Needless to say, I’m not alone in my opposition to Sanjay Gupta for surgeon general (though it is evident that it is hardly Obama’s most controversial move thus far, generating comparatively little criticism). As HuffPo reports, Rep. John Conyers has sent a letter to his Democratic colleagues arguing against Gupta: I join in opposition with respected Noble Peace Prize award wining economist Paul Krugman, who has very serious concerns with having Dr. Gupta be the nation’s Surgeon...

I’m still not sold on Sanjay Gupta for surgeon general. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I dislike the very idea of putting Gupta in charge of public health. As I wrote on Tuesday, when the story broke, Dr. Gupta “seems to be very much a part of, as well as a defender of, the status quo, namely, the corporatized health care system controlled by Big Pharma and the HMOs.” And, indeed, more is coming out about his seemingly unethical (or at least questionable) dealings....

What’s worse: a) Chris Matthews on TV (being a blowhard and making millions); or b) Chris Matthews in the Senate (being a blowhard and wielding power)? I’d say the latter, which is why it’s a good thing that he’s decided not to run for the Senate in 2010. I can’t take much of him on TV, but at least I can turn the channel and ignore him. Either way, though, he would have continued to provide a wealth of material to those of us in the commentariat, and we can all look...

Today’s funny, from TNR’s Chris Orr: Dana Milbank hilariously tallies invocations of Ronald Reagan at [Monday]‘s debate between the candidates for RNC chair. He comes up with a total of 16, which is fewer than the 22 guns that four of the contenders boast of owning in a comical display of yardsticking. But the most delightful burst of one-upsmanship has to be this: “Let me just say that I have 4,000 friends on Facebook,” contributed Blackwell, putting his hand on Dawson’s...

The WaPo’s Howard Kurtz is reporting that Obama has asked celebrity tele-Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he of CNN and CBS fame, to be the new surgeon general. Now, I’m in no position to question Gupta’s abilities as a neurosurgeon or otherwise his medical qualifications. He may very well be an excellent doctor, as he seems to be (he performed brain surgery during the Iraq invasion in 2003). Furthermore, there is no doubt that he is telegenic and that he would make an excellent spokesman for...

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read this headline at the BBC yesterday: Gay groups angry at Pope remarks. Really. You don’t say. Now, these “gay groups” have good reason to be angry not just at the pope’s remarks but at the pope himself: Speaking on Monday, Pope Benedict said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was as important as protecting the environment. The comments were “irresponsible and unacceptable”, the UK’s Lesbian...

Why crazy? For writing, in response to conservative “snobs,” that Sarah Palin and Margaret Thatcher “have a great deal in common.” Honestly, I can’t bring myself to quote from, let alone comment on, this ridiculous piece. Well, okay, here’s the kicker: But she has plenty of time, probably eight years, to analyze America’s problems, recruit her own expert advice, and develop conservative solutions to them. She has obvious intelligence, drive, serious moral...

As you’ve probably heard by now, Time‘s Person of the Year for 2008 is, as was fully expected and as is richly deserved, Barack Obama. Seriously, did anyone even come close this year? The runners-up are an interesting bunch: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, and someone named Sarah Palin. It’s far too early to assess Paulson’s impact, though there’s no denying his influence on the political and economic...

At WaPo’s The Fix on Monday, Chris Cillizza asked if Republicans are “on the march” and concluded that the recent Republican victories in Georgia (Senate) and Louisiana (House) “give Republicans something to rally around” and “lay the foundation for at least the possibility of a comeback in 2010 and beyond.” Oh… really. While I do not deny that things can change quickly in politics, and that the GOP could make a comeback within the next few years, I’m...

Sorry again to be so self-promotional, but, if you’re interested, my latest piece at The Guardian on Canada’s rather exciting political situation was posted this morning: Ignatieff’s moment. It looks like the new leader of the Liberal Party will be former Harvard professor and noted international relations expert Michael Ignatieff. Ignatieff was first elected to Parliament in 2006, from a suburban Toronto riding. Although a relatively new parliamentarian, he is seen by many Liberals...

Michelle Goldberg, author of the fantastic Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, had a must-read guest post at TNR’s The Plank a couple of days ago on Newt Gingrich’s latest contribution to the far right’s seemingly endless culture war in support of “religious fundamentalism and sacralized nationalism.” It involves “Gingrich hawking a full-length documentary called Rediscovering God in America,” an ugly assault on liberalism and secularism that...

I’ve been closely monitoring the political situation here in Canada as events have unfolded over the past several days. Rarely are our politics so exciting. I’ve written two articles for The Guardian, the first with some background and an overview of the situation, the second a response to yesterday’s developments (specifically, the governor general agreeing to Prime Minister Harper’s request to prorogue (or suspend) Parliament (so as to avoid a confidence motion). You can...

Over the weekend, my friend Grace noted that “there [were] rumblings that two of [Canada's federal] opposition parties, the Liberals and New Democrats, [were] in the process of brokering a deal to throw out the Tories and form a coalition government with the support of the Bloc Québécois.” (Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, or “Tories,” won the most seats in October’s election, but they only won a minority and so formed, or re-formed, a minority...

