Opposition Grows from the Left to Dr. Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General - Videos

Opposition is growing from the Left to President-elect Barack Obama's appointment of CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta as the next Surgeon General of the United States. The opposition is coming for Democrat Rep. John Conyers of Michigan because Gupta dared to stand up to Michael Moore when Moore made his pathetic documentary called "Sicko," which extolled the virtues of Universal Health Care in Cuba and Canada. Gupta did a report on Moore's documentary, and he said Moore had fudged some of the facts. Here is the exchange Gupta had with Moore on Larry King Live in July of 2007:



The Hill is reporting Conyers' opposition in a piece out today:

Krugman pointed out that Gupta engaged in a televised argument with Moore in 2007 over his movie, “SiCKO.”

Conyers is friends with Moore, a Michigan native who is an ardent backer of the legislator’s universal healthcare bill. Moore’s film made the case for the U.S. to adopt a “single-payer” healthcare system like Canada’s.

On Thursday, Moore’s website prominently highlighted Krugman’s blog on Gupta.

The Moore-Gupta showdown occurred on CNN’s “Larry King Live” in the wake of Gupta’s televised report on “SiCKO.” The Moore-Gupta video has been viewed over 239,000 times on YouTube.

The Krugman blog stated, “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.”

Krugman added that “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.”

Conyers contends that Gupta is against universal healthcare coverage.

Even though the surgeon general is not in control of implementing healthcare coverage policy, Conyers said that Gupta would represent the face of healthcare.

“He becomes the spokesperson on public health for the United States,” Conyers told the Hill.

Obama has not yet formally appointed Gupta. The Washington Post reported this week that the job has been offered to Gupta and he wants it.

Gupta did not deny the Post’s report but declined to comment.

I don't know that I think Gupta would be a good Surgeon General. He was too accomodating to Moore in saying his film "Sicko" was "good," in that it would raise awareness of the health care problem in America. But he should not be disqualified for pointing out the deficiencies in Moore's radical-left documentary.

I can't miss the opportunity to post Sen. Fred Thompson's response to Michael Moore's "Sicko" film. This is classic Fred: