DISQUS

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

Think how DREAMY he will be in that pseudo-military uniform!

Maybe we'll forget that he's been a shill for Big Pharma and Michael Moore hates him.

bumpkis · 10 months ago

First thing I thought too...can't wait for MM's comments...

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

Obama to Bobby Jindal: suck on this!

Tony D · 10 months ago

Cooper for Secretary of Pleasing Aesthetics.

I watched Guptas special on HIV/AIDS on CNN a few years ago and not a word mentioned about the gay and lesbian community. Are we ignoring this demographic purposefully or are we just trying to sell it with African children? Seems like another Rick Warren situation.

hrh · 10 months ago

Let us not forget how Gupta and Larry King tried a hit job on Moore over his health care movie. And came off looking like ineffectual bullies.

CNN would probably resist letting Gupta go; he's too important to their obscenely high medical advertising dollar income.

SCLiberal · 10 months ago

Paul Krugman is not a Gupta fan.

tofubo · 10 months ago

what the fuck, can NO aol/time/warner/cnn hack be approached for ANY position

impressed ... his communication skills

as any propagandist should be able to do, next

Ksue · 10 months ago

Ohfuckme. NOT the uber idiotic, irritating Sanjay!!! I've been quiet on all of Obama's appointments so far, preferring to wait and see how it all shakes out ... but had to comment on this one. It really SUCKS.

We go alternative-healthcare first (acupuncture, homeopathic, chiropractic, etc.) then turn to the "real" doctors when we absolutely have to. Guess how many times we've had to in 27+ years? Once ... when our youngest was born with congenital hip dysplasia. 3 kids and no one ever even broke a bone or needed an antibiotic.

Gupta personifies all that's wrong with modern American "medicine."

cosanostradamus · 10 months ago

.
FLIP SPICELAND FOR NOAA CHIEF!!!

Just putting it out there.



A touching scene at the all-night drug store?
.

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

Rick Sanchez for Law Enforcement Technology, Department of Justice

(Olbermann used to love to show that clip of RS getting tasered, which made us all laugh our asses off).

unrepentant_expat · 10 months ago

...and Nancy Grace as Attorney General?

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 10 months ago

Nancy Grace for Innocent Child and Nubile Teen (Blonde) Protection Services Division, Department of Justice

jwazzz · 10 months ago

Rick Warren at the inauguration, Tim Kaine to head the DNC and now Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General?!? I believe that counts as strike three for Obama.

KerrynowCampau · 10 months ago

Maybe Sanjay will tell us it is OK to masturbate and then will have to be sh*t-canned....

Garrett in SF · 10 months ago

Ok ... now this is just getting silly.

ChrisSF · 10 months ago

Totally cringe-worthy. Can someone please tell me one thing Gupta has done in his career that is remotely related to public health or anything else the Surgeon General does (other than appear on TV, that is)?

An_American_Karol · 10 months ago

Gupta has done a good job bringing to the public health issues relating to today. Health communication "is" the job of the SG.
Can anyone tell me who the Surgeon General is under Bush?

Webster · 10 months ago

Will they vett him for all the graft he's received from the drug companies while being CNN's Dr.-on-call?

Gary SF · 10 months ago

You got to be fucking kidding me. The guy is a hack for big pharma. Yeah he is cute, but not as cute as he used to be. Sorry, he isn't the right choice for this very important job.

Another negative for Team Obama.

An_American_Karol · 10 months ago

Gary, watch Olberman tonight. He talks about this.

Gary SF · 10 months ago

Hi Karol! I watched and I was nonplussed by their understanding of what this position actually does. Don't look for any positive changes to our health care system anytime soon.

An_American_Karol · 10 months ago

I agree. With the collapse of our economy and the cost to stabilize it, it will be Obama's second term; however, I really think Gupta will be able to add an air of familiarity and comfort to the SG's position within this new administration.

scottinsf · 10 months ago

Hi Karol!

An_American_Karol · 10 months ago

Hi, babe

scottinsf · 10 months ago

I don't expect much in the way of help on crumbling bridges, port infrastructure, or help with improving rail (high speed and otherwise) with our transportation department anytime soon either. It's too bad because that would be the kind of stimulus program that would create a lot of jobs. That newer high speed train in Spain looks lovely in the plains. Have you been on it?

Gary SF · 10 months ago

The AVE trains still does not run to Barcelona. They should be finished with it sometime soon. What this means is that when the France-Barcelona connection is complete, one will not have to wait an endless amount of time - the tracks in Spain are 'wider' than those in the rest of Europe, so the trains that run from France to Spain must 'switch' gauges which can burn a lot of time. The AVE used the standard track width. Oh and hello Scott!

Jay Randal · 10 months ago

First cabinet pick by Obama that I agree with > Gupta is well respected.

Gary SF · 10 months ago

Even if Gupta wasn't a piece for big pharma, the problem remains that this position is very political and one had to be ready to fight hard for good public health. I don't see him 'making waves' - which will be necessary. If they are going for the glitz, why not appoint Pamela Anderson in a nurse's uniform? Really, this the 'industry' in which I have worked for 20 years, and I am shocked at this poor selection. I look forward to Dr. Gupta's reports to be printed in the National Enquirer so he can 'reach' so many of us. Maybe he can set up clinics in MacDonald's and start a game show 'Who Wants to Have Their Cancer Cured. God I fucking HATE popular culture - which is Gupta's universe. Superficial sell-out.