As you’ve surely heard by now, it looks as though Obama will ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates to remain at the Pentagon for at least a year, if not longer. We’ll see if the anonymous sources are right. I suspect they are. This has been rumoured for some time, after all, and, as far as I know, no other names (e.g., Nunn) have been leaked or floated. As I put it a couple of weeks ago, this is not change I can believe in. Why? Because it’s not change at all. Yes, I understand that...

As you may have heard, President Bush yesterday issued 14 pardons and commuted 2 sentences. This is what presidents do near the end of their terms, and Bush is no exception. (Make sure to read Jazz Shaw’s excellent post from earlier today on presidential pardons, for and against, which includes an examination of Hamilton’s Federalist 74.) According to the Times, there are “2,000 pending petitions,” but there were no big names among the 16. Bush commuted Scooter Libby’s...

Did you happen to catch Rumsfeld’s op-ed in the Times on Saturday? And did you happen to read it? I won’t blame you if you didn’t — who cares what Rumsfeld thinks about anything at this point? — but, believe it or not, once you get past the pro-Bush, pro-Iraq Surge self-aggrandizing, he actually had some interesting, and correct, things to say about what is needed in Afghanistan. Specifically, he argues that success in Afghanistan will not be achieved “with the...

Very busy day today, which explains a lack of posting on my part, but let me refer you to an interesting article in the Times: As Taboos Ease, Saudi Girl Group Dares to Rock It’s about an all-girl rock group in a country that doesn’t much care for girls or rock: They cannot perform in public. They cannot pose for album cover photographs. Even their jam sessions are secret, for fear of offending the religious authorities in this ultraconservative kingdom. But the members of Saudi Arabia’s...

If you’re already thinking ahead to 2012 — and, honestly, who isn’t? — check out Chris Cillizza’s post at The Fix on “ten Republicans to watch.” The big names, of course, are Palin, Romney, and Huckabee, but only Romney makes the list, and rightly so. As I have said before, I think Palin’s star will fade markedly over the next few years. Huckabee will continue to be a leading figure among the theocrats, but I suspect Republicans will go for old-fashioned...

Democratic challenger Al Franken seems to be narrowing the gap, but there’s still a long way to go. Here’s the latest from the Star Tribune: The U.S. Senate recount continued Thursday without major glitches across Minnesota, as tabulators and the volunteers watching them settled into an increasingly familiar routine of thumbing, counting and sorting. With about 46 percent of the 2.9 million ballots counted by Thursday evening, the gap between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and DFL...

Well, the first part of that is true if not the second. At long last, the presidential election is over. The last remaining state to be decided, Missouri, has been declared a win for McCain. It’s still unofficial, but CNN has called it: “According to the unofficial results, McCain won the state by 3,632 votes. The unofficial count shows McCain with 1,445,812 votes, or 49.4 percent, and Obama with 1,442,180 votes, or 49.3 percent.” Which makes you wonder: Is Missouri no longer the...

In case you missed it, Al Qaeda’s #2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has issued a video statement directed at President-elect Obama: You have reached the position of president, and a heavy legacy of failure and crimes awaits you. A failure in Iraq to which you have admitted, and a failure in Afghanistan to which the commanders of your army have admitted. The statement, as you might expect, also criticizes Obama for his support for Israel and for being “captive to the same criminal American mentality...

Please check out Michael Kavanagh’s “Five Million Dead and Counting” at Slate, a reporter’s account of the ongoing civil war and atrocities in North Kivu, an eastern province of the Congo: There are now more than 1 million displaced people scattered throughout the province. In the last 10 years of fighting, more than 5 million people have died in the Congolese conflict — mostly civilians who haven’t had access to enough food or health care because of the fighting....

Duke political scientist David Rohde had an interesting piece at The New Republic yesterday on why the Democrats are much better off today because of Kerry’s loss to Bush in ’04. Basically, Rohde’s argument goes, “had Bush lost in 2004, the Democrats simply wouldn’t be anywhere near as powerful as they are now.” Kerry and Edwards would have faced “a hostile GOP Congress” unwilling to support their legislative agenda and, at best, they would have been...

There has been much speculation — it has been reported, through anonymous sources, that Obama discussed the job with Hillary at their meeting in Chicago last week, and Bill is apparently being vetted with respect to his many international dealings and connections — and now one newspaper (and one newspaper alone), Britain’s Guardian, is reporting that Hillary will accept Obama’s offer. Or will she? The Guardian does not identify any sources. It has simply “learned”...

According to the NYT, “President-elect Barack Obama’s advisers have begun reviewing former President Bill Clinton’s finances and activities to see whether they would preclude the appointment of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as secretary of state.” I still think Obama is serious about this (and should be) — and that he and Hillary could form an effective “Team of Allies.” It isn’t just for show. And yet… Questions abound — and TNR’s...