The Weekly Standard is elated about Obama's Surgeon General choice

[Bluebear]

Sanjay Gupta, Obama's Politically Incorrect Surgeon General


So, America's most telegenic, Indian-American neurosurgeon/family man/anchorman will be America's next surgeon general. None of C. Everett Koop's stern demeanor and exceptional facial hair or Joycelyn Elders' tendency toward the most awkward national public health conversations ever. Not for Obama.

It's a smart political choice— one that puts an undeniably smart, young, minority figure in a place of prominence who reflects Obama's own perceived vibrancy.

It's also an encouraging choice when it comes to the politics of public health. In my experience, watching and reading Gupta, he's a fair man who tells the truth about health issues, even when the truth runs counter to liberal public-health crusades. Such honesty in a health reporter is fairly remarkable, and is what makes Gupta worth watching.

He's perhaps most famous for a dust-up with Michael Moore over his movie, "Sicko." CNN initially aired a report by Gupta, which refuted many of the charges made about health care by Moore in "Sicko." Moore accused Gupta and CNN of being in bed with pharmaceutical companies, because the imagination of this filmmaker only allows for a very small, predictable cast of villains. Gupta ended up correcting and apologizing for one incorrect figure in his reporting— he had misstated Moore's figure on per-capita health spending in Cuba, saying $25 instead of $251. Gupta later faced off with Moore in a debate on "Larry King Live," and CNN stood behind Gupta with a point-by-point rebuttal of Moore's complaint.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/01/sanjay_gupta_obamas_politicall.asp