Krugman on Gupta

Paul Krugman reminds us of Sanjay Gupta’s unfair and inaccurate attacks on Michael Moore and Sicko. It’s a fair point, but if this is the worst thing you can say about Gupta it’s honestly not so bad. The plus side is that it means you’ll have as Surgeon General a guy who’s genuinely excellent at going on television and talking about medical issues. That’s potentially a very useful asset in a debate over health care reform, and even leaving that aside just means a guy who can do the Surgeon General’s basic public health and health education functions with an unusual degree of effectiveness.

But the Sicko thing really should remind us that we do exist in a pretty demented political culture, and one that reaches its peak of derangement on cable television broadcasts.