Neil Cavuto: Is Obama's Surgeon General Too Fat For The Position? (VIDEO)

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Via TPM comes this surreal Fox News segment in which host Neil Cavuto and guest Michael Karolchyk debate whether President Obama's Surgeon General nominee, Dr. Regina Benjamin, is too fat for the job.

Cavuto's classy intro goes like this:

Brilliant, dedicated, experienced and, oh yeah, fat. The President's pick for Surgeon General is fat. Not a lot fat, but enough fat for my next guest to say fat chance for Dr. Regina Benjamin to even be considered. (emphasis mine)

Karolchyk (who is quite a character; TPM has some great details on his bizarre endeavors) spends most of the segment offering tortured analogies and insulting Dr. Benjamin for being "obese" because she is just "lazy":

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.

Even Cavuto realizes how poorly this segment is playing out because he spends the entire time combating Karolchyk's various derogatory statements. Makes one wonder why he had this person on in the first place.

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Comments

[Zoica]

If Dr. Benjamin were a white male, would this be an issue?

[reign99]

Yes.

[reign99]

:A woman of her education and means is obviously not on the public dole, and we should butt out of her business."

The point in all of this that every single one of you seems incapable of understanding relates directly to what you have just said. Obama is pushing a very large overhaul of the American health system. How he intends to fund this is not fully known, but we do know taxes on things such as sugar (or anything deemed "unhealthy") is a definite possibility. If you expect people to cut things they enjoy out of their lives, and be more responsible about exercising, it is very hypocritical to nominate an SG who is overweight. I would think this concept would be easily understood.

Also, as you mentioned in the above quoted comment, those not on the "public dole" are free to do what they please. What worries people is what you inferred in that statement, that those who ARE on the "public dole" are subject to governmental whim. With this expansion of government healthcare, more and more people are going to fall into that category. Likely you, within your lifetime, will fall into that category. Your children are almost guaranteed a spot. Will you be willing to subject your lifestyle to the opinions of your brethren on this board at that time?

More people need to step outside of the comfortable social blanket they have wrapped themselves in and see the truth for what it is.

[Okieborn]

Hmmmm!!
The American citizenry without Health Insurnce , No Jobs, Losing their homes , country still trying to recover from the 8 yrs. of Bushism and Fox is worried about the weight of the surgeon general !!
Go Away !!!

[Natasha Iriah]

these ppl r unbelievable.

[dana94591]

I could see the problem with her if she was breathing heavy and could not walk from the White House to the podium. But she DID NOT!!! This is so mean and so trivial! Like we don't have any real problems to focus on!!!!

[reign99]

Yeah real problems! Like the housing crisis and unemployment. Oh, and how about the obesity epidemic, which in 2008 cost us an estimated $147 billion dollars because of those 30lb over weight or more!

Hang on a second. Never mind, this was a real problem after all.

[Totto]

People in glass houses ought not be tossing stones, Neil.

[reign99]

Watch the video, he wasn't throwing any.

[ChaiKat]

She's not that overweight! Just because you are not a size 2 or 4 or whatever doesn't mean you are unhealthy. This is a ridiculous argument and incredibly superficial.

[reign99]

She's not that overweight like you're not that overweight. Look, she's heavy. Arguing that point is just silly. You want to argue the relevance of her being overweight as it pertains to the ability to do her job or represent it, that's one thing. Arguing that red is blue, or that she is thin, just retards the debate, literally and figuratively.

[Buddy McCue]

I just Google Image Searched Dr. Regina Benjamin, curious to see how big the lady actually is.

I don't see what the fuss is about. She's not THAT big.

[traumabob]

Yeah, like all those guys on FOX look like Adonis.

[reign99]

Wow, that was like an ad hominem non sequitur straw man attack. Triple bonus points.

[Mike Barden]

Maybe Michael wants to be Surgeon General? He mighta made it under Bush.

[medicontheedge]

this guy was a defendant in a judge judy type show, maybe peoples court, that aired a few months ago. he is a "personal trainer" who was sued for return of payments. i believe he did win the case.

BUT he was wearing the same teeshirt and everything. so, obviously he is pimpin' hisself.

perhaps he sees himself as the next joe the plumber.

[LMPE]

Her weight is not the issue. Her noble deeds are.

If we're going to obsess on weight, let's focus on the GOP's de facto leader Rush Limbaugh.

[getsit]

All they can do is call her names, Shows what mental deficits they have. She may be overweight but who says she is unhealthy? I imagine, just like the many of us who are overweight, she has struggled with her weight for most of her life. The diseases caused by obesity is a major health cost to this country. Hopefully, we can get more health, exercise, and nutrition programs for the very young in schools for prevention. Teach them early what is in our food, to read labels, to understand why eating right and exercise is important to how we feel physically and mentally. These kinds of programs are the first to be cut when education funding is cut.

There are new obesity medications coming on the market that will help give people who want to lose weight a "edge" . I was on a research trial and I lost 52 lbs. with very few side effects. It was hard work and not "a magic pill" but it did help with control along with a proper diet and exercise. I think most of us would prefer a control to our eating than major surgery. Hey! That would cut healthcare costs! Someone alert Obama and the FDA.

[reign99]

If being overweight does not mean unhealthy, then why are we regulating "fast food" companies to list caloric content on their menus? Why are legislators considering taxing "unhealthy" sugar? You can't have it both ways.

Oh and the very young don't need programs to teach them, they need parents. Think of all the money we could save if parents just started doing their jobs! The amount of programs we could cut would be mind boggling.

I suppose it's easier to just tax and spend more though...

[SuZy0925]

You know, all that taking care of others does tend to pack on the pounds. You don't eat until you're starving because you've seen 40 patients in a row without eating so much as a peanut, and you do tend to overeat when you finally get a chance to sit down to a meal. Or, as most doctors will agree, lack of sleep, which I'm sure she suffers from, will help pack on the pounds. I'm 200 lbs. and can run 5 miles. My sister-in-law is 85 pounds and smokes and gets out of breath going from the car to the house. Who's healthier? I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count. Guys like this are body snobs--all they do is work out and admire their biceps in the mirror. I think it sucks tissue from the brain, because he sounds like a m*r*n.

[ItHadToBeSaid]

Great post !!

[ChaiKat]

Thank you for your post. You are absolutely right.

[admiralsonasongbird]

i thought neil cavuto was over weight himself? he needs to loose weight.

[Marilynleigh34]

he often talks about his weight.

[Mohanna]

Fondly?