Could Surgeon General Save U.S. From Flu?

While news of the swine flu epidemic shocked Americans on Friday, my thoughts turned to the empty Surgeon General's office in Washington.

Who will help us, I wondered. Who will tell us "It's okay."

And then, as so many Americans do when they are frightened, I turned to the cable news. And I waited for the comforting words from Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

A dashing, handsome doctor, Gupta is the medical professional we all wish we could afford, if we had more money. And not so long ago, as our nation turned the page on a new era, it looked as if Dr. Sanjay might become America's next and greatest Surgeon General.

Regardless of personal politics, every citizen felt a surge of pride in January, as we saw barriers about to fall forever: An Indian-American, as this nation's top medical authority. I honestly thought I wouldn't live to see the day.

And I still haven't.

For reasons both obscure and petty, the powers that be were not ready to allow Sanjay Gupta the keys to the finest suite at the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

There are even some who say Dr. Gupta preferred his "family and career" to a presidential appointment.

What family could compare to the family of medical professionals who constitute our nation's best doctors? What career could compare to one in which the required costume includes golden rope braids upon a lordly jacket reminiscent of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

We may never know what intrigue occurred behind the scenes, but we do know this: As the biggest health crisis in America's recent history breathes its foul air upon our nation's lungs, there is nothing but an "acting" Surgeon General to protect us from the awful bird-pig sickness.

When the king or queen calls a subject to service, then that is simply what happens -- you did not hear Sir Paul McCartney complaining about being too busy recording his next hit album to accept Queen Elizabeth's knighthood.

We should expect no different of a cable-news celebrity of the caliber of Dr. Sanjay Gupta. As the mysterious influenza threatens the calm seas of the United States, the nation's Surgeon General in Waiting must take command of this ship of state.

Ken Layne is the managing editor of Wonkette.com, the Washington political website.