The better side of Rand Paul ? ? ?

Sen. Rand Paul seems to have a sincere commitment to criminal justice reform.   He used a political fund-raiser dinner in Baltimore to talk about the tragic suicide of 22 year old Kalief Browder, a young black man who had been arrested at age 16 for aledgedly stealing a backpack.   Although he maintained that he was innocent, he remained in jail for three years without being convicted of a crime, during which time he was subjected to brutal beatings by both prison guards and other prisoners.    

That is the story as described by Paul and as reported by Al Jazeera America.  Paul ended his appeal by saying that he had hesitated to tell the story but had decided that it might help change things.  Paul told the group: 

“Even if you’re convicted of a crime, in America for goodness sake, are we going to let people be raped and murdered and pillaged in a prison because they’re convicted? . . . And [Kalief] wasn't even convicted."

Paul then talked about other examples of unequal treatment in our justice system, including drug convictions.   He emphasized that he was not saying that they had done nothing wrong or that it was only about racism -- but that he could understand the anger expressed in black communities like Ferguson, MO.

“I didn’t grow up poor, I grew up middle class or upper middle class and this is me learning about how other people have to deal with life. . . .  So the thing is until you walk in someone else’s shoes, I think we shouldn’t say that we can’t understand the anger of people."

Paul sounds very earnest about this, and perhaps he is.   But here is another side to him as described by progressive blogger digby, who points out Paul's past close relationships with neo-confederates and racists.   She acknolwedges that he has been reaching out to the black community, now that he's running for president and "trying to create an image of someone who really cares."

But digby's real question is:   what is "the libertarian solution . . .  to the ongoing, structural, institutional racism that has permeated our culture since its inception and which remains the fetid, infectious boil on the American body politic?"   The answer:   "lower the taxes on the business people so they hire more people. . . .  There is literally no problem on earth that lowering taxes on business people will not solve."

That, according to digby, is the libertarian answer.   Of course, Rand Paul is also distancing himself a bit from his prior strict libertarianism, now that he's trying to broaden his appeal.   he describes himself as "libertarianish."  

I'm willing to give Rand Paul the benefit of doubt that he is sincere and that he might really want things to be better.    His rhetoric is getting better.    Let's see if he can come up some solutions other than tax cuts and deregulation.

Ralph