Hot Jew-on-Jew Action, Health Care Division

Tablet weighs in on my criticism of Dan Baum. You'll notice -- those of you who pay attention to these things -- that I come out for a single-payer system. But I'm not arguing that there's a "Jewish" position in the health-care debate. The general Jewish proposition is that the poor should be clothed, the hungry fed and the sick healed -- but I believe that there are many possible paths one could follow to achieve those goals. It diminishes Judaism to suggest that a specific political party, or a specific political ideology, is the truly Jewish ideal. One of Dan Baum's sins is to suggest that Joe Lieberman's filibuster threat is somehow anti-Jewish. If Baum could prove to me that Lieberman has no interest in helping the sick get well, then I would agree that the senator is standing in opposition to a basic tenet of Judaism. But he can't prove that. I don't agree with Lieberman at all -- I would like to see the profit motive completely removed from health care in this country -- but I don't think Lieberman is betraying his religion by taking the position he takes.