Not only was Glenn Beck's December 9 rant against India and the Indian health care system xenophobic, it was incredibly elitist and ignorant.

After airing video of an American woman explaining why she went to India for her hip replacement - $40,000 in the U.S. v. $16,500 for her trip to India, the surgery and 13 days of medical care - Beck explained the cost differential thusly:

The best I can figure is all that money goes to high-tech hospitals and doctors who studied at Harvard rather than Gajra Raja medical school. Oh sure, yeah, you know, it's weird. You can buy a Gucci bag on any New York street corner for like four bucks. No different than the 3,000 dollar real thing. They're identical! They are! Yes, yes.

So Beck is defending the $3,000 Gucci bag rather than the $4 knockoff? That's not very populist!

Of course most people will never be able to afford the Gucci bag and thus, the knockoff is their only option. After all, in many cases, there is no difference between the Gucci bag and the knockoff - they are assembled the same way using the same materials. One just is licensed by Gucci and the other is not. Gucci is using its brand name to mark its price up by 1,000% (or whatever) so that its cost is what it's worth to upper class consumers and the knockoff is worth what it cost to make it.

All of which is to say, Beck is defending the American health care system by pointing to Harvard-trained doctors - but how many of his audience members -- how many Americans -- will ever have access to a Harvard-trained doctor? And do most Americans regularly need access to a Harvard-trained doctor?

Truth is, American patients are far more likely to be treated by a doctor trained in India than at Harvard.

In fact, more than four times as many Indian-trained MDs practice in the U.S. as their Harvard-trained colleagues.

According to NPR, “No other country has exported as many physicians as India. More than 40,000 practice in the United States, making up one of every 20 U.S. doctors.”

According to Harvard Medical School, there are 9,088 living alumni with MDs from the classes 1929-2008.

Of course, with the estimated $18 million Beck makes this year, he can have his choice of doctors - and Gucci handbags.