Francis Kissling in Salon, at least, writes with some sense about this bullshit.

The only problem seems to be that some people think the face is too fat.

From her photos, it appears that Dr. Benjamin will need a generous size 18 military uniform. The anti-fat brigade, who have argued about her BMI and whether or not the term obese applies, wonder if a country plagued by obesity should have an above average-weight woman speaking to public health.

For me the answer is a resounding yes. This country is full of above-average weight women and children struggling for dignity as well as to lose weight. Achieving either of these is not easy. (Never mind that none of these criticisms have mentioned any actual health concerns Benjamin might or might not have, instead presuming "obesity" as a catch-all for bad health.)

In fact, despite the fact that the entire "theory" undermining the BMI measurement system has been proven to be ineffective for any real determination of unhealthy weight and that it's been shown to be disproportionately ineffective for African-American women in particular, people have looked at Regina Benjamin, determined her to be bigger than some predetermined physical ideal, assumed that means she has a high BMI, assumed that BMI (despite its known biases) is some indicator of health and thus made the determination that, despite her vast qualifications, we shouldn't have anyone who doesn't embody some bullshit ideal of physical imperfection helming an department that deals with health issues.

If I hadn't already heard this about Sonia Sotomayor and Elana Kagan — again today, even, about Sotomayor! — I guess I'd be a little less disinclined to immediately roll my eyes and think it sexist and sizeist. But not one of these assholes said a god damned thing when Obama nominated former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to head the Department of Agriculture, despite his oversight over: the food pyramid; agricultural subsidies that go heavily to grains and hardly at all to fruits and vegetables; the school lunch program, food stamps, WIC programs and the lists of foodstuffs that comprise what the poor are able to eat; and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Nobody piped up when he nominated non-skinny former Congressman Ray LaHood to head the Department of Transportation, who has since become the face of an agency that provides oversight over the roads that make sure most Americans need do little more than walk from their buildings to cars and back again. And goodness knows none of these concern-trolling assholes had a word to say when Larry Summers was appointed to lead the National Economic Council, whose remit includes agriculture, health care, Social Security and labor issues. Google any of their names and the acronym BMI and you're more likely to read about the airline than weight — and any of the stories about weight aren't about theirs.

Just so long as I'm clear on the double standard: if you're a (potentially) overweight man whose job involves issues related to weight, you get a pass. If you're a woman, people feel inclined to debate your bodytype ad infinitum, even if your job has nothing to do with health issues (like being a Supreme Court justice). Glass ceilings, indeed.

Is Regina Benjamin Too Fat To Be Surgeon General? [Salon]

Related: Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus [NPR]
The Effect Of Sex, Age And Race On Estimating Percentage Body Fat From Body Mass Index: The Heritage Family Study [National Journal of Obesity]
Mark Levin: Sotomayor Is "Ruth Bader Ginsburg Plus About 50 Pounds" [Media Matters]
National Economic Council [White House]

Earlier: Obama's Surgeon General Pick Made Sacrifices to Treat Poor
Women Too Stupid To Stay Thin Are Not Smart Enough For Supreme Court
Why Sexist Larry Summers Shouldn't Get A Cabinet Slot

With all the focus on Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearing Tuesday, we've sort of been neglecting the hearings of the other women of the Obama Administration, which have been going equally swimmingly. Lisa Jackson, Barack Obama's EPA nominee, faced down tough questions from Republicans who are really keen not to see anyone actually regulate at the EPA and are scared to death that companies might have to stop poisoning our environment in the name of Progress. But Jackson thinks science should trump political ideology — who'da thunk? — and said that environmental negligence weighs on her conscience. And you thought Hillary Clinton's hearings were hot.

And if you're not full-up with the womanly awesomeness yet, go check out the New York Times' article about Janet Napolitano in which it's mentioned that she quotes Monty Python, has a photographic memory, laughs at Ed Rendell and plans, basically, to save the world. Oh, and she represented Anita Hill. Come back when you're done swooning, because we're about to get to the bad news portion of the morning.

And that bad news is, of course, related exclusively to Obama's dudely nominees who — one by one — are either facing contentious confirmation hearings or delayed confirmation hearings for being, at a minimum, idiots. First up is Eric Holder, whose hearing is today. He get to face questions about the Mark Rich and FALN pardons, his involvement with a long-ago Gore fundraiser at a Buddhist temple (that's one for Napolitano's photographic memory banks, geez) and Rod Blagojevich, so it should be fun. But, hey, at least he's not Alberto Gonzales, right? Right? Are those crickets I hear?

