IMO, Sanjay Gupta is the medical equivalent of Tweety...

[PCIntern]

Gee, what way is the wind blowing this year?? Oh...it seems that most of the people who might watch CNN but perhaps don't, believe in legalization of marijuana or medical uses of marijuana? Well...you can just COUNT ME IN AS OF TODAY, sez Dr. Gupta. I can only imagine the discussions in the CNN boardroom prior to adjusting the all-powerful, all-knowing Dr. Sanjay Gupta's brain via a cable-news mind-meld.

You know, or perhaps you don't, that Michael Moore figuratively beat the crap out of ol' Sanjay right there on CNN when they squared off in 2007 when Gupta criticized Moore's film "Sicko". Sure, Gupta's good-looking, articulate, obviously very learned in that rigid medical school/residency fashion - semi-old school with a little verve and an occasional smile to contrast with the "seriousface" which ALL medical personnel need to exhibit on the air. But as a clinician myself, I find his delivery and cocksuredness reprehensible, particularly that he is a specialist in a field, neurology and neurosurgery, which is described by its practitioners as an almost complete unknown. They really know very little, relatively speaking, about the brain, the brain stem or even the periphery compared with the unimaginably complex functions they carry out routinely from the embryo to our death and perhaps even, to some extent, slightly beyond. So, in the vernacular, other than what he's learned in books and practiced over and over and over again, he really doesn't know much about much in the GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS. And I mean the TOTALITY of science and scientific medicine of which we don't know as much as the lay person thinks we know.

He has a Perry Mason courtroom delivery: THIS IS HOW IT IS...even when I am unsure, I speak with certainty, and when called to task, which does not happen often.... I get strangely quiet......

He went on Larry King with Moore and started with a big swagger and then was diced into little bits. If I weren't so mad at the establishment crowd for denying medical care to the poor and middle class at any and all opportunities, I would have almost felt sorry for him. But believe me, I didn't.

So his pronouncement today, as Philip Roth would have his character say in Portnoy's Complaint, "...don't mean shit to a swan."

[monmouth3]

1. I do realize Dr. Gupta is a credentialed physician but I've always had that sneaky feeling he was a

quack. I don't know, maybe it's that leery smile of his. One thing about him though Doc, he does have nice teeth...

[PCIntern]

2. That he does.

who gives a shit?

Probably a ZOOM case of teeth whitening...gotta gussy him up for the TeeVee machine!

On edit: I don't think he's a quack...I think he's really really 'smart'. And a very good conventional physician.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Can I speak as a reporter? And the ugly secret of the news room?

I don't think either tweety or Sanjay are as independent of the editors and owners as some here like to think

I am even more cynical than you...this decision was made after looking at the all important 30-45 demo..if you get my drift.

As to his specialty...it is in the frontiers of medicine and some treatments have hardly changed in hundreds, if not longer...years.

ICP is treated by relieving pressure...some of it is the way it's been done since Maya and Roman times...we just anesthesia, induced coma and antibiotics these days.

I told you I was a cynic.

[PCIntern]

4. Agree 100%.

Bastards...

[HiPointDem]

5. 100% in agreement. he's a shill for the PTB & consistently spouts whatever partly line is going.

[Blue Owl]

6. Tweety and Guppy

n/t

[LiberalLoner]

7. I wish more was known about neurology.

It would be nice to find a cure for ALS, Parkinson's or my own disease of MS. Finally got diagnosed this year after many problems for many years and docs who did not believe me. Saw my medical records finally this month. Already at a 5 on the EDSS scale. Afraid of what comes next. Sorry for hijacking, needed to talk about this for a minute.

[TheTruthBeKnown]

9. Hi my dear friend!

I hope you are doing ok today. I've been away from DU for a time and learned all of my posts were deleted. I thought they were archived.

It's a busy day here. Lots of errands. I wanted to touch base with you on this site. Let me know if you get my message <3.

[RadiationTherapy]

8. Alfred Korzybski recognised that the word "is" is scientifically inaccurate

and ought to be replaced with the phrase, "seems to be" or something similar to note the inherent relativity, flexibility, and as-yet-unknowns of the universe we observe and speak about. A scientist who speaks in absolutes about emerging science is suspect to me.

[Pathwalker]

10. So, who is that perfectly flawless spokesperson who can be accepted

by both sides, without being preemptively thrown under the bus for the cause of legalizing MMJ?
Sometimes the message matters more. Righties hate Walter Despise Walter Cronkite, but his message against the Vietnam war helped lead to it's end.
Some of us out here in America can't wait for the perfect spokesperson, we need this war on weed to end, like yesterday. To the extent that Dr. Gupta's message may help that happen, I'd rather him than no one.

Sometimes the message IS more important than the messenger. And no, I'm not a fan of him. But I'll take his support for this cause.

[Le Taz Hot]

11. Excellent OP.

I loved the "seriousface." I didn't think that much about it but now that you mention it, it's the only reason that makes sense for his 180 degree turnaround.