.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteA GOP staffer was fired for criticizing the Obama girls for their attire at the 2014 turkey pardoning. Something about them looking like bar flies and disrespecting the presidency. Now they are criticized for wearing expensive clothes. The underlying message is that these uppity children need to know their place and stay in it. This is the best Obama haters can come up with since these kids have engaged in exactly zero misadventures and by all accounts are very good kids. So the haters have to nail the little brats on something.
ReplyDeleteI read about Kristin Sze's comments elswhere and it seemed in keeping with her grinning air head image. That people have used it against the Obama girls was predictable. I don't care whether or not Sze is suspended but commentary about minor children of the president beyond "aren't they cute" should always be off limits.
Sure, it's only Obama "haters" that do this sort of thing.
DeleteNo one ever criticized George W. Bush's daughters ever, now did they? Nor were those critiques laughed at by many "tolerant" liberals here in the Bay Area.
Why is it only Hussein's daughters are off limits? Because they're black? They need a "safe space"? Or because Barry has such a cult of personality that to critique his daughters is like saying something negative about the leadership of North Korea while in North Korea?
The Bush daughters were not minors and were accused of breaking the law by drinking underage. The Secret Service expressed concern because it happened multiple times. We get it. You hate Obama and his disgusting spawn. There is nothing the Obamas could do that their mere existence would only disgust you. Fortunately, you, not me, gets to live out your life imprisoned in your little cell of hate.
DeleteSeems 11:37 has a little cell (or metastasizing cells) of hate hidden within. Otherwise, why the vitriol in the response to a lowly working citizen?
DeleteDid she pay for the dresses? Since she didn't how about STFU!
ReplyDeleteWe paid for those 'dresses', whether we liked it or not. Too much money for a teenager's dress. I cannot wait until all the O's are gone gone GONE from my White House!!!
ReplyDeleteSze should be commended for bringing this up.
ReplyDeleteI think anonymous at 5:53 is unaware that we are ALL paying for those goddamned dresses.
The "Wow Factor Award" goes to Jessica Aquirre tonight! She has taken up the challenge!! I like bold women!
ReplyDeleteIf you want perfection in any direction...Jessica!
Can we all get a grip. The Obama daughters looked lovely and at ease. What would we have them wear, something off the rack from Macy's? (I work at Macy's in social dresses, we have nice things, but nothing that would pass at a White House State dinner). If they did,we would hear comments like: They have no class, they are an embarrassment and the likes?
ReplyDeleteRepublican or Democrats, the first lady and first daughters should, when representing the US in an official capacity, AlWAYS put their best foot forward, period.
Look back in history and take a look at other first Ladies and daughters, Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, the Bush daughters, they all looked very presentable and classy. Of course Jackie Kennedy was my favorite and if you read the history of First Ladies or books about Jackie their is no doubt her charm, her glamour and intelligence spread good will in many countries. Read about the Kennedy's trip to Paris, or Jackie's trip to India and Pakistan (written by her secret service man Clint Hill) there is no doubt she created lots of good will for the US.
Somehow I am sure Obama wil, as he has done for 7 years and blame Bush
ReplyDeleteHey, 8:47, got a source for your claim?
ReplyDeleteOk I give up? What did she say? If KGO is as horrible as people say I don't blame her for saying vile things.
ReplyDeleteBTW my wife runs into her shopping for clothes now and then. You would be shocked if you knew where she shops!
Ok Republicans, and their vile mouthpiece Rush, can call Chelsea Clinton an ugly duckling, but she can't comment on the price of a couple fucking dresses.
ReplyDeleteSomeone hit on it above. The designer lets them wear the dresses for free advertising. It happens during all the award shows also.
Some people really need to get out more.
Getting back to issue Rich posted - it's not about the dresses, it's about Sze's tweet. I think the problem is when a so-called journalist or reported makes an editorial statement rather than just reporting the price of the dresses and the source of the cost. Social media really blurs the old lines of journalism - even if the reporter is making a social media comment from his or her personal account - people may not distinguish those lines. If Sze was a columnist or TV or radio pundit, it would be a different matter, but she's not paid to do that. When she did the morning news, she would occasionally chirp in on how expensive stuff was or how to make money - it gave the impression she was a cheapskate so this does not seem out of character.
ReplyDeleteIt does not align with Kristen's Ross Dress for Less wardrobe
Delete