Next up - Nina Blackwood to Head up NASA! ;)
Posted on 01/06/2009 11:52:26 AM PST by BGHater
President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.
Gupta has told administration officials that he wants the job, and the final vetting process is under way. He has asked for a few days to figure out the financial and logistical details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington but is expected to accept the offer.
When reached for comment today, Gupta did not deny the account but declined to comment.
The offer followed a two-hour Chicago meeting in November with Obama, who said that Gupta could be the highest-profile surgeon general in history and would have an expanded role in providing health policy advice, the sources said. Gupta later spoke with Tom Daschle, Obama's White House health czar and nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, and other advisers to the president-elect.
The Michigan-born son of Indian and Pakistani parents, Gupta has always been drawn to health policy. He was a White House fellow in the late 1990s, writing speeches and crafting policy for Hillary Clinton. His appointment would give the administration a prominent official of Southwest Asian descent and a skilled television spokesman.
Gupta, who hosts "House Call" on CNN, has discussed the job offer with his bosses at CBS and CNN to make sure he could be released from his contractual obligations, the sources said.
His role as journalist and physician have sometimes overlapped. During the 2003 Iraq invasion, Gupta was embedded with a Navy unit called Devil Docs and, while covering its mission, performed brain surgery five times, the first of which was on a 2-year-old Iraqi boy.
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
“I am not familiar with SICKO at all, so I don’t understand why this makes him some kind of hero”
It didn’t make him a hero, it just clarified that Dr. Gupta is qualified physician who debunked the Fat One.
The only information you have about Gupta is media-generated, and you are the one telling me that this is “real life”?
The average neurosurgeon makes over $500,000 per year. Given his qualifications, Gupta could have probably made significantly above this average.
He may well have taken a pay cut when he went to work for CNN, and the Surgeon General job is going to pay even less.
I’ll... wait for the major medical organizations in the US who stand up behind Gupta....
Maybe CPL Jesus Vidana, USMC and others in military medicine will....
In 2003, Gupta traveled to Iraq to cover the medical aspects of 2003 invasion of Iraq. While in Iraq, Gupta performed emergency surgery on both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Gupta was embedded with a Marine medical unit at the time. A Marine named Jesus Vidana suffered a severe head injury and the Marines asked for Gupta’s assistance because of his background in neurosurgery. Vidana survived and was sent back to the United States for rehabilitation
No one was trying to say that Gupta is a “hero”. It’s a part of the other poster’s debating tactics.
Sicko was anti-American healthcare and super pro-government healthcare. Gupta took the stage and refuted Michael Moore. It’s online somewhere but I have not seen it.
Point is, who else had a reasonable chance of being nominated by this administration who WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER RECEIVED BY FR?
No one.
Putting brilliant" in front of "neurosurgeon" is redundant. If medical school was a high school, the neurosurgeons would be the star quarterback/head cheerleader who is also the class valedictorian.
This is REAL LIFE. In this REAL LIFE who else had a reasonable chance of being nominated by this administration than Gupta?
You have refused to answer. And I know why.
“Why is he such a bad choice?”
I remember a segment on McCain’s health where he said speculative and negative things that no doctor would say having not examined the patient - in fact, that no doctor would say on air unless prompted by the patient. He’s a pop doctor.
In short, he allows political bias to cloud himself.
This is REAL LIFE. In this REAL LIFE who else had a reasonable chance of being nominated by this administration than Gupta?
You have refused to answer. And I know why.
This is an outstanding choice
“His reporting is about health and appears non-partisan.”
Not true. I saw a segment he had on McCain’s health which was clearly politically motivated.
You're right to the extent that Gupta is a very smart guy with excellent medical credentials.
My only qualm is that I don't believe the SG job is as benign as you portray ESPECIALLY in a Democrat administration. It may be premature to criticize this pick now, but clearly I think we need to know much more about Gupta's political positions.
Fair enough, thanks for the response.
Seems to me like there was a LOT of immediate rejection by people who know far less than you, and who had clearly not read the article and knew even less than the article said about him.
And what are your medical qualifications to judge that?
“Anybody know if he’s a flaming liberal who seems likely to use the position to advocate for abortion, against firearms, etc.?”
Having seen a segment of his on McCain’s health which was politically motivated, I would have to say it’s a definitely possibility.
You need to be more specific. Got a clip or transcript? It’s impossible to judge without one.
McCain’s health IS A LEGITIMATE ISSUE. For crying out loud he has the most virulent form of Melanoma FOUR times. And his age is not in his favor.
Next up - Nina Blackwood to Head up NASA! ;)
Elections have consequences! Obama is a flaming liberal for sure. What do you think? He is going to appoint a flaming conservative?
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