After the Panetta debacle, it’s a tremendous relief to hear of a possible Obama appointee I can support with enthusiasm: CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General.
First of all, there’s the lovely euphony and alliteration of it all: SanjayGupta/SurgeonGeneral. But let’s cut to the chase: I’ve had a mild crush on Sanjay for quite some time now.
Yes, he’s too young for me (thirty-nine, but who’s counting?) And although I know I’m showing a remarkable amount of shallowness in admitting that the guy is handsome, and that’s a goodly part of his considerable appeal, I also happen to think he’s charming, smart, and showed moral courage when he performed emergency surgery on several Iraqis and US Marines while he was embedded in 2003 as a medical correspondent there.
Apparently I am not alone in my admiration for Dr. Gupta. He was named one of the sexiest men of 2003 by People magazine; I challenge any previous Surgeon General to be able to put that particular honor on his resume. And he tangled with the abominable Michael Moore, as well.
Here’s a little Sanjay beefcake for your enjoyment/edification:
Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
January 7th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I like him, too. And he is cute.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I’m pleased to see that your usual sharp and incisive mind, always so astute and quick, cannot be swayed by somebody chosen more for his telegenic qualities in the first YouTube administration, than a host of other qualities and experience. It is good to see that, at long last, you have some standards!
January 7th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Neo and Sanjay, sittin’ in a tree…
January 7th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I hate to be a wet blanket, but I really think that the current director of the CDC, who has an MPH in addition to an MD has better qualifications, both in terms of her administrative experience and her medical expertise in infectious diseases, anthrax, and health care delivery.
It saddens me to think that we have had to resort to being grateful when Obama manages to pick someone who is not tainted in scandal or grossly under-qualified, but from what I’ve read on most sites, no one seems to take the Surgeon General’s role seriously. Four years of low expectations ahead.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
I’ll admit my ignorance about the Surgeon General. All my knowledge about the office comes from watching C. Everett Koop on TV looking like a character from Uncle Tom’s Cabin and droning on about health stuff. So I had to look it up.
According to Wikipedia: “The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government.”
The PHSCC is considered on of the uniformed services - sort of a branch off the U.S. Navy. This All the doctors in the PHSCC get Navy commissions. That means Sanjay gets to be an Admiral!
Not sure whether he’ll be a great leader of this 6,000-member organization. But as a spokesman - well, that’s pretty much what he does now, isn’t it? As SG, he’ll just be doing it in a uniform and fewer people will pay attention to what he says.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
P.S. - Although he’s an Admiral, the SG actually reports to the Assistant Secretary of Health. I’m sure the PHSCC does good work, especially during disasters. But evidently, we’re not talking about a major player here.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
It’s to be expected: a pop-culture kind of appointment.
Quite appropriate for the “American Idol” Presidency…
January 7th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I actually have no problem with him for this particular position. It does not carry much in the way of decision making power and I think he will follow his core beliefs and say what he feels. I have no problem with anyone on either side of the aisle who does that. All in all I like the guy.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Hey, maybe I’m just too serious, but it looks like the past couple of Surgeon Generals have had MPHs and also have had expertise in bioterrorism. I realize that the world will instantly love us when Obama takes office, but shouldn’t we still be prepared against acts of domestic bioterrorism?
The Surgeon General is more than a spokesperson, s/he is also charged with articulating “scientifically based health policy analysis and advice to the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the full range of critical public health, medical, and health system issues facing the Nation.” Features reporting and commentary on TV does not really prepare someone for that sort of advisory role, in my opinion, particularly when one’s medical specialty has little to do with major public health issues. In addition, the Surgeon General has administrative responsibilities on a scale that Dr. Gupta completely lacks.
Is he a better choice than Panetta or Richardson? Maybe. But given the health challenges we’re facing as a country, I really think Obama should have focussed his selection criteria on substance over style. It’s possible that Dr. Julie Gerberding (the current CDC director) was asked and declined, but I’m surprised Obama was not able to find someone with better qualifications, particularly given Michelle’s professional connections.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
[…] Neo-Neocon thinks Sanjay Gupta is a good pick for Surgeon General. She is impressed by the fact that he:showed moral courage when he performed emergency surgery on several Iraqis and US Marines while he was embedded in 2003 as a medical correspondent there.She adds:And he tangled with the abominable Michael Moore, as well.The fact that Paul Krugman comes out swinging in Moore’s defense confirms that Gupta is a good pick. Neo-Neocon is less happy with the choice of Panetta as director the CIA:To say Panetta is inexperienced in intelligence would be an understatement. He is profoundly inexperienced, even more so than other previous CIA chiefs who came from a basically non-intelligence background. His main qualification appears to be that he was President Clinton’s chief of staff, and yet nevertheless supported Obama in his campaign against Hillary.True. But the CIA has been a rogue operation for a generation and utterly useless in its primary mission. The CIA declared war on Bush and caused his administration no end of trouble. Plame and Wilson were the most obvious examples of CIA shenanigans. I think one of New-Neocon’s commenters got it right:Break it all down and take a hard look at what has become of the CIA. I think the Church Hearings of the Seventies killed it, and the 1978 FISA made sure that the CIA was managed by House and Senate committee people. The essence of intel gathering is a. ability to improvise b. stealth means everything If you have to divulge all black ops and get permission for them, too many eyes see what is happening. People on the Hill, staffers, and people in the State Department have thick dossiers of incidents where they talked and leaked. Most of the time, they do it to settle scores and scuttle policy. The CIA is no longer an effective organization. It is a huge waste of the taxpayer’s dollars. It could not serve the nation well to save its own life. I would argue that the best outcome would be to break it apart and put the better parts under Defense and State departments. What the Agency did to President Bush for the past eight years inclines me to be very uncharitable in my feelings about the CIA. Wouldn’t bother me if someone did the sensible thing and shot it in the head. Panetta is not going to make any difference with respect to the condition of the CIA and its inability to excel at HUMINT. It does not even have agents and station chiefs in many countries. The only thing Panetta is hired to do is to make sure the CIA does not do to President Obama what it did to President Bush.That makes sense. Posted by: Pat on Jan 04, 09 | 10:38 pm | [0] comments [0] Views | Permalink | [0] TrackBack | Go to Main Page Random Posts Poliblog and Judicious Asininity Get Appointed Death of Political Correctness If Bolton fails to be confirmed var site=”sm6blogger” Judicious Asininity >>www.asininity.com 2004PHP […]
January 8th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Tellingly, in our Manhattan office we thought we overheard our Obama-worshipping colleagues gushing that Bam-Bam had picked DEEPAK CHOPRA to be the Surgeon General. We three contrarians were gagging with disbelief — and hugely relieved to hear that Bam-Bam had actually chosen a surgeon for the post.
And he’s hot as a pistol, if that photo is any guide. At least we’ll have eye-candy for four years.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Yum
January 8th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Dr. Gupta… wasn’t he the marksman / torture guy in “Tomorrow Never Dies”?
If so, he looks a lot better now than he did then…
January 8th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
No, Daniel, Gupta was the electronics whiz, played by magician Ricky Jay. You’re thinking of Dr. Kaufman, played by Vincent Schiavelli…
This Gupta does admittedly look better than Ricky Jay, tho…
January 9th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Another job lost to the Indians.
January 12th, 2009 at 6:43 am
Paul Krugman and John Conyers don’t like the guy. As they say, the enemy of narcissistic goombahs is my friend.