Paging Surgeon General Gupta?

This is the first truly disappointing cabinet? pick by Obama. (Not actually sure if the SG is in the cabinet and what he/she does.) I haven't been able to stomach Gupta since he was pwned by Michael Moore following his "fact check" segment on Moore's film Sicko (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjay_Gupta#Michael_Moore_controversy)

As to who or what the SG is, I have hazy high school memories of a female African American SG in the Clinton days advocating masterbation. I remember thinking that was pretty funny.

It's spelled "masturbation," and some of it take it very seriously, am I right James?

pourmecoffee: (1)Thanks for proving Murphy's law of spelling for me: if you write about spelling and/or grammar mistakes, you're doomed to make mistakes. (2) You'd be the one to know how "masturbation" is spelled since you're the expert ... that's a burn.

Eza Klein who writes about health care ALOT disagrees with the Tyrantking
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=01&year=2009&base_name=can_sanjay_gupta_fix_american

See and the only Surgeon General I can remember is C Everett Koop: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/4ab7a8cd25/ali-g-with-c-everett-koop-from-aligshow_fan
and I feel I've also seen him in Life Alert commercials, but haven't been able to find the one I'm looking for yet...

I think it's an inspired choice. Surgeon General is essentially the country's chief advocate for health care matters, and who is better or more high profile than Sanjay Gupta. And just think of the initials - Surgeon General = SG; Sanjay Gupta = SG.

I do think the pay cut would be a problem. Also, would he have to wear that silly outfit?

I agree with TyrantKing. Hopefully Sanjay Gupta will not be chosen. While I admire his brilliance as a health issue educator in explaining medical illnesses and procedures, I find him clueless on the field of health policy.
He assailed Michael Moore as "fudging the facts" for his very accurate description of problems of the US health system, greed of the private insurers and the superb performance of the single payer and government regulated ("socialized") health systems being available in other countries. Sanjay Gupta has been the voice for pharmaceutical companies while at CNN, a representative of what is good from a doctor's perspective, always ready to be in the limelight when the cameras are running (heroic surgery in IRAQ etc.). What we need is not a smart and nice opportunist who will go along with whatever pays his own bills but a visionary who will make a real effort to understand the problems and break new ground.(In the case of Universal Health Care, his comments on Michael Moore's film on CNN proved both his arrogance and ignorance). We need someone who is ready to take on pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and their crony friends and payees in senate and congress. That someone is no Sanjay Gupta.
Walter Rohloff, MD
Albuquerque, NM

Onion headline or actual news?

Lol...my sister said the exact same thing when I read the NYT headline to her yesterday, except she wasn't kidding.

I watched that Sanjay Gupta thing when it happened, and later than night went to see the movie. Michael Moore claimed that he "did too!" show that Cuba was ranked below the U.S. in terms of health care, and the CNN graphic just covered it up when they showed it. Well, Moore never actually SAID that Cuba was ranked lower, and the list they showed was well before the part where Moore actually traveled to Cuba. If I didn't know to look for it at that point, I never would have noticed.

Michael Moore is a buffoon. He is to the left what Ann Coulter is to the right--making too much money off of partisanship to be trusted.

I hope that Dr. Gupta doesn't get picked - not because I don't think he's smart or medically-skilled, but because (from what little exposure I've had to Dr. Gupta) I generally get upset when his comments move to policy.

Regarding your question about why there aren't more TV personalities named to government positions, wasn't it Ronald Reagan who said of the presidency, "How can a president NOT be an actor?"

The logic of the appointment makes perfect sense to me. The Surgeon General's primary responsibility is to keep the public informed about health risks, right? And what is it that Dr. Gupta is doing now, if not that? Besides, if millions of Americans are already listening to the guy, it seems all the more likely they'll keep listening to him and maybe even remember his name later on...

By the way, there's a West Wing episode that references what is - and isn't - the job of the surgeon general("Ellie," in Season 2). Isn't it great how there's a West Wing reference for just about any political situation?

Dr Walt,
While you may be right that Gupta would never "take on pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and their crony friends"
You're missing the larger point that no surgeon general would be able to do those things, that what Congress and the Sec Commerce (who ever that winds up being) are for. Don't you think the medical structure of this country would look wildly different if Surgeons General EVER had ANY actual power?

[...] that’s potential future surgeon general Sanjay Gupta in this video eating, as he calls it, China’s “eclectic cuisine.” [...]

I just read Dr. Gupta's bio on CNN's website, and over at the official Surgeon General's page, I read the bio for Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H. (Yeah, Koop's been gone a long time). I think Gupta sounds like a good fit for the position.

[...] levels of government are being filled with individuals whose public mission is to eradicate fat people, especially fat children. Already, programs with [...]

[...] name of neurosurgeon and health journalist Sanjay Gupta was leaked in early January as Barack Obama’s choice for Surgeon General. His selection has caused [...]