Dr. Regina Benjamin, President Obama's Pick as the Next Surgeon General, Comes Under Fire for Being Overweight

I wondered how long it would take the haters to attack Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, President Obama's pick for the next surgeon general, but I can't believe that they would attack her on the basis of her looks, actually her weight. Let's not forget that this woman was hailed as a MacArthur Grant genius, who had championed the poor at a medical clinic she set up in Katrina-ravaged Alabama. I guess full-figured women have to worry about our weight when we seek gainful employment. Critics and supporters across the blogosphere have commented on photos of Benjamin's full-figure, saying she sends the wrong message as the public face of America's health initiatives.

Spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services Jenny Backus issued this statement: "Dr. Benjamin is a highly qualified physician who has dedicated her life to providing care to her patients. She is a role model for all of us, and will be an outstanding surgeon general."

Wait, if her weight is such a big issue, then didn't President Obama admit that he smoked cigarettes in the past, which can be very harmful to your health. Or better yet, didn't President George W. Bush admit to a drinking problem? Does her weight really undermine her credibility? I think it's pretty obvious that Dr. Benjamin can fulfill her duties with the passion, knowledge and integrity the position calls for.

Fox News' Neil Cavuto and guest Michael Karolchyk discuss Dr. Benjamin's weight. Listen and hear the low level of intelligence being spewed by Karolchyk.

Dr. Benjamin is 50 pounds overweight. She is obese. She's a size 20. [...]
Ok, let's then turn the tables. Would you then want the head of the Fed Reserve to be a guy in a cardboard box who lives underneath the highway because because he understands the plight of poor people and he understands how to make money work? [...] Would you want Michael Jackson's doctors to be in charge of drug control at the DEA? The bottom line is it's a symbolic position and obesity is the number one issue facing our country in terms of the health and wellness and she has shown not that she was born this way, not that she woke up one day and was obese, she has show through being lazy, and making poor food choices, that she's obese.

How ignorant and why was this fool given a platform to spew such garbage?

President Barack Obama Picks Dr. Regina Benjamin, the "Angel in a White Coat," as the Next Surgeon General

President Barack Obama has picked Dr. Regina Benjamin as the next surgeon general. Dr. Benjamin hails from the Deep South, rural Alabama to be exact. She made headlines in the wake of Hurricane Katrina with an unyielding determination to rebuild her nonprofit medical clinic. As you know, the surgeon general is the advocate of the people and the position can be a very powerful and effective one with the right personality -- like Dr. Benjamin. According to media reports, about 10 years ago, the New York Times referred to her as an "angel in a white coat." She is a country doctor who made house calls along the impoverished Gulf Coast and was paid whatever her patients could afford. She has tirelessly called for improvements in health disparities, pushed by the need in her own community of Bayou La Batre, Ala., a small shrimping village along the gulf coast.

Dr. Benjamin is the first black woman and the youngest doctor (under 40) elected to the American Medical Association's board of trustees. She received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights in 1998 and Pope Benedict XVI awarded her the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal for her distinguished service. Dr. Benjamin also serves on the Board of Physicians for Human Rights. She is a former Kellogg National Fellow and has been featured as ABC Television's Person of the Week, and in 1996 was chosen by CBS This Morning as Woman of the Year. Dr. Benjamin is a graduate of Xavier University, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the University of Alabama School of Medicine

Her nonprofit clinic was rebuilt by volunteers after being destroyed by Katrina, only to burn down months later. Benjamin later told of her patients' desperation that she rebuild again, recalling one woman who handed her an envelope with a $7 donation to help. "If she can find $7, I can figure out the rest," Benjamin said last fall as she received a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," money she dedicated to finishing that job. Source: Huffington Post

I am pleased with the president's nomination of Dr. Benjamin and I am glad he chose her for the position. She will be a far more effective surgeon general that Dr. Sanjay Gupta could have ever been. I am confident that she will be confirmed by the Senate. We all know how some of the Republican senators like to take on the role of bottom feeders to stymie President Obama's nominees, but I am sure she will be confirmed without delay. I would imagine that the last thing the Republican Party needs to revisit is the nightmare that ensued in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which was under the watch of President George W. Bush.