Next up on the controversy train is Treasury nominee Tim Geithner, whose new problems stem from having neglected to pay self-employment taxes for four years despite having gotten paid extra by the IMF to offset the additional tax liability. Most everyone thinks that, like Holder, he'll nonetheless be confirmed, mostly because Republicans are unwilling to make a big deal about it because they think he's practically one of them, but his confirmation hearing has been delayed.

Finally, the newest nominee to face a delay is Republican Congressman and Transportation Secretary nominee Ray LaHood who, in the wake of the Blago scandal, might face just a touch more scrutiny at his hearing what with all his earmarks that benefited campaign donors. God, when was the last time there was a Republican corruption scandal?

Not that any of this is rubbing off on Obama, who is riding high in the polls and facing tremendous pressure to do politically popular things like eliminate torture, use the bail-out money for the housing crisis and adopt an appropriate dog. He's going to face more pressure to stay at the Inaugural Balls for more than 10 minutes.

And I could talk about Israel bombing more UN civilian targets in Gaza, but I'm scared that Joe the Motherfucking Plumber might be mean to me. CNN's Rick Sanchez, though, is not and he took him on yesterday in a segment that made my ladybits tingle.

• Batty conservative Michael Savage thinks Caroline Kennedy ought to watch her back since Hillary Clinton killed her brother John. We think she should watch out for batshit crazy conservatives. [Media Matters]

• But New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo — a reported competitor for the seat — might harbor a teeny crush on Caroline. [Politico]
• Barack Obama's next appointment is likely to be Republican Congressman Ray LaHood to be the next Secretary of Transportation. [Huffington Post]
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has appointed defeated New Hampshire Senator John Sununu to the oversight board for the financial bail-out so that Johnny doesn't have to go live in New Hampshire or anything. [Politico]
• Tabloid-esque biographer Andrew Morton is shopping a book proposal on Michelle Obama but he's not having much luck. [The First Post]
• Former CIA Director George Tenent is: an anti-Semite, possibly a drunk; definitely short-sighted when it came to being sold out by the Bush Administration. [Think Progress]
• Big surprise: the whole "trickle down" effect we were supposed to see from the government throwing wads of cash at the banks? Not happening. They're just hoarding and giving out bonuses and taking expensive staff retreats. [LA Times]
• Egyptian Saad Gumaa has offered his daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa, to the guy who threw the shoe at President Bush, Muntazer al-Zaidi. She considers al-Zaidi a hero; her father considers her the most valuable thing he could offer al-Zaidi; we continue to think that women are more than chattel. [Reuters]
• Aretha Franklin will sing and Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma will perform a selection composed by John WIlliams at the swearing-in ceremony at Obama's Inauguration. We assume that neither Dr. Feelgood or The Imperial March will make an appearance. [Huffington Post]

• If it wasn't enough to attack Barack Obama for what few ties he has to Bill Ayers, the McCain campaign is attempting to tie Michelle Obama to Bernardine Dohrn, Ayers' wife. Dohrn worked at Sidley Austin (a firm of 500 lawyer plus hordes of legal staff) at Sidley Austin in 1984, three years before Michelle did, so they were obvs BFF and conspired about... well, stuff. You know "those ones." [Talking Points Memo]
• McCain has decided to ask his supporters to try being "respectful" at rallies, despite his staff saying it's all Obama's fault that they aren't. [Politico, MSNBC]
• The former Republican governor of Michigan, William Milliken, respectfully thinks that McCain isn't the same guy he endorsed in the primaries. [Huffington Post]
• Republican Congressman Ray LaHood respectfully thinks that Sarah Palin's race-baiting "doesn't befit the office that she's running for." [Huffington Post]

• The Troopergate report will probably come out eventually. Just not in time for me to write about it tonight, so it must be juicy. [Washington Post]
• Rensselaer County, New York, "mistakenly" printed Barack Obama's name as "Barack Osama" on absentee ballots. I mistakenly typed this entire entry with my middle finger pointed in their direction and still managed not to confuse the letters B or S, let alone BS. [Times Union]
• Vladimir Putin got a tiger for his birthday, because he is completely insane. He's donating it to a zoo because, sadly, he's not the kind of crazy that would endanger his own life. Other people's? You betcha. [Huffington Post]
• And, although everyone told me he was a philanderer when I had a crush on him, the the former head of French police intelligence's diaries confirmed that Nicolas Sarkozy was banging his friend's wife back in the day. Le sigh. I always fall for the wrong guy. [The Times]