S in PA · 10 months ago

I'm officially beginning to regret voting for Obama. I feel like I've been punched really hard in the stomach. With this pick, Obama has basically just told me to go fuck myself.

Indigo · 10 months ago

I'm in a repentent mood too but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have helped if I'd voted for Ralph Nader after all.

Griffon · 10 months ago

(hyperlinks in original)

The trouble with Sanjay Gupta

By Paul Krugman / New York Times

So apparently Obama plans to appoint CNN’s Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General. I don’t have a problem with Gupta’s qualifications. But I do remember his mugging of Michael Moore over Sicko. You don’t have to like Moore or his film; but Gupta specifically claimed that Moore “fudged his facts”, when the truth was that on every one of the allegedly fudged facts, Moore was actually right and CNN was wrong.

What bothered me about the incident was that it was what Digby would call Village behavior: Moore is an outsider, he’s uncouth, so he gets smeared as unreliable even though he actually got it right. It’s sort of a minor-league version of the way people who pointed out in real time that Bush was misleading us into war are to this day considered less “serious” than people who waited until it was fashionable to reach that conclusion. And appointing Gupta now, although it’s a small thing, is just another example of the lack of accountability that always seems to be the rule when you get things wrong in a socially acceptable way.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews...

Obama is not what people were expecting.

News Review · 10 months ago

After going over his background, he has a lot of achievements that might qualify him to the position. The fact that he is qualified, however, does not guarantee that he is well-fit for the job. Are there any more candidates other than him?

An_American_Karol · 10 months ago

We really need to look at the best person to "sell" Obama's health plan. Gupta has a familiar voice and face. He seems apolitical to the vast majority of Americans, so the needed moderates will trust him.

Mark in Florida · 10 months ago

Yes, I am with you Karol. It's a PR move as much as anything. It's a reality.

dula · 10 months ago

Gupta is a Corporatist. I wonder if Obama wants him as spokesperson for his healthcare plan because he is planning a give away to the insurance industry.

DKarma · 10 months ago

ok its time this was said because I don't hear a word about it....
can we please stop appointing people to cabinet positions that represent the status quo?
sanjay gupta?!?!?! are you fucking kidding me?
we need people in government who believe that insurance companies and medical professionals don't get to make money off of people dying.
gupta has been nothing but a huge apologist for the current failing medical system and all it's greedy pharmaceutical buddies.
and what the hell is up with appointing people to head treasury positions who think the federal reserve bank is 1.) legal under the constitution and 2.) ok ?!?!
the fed needs to be abolished and we need to move back to a value driven currency system...until that happens nothing will get better.
our current medical system which profits off of dying people needs to be abolished and replace with one funded by tax dollars that seeks to improve american's standard of health and well being.

until these things change (and they won't in the Obama administration) this country can not get better.

ezpz · 10 months ago

Each day brings a new disappointment from the Obama team.
I want to keep that 'hope' alive for the 'change' I thought I voted for, but it's getting harder and harder to find silver linings in these appointments, statements, and the middle finger he gives his supporters day after day while sucking up to the Rick Warrens and the Repukes!

Is there anyone at all in this soon to be new administration that is NOT connected in one way or another to the Clintons?

Indigo · 10 months ago

I like Dr. Gupta's style on CNN. He explains things clearly and without resorting to medicalese. I hope he is offered the job; I hope he takes it.

Gary SF · 10 months ago

The problem with your criteria is that the job of Surgeon General is much more than explaining things to the general public. If the position was only to educate people, I could look the other way.

Indigo · 10 months ago

You're right, of course, but procedures change with new administrations.  I can easily visualize Sanjay heading up, or reporting for, a committee of no-names who are fully qualified researchers who know their business perfectly but aren't all that camera-ready.  Dr. Gupta can handle it.  I guess what I'm really saying is, he's great eye candy.  I like to watch his lips move.

Nick · 10 months ago

Please! No!

ChesterPA · 10 months ago

Obama, outside of being not the hopey changey candidate we were promised, is turning out to be DAMN SHALLOW!

smallhandff · 10 months ago

Has anyone viewed this appointment as a debt paid to the South Asian -"macaca" crowd for keeping Va in play over the past 2 years? Pity that Daddy O didn't pull someone from NIH, Fauci perhaps? That would have been a calming choice in so many ways.

Sheri D. Maple · 10 months ago

I really do not understand the problem of chosing Dr. Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General. He is an actual surgeon and can effectively explain medical information to the American People. He his experience as a doctor and correspondent, so he can knows how to deliver information to the public. One needs a combination of the two, the medical knowledge and the ability to articulate it. Dr. Gupta may be eyecandy, but do we really pay attention to individuals who like Dr. C. Everett Koop, the answer is no. Let's face it, Dr. Gupta as name recognization and can expand the role of Surgeon General, and perhaps Americans will for once listen to information about our health. Let's get a grip