Barack Obama has recommended Dr. Sanjay Gupka for the position of Surgeon General. The duties of the Surgeon General are: The Office of the Surgeon General, under the direction of the Surgeon General, oversees the operations of the 6,000-member Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and provides support for the Surgeon General in the accomplishment of his other duties. The Office is part of the Office of Public Health and Science in the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Surgeon General serves as America's chief health educator by providing Americans the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury. The Surgeon General is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate for a 4-year term of office. In carrying out all responsibilities, the Surgeon General reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health, who is the principal advisor to the Secretary on public health and scientific issues.

Those are the official duties. So, he doesn’t make health care policy. He/she is basically an educator on health issues for the American people.

Gupta is a neurosurgeon on the staff at Emory University and Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He had been a news correspondent for CNN and has been a medical news reporter for Anderson Cooper. He has written articles for Time and has been very much in the public eye. He was also a health advisor for Hillary Clinton. In short, he seems to be well qualified for the job.

Gupta is running into opposition for the appointment by Rep. John Conyer from Michigan. Conyer’s apparently doesn’t like him because he got into a big quarrel with Michael Moore. Moore is the fat, filmmaker with the scruffy beard who is a big liberal and made a movie about how sick American medicine is. Moore is a big advocate of universal healthcare, Canadian style.

Michael Moore is an obnoxious jerk. He should be placed on one of those floating chunks of ice with a polar bear in the Artic or dropped by helicopter into the outback in Australia.

From my perspective on the porch, Gupta should do a fine job. I say give him the position and get ride of Conyers and Michael Moore.