Obama To Nominate Regina Benjamin MD as Surgeon General

Reports indicate that President Obama will nominate Dr. Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General of the United States. His prior choice, Sanjay Gupta, withdrew from consideration.

Benjamin is best known for setting up a rural family practice on the Gulf Coast and has won several media accolades and was a MacArthur Fellow:

Benjamin is skilled, as well, in translating research on preventive health measures into accessible, community-based interventions to decrease the disease burdens of her diverse patient base, which includes immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, who comprise a third of Bayou La Batre’s population. A committed local physician, she also plays key roles statewide and nationally, helping others establish clinics in remote areas of the country and serving in leadership positions in such health-related organizations as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. With a deep, firsthand knowledge of the pressing needs and health disparities afflicting rural, high-poverty communities, Benjamin is ensuring that the most vulnerable among us have access to high-quality care.

She was the first African-American woman on the American Medical Association's board of trustees when she was elected to the post in 1995.

Obama Nomination Muddle Continues

President Obama's nomination for Surgeon General, Sanjay Gupta, has withdrawn his name from contention. That comes on the heels of the Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's choice for his deputy withdrawing her name:

Annette Nazareth, a former senior staffer and commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission, withdrew after several interviews and vetting of her financial history, a person familiar with Nazareth's decision said.

But this person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Geithner never publicly named Nazareth as his choice, said no problems with her taxes or other issues arose.

Nazareth, a partner at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, could not be reached for comment. Treasury and White House officials would not comment on the matter.

Funny, but since when has tax trouble disqualified any of Obama's nominations? After all, Geithner, who now heads the Treasury Department which oversees the IRS, skipped paying thousands of dollars in taxes over the years.

Once again, Obama's judgment of character continues to be wanting and his team of vetters should themselves be vetted for competency.

UPDATE:
Add to that the troubling and troubled nomination of Chas Freeman as chair of the National Intelligence Council.