Bernie at Liberty U.

Got round to watching this speech by Bernie Sanders at Liberty University, and it's pretty impressive.  Both as a speech generally, and given the nature of Sanders' audience.  Not all* seem as enthusiastic as the few screamers when the camera pans out, and granted, this is the same school which forced their students to attend Ted Cruz, but this seems a pretty positive reception for what the media would paint as a far-left radical message, in anything but ideologically friendly territory.**

I especially like the willingness to 'go there' on actual New Testament-principles, and to call out, if only implicitly the utter hypocrisy of the political and religious elites.  Most establishment-politicians couldn't pull that off.  Trump could almost, but he's an evident self-serving egomaniac whose every other word is a lie.

And this is the speech almost of a general election-campaign, with the primaries months away, and the party in question being largely ignored by the media, outside of the faux-controversy over Hillary's e-mail-server.  Bernie may or may not actually think he could go all the way (as may not Trump, as may not have Corbyn), but he's evidently embracing the moment, and making the most of the spotlight, to get his economic message out.  I approve.

Now, he just needs to get some non-pasty white folk on side.  I don't see any movement on that front sadly.


* To say the least, skimming a second time over.  Quite Nixon/Kennedy in the dichotomy between audio & video.****

** I almost wonder if some of the current upheaval in Western politics is generational, and if the media tends to underestimate the millennials, given what just happened in the UK.  If I ignorantly attribute the attitudes of my generation and similar to millennials, and assume incorrectly that past experience justifies current cynicism.  Almost.***

*** Evidently no-one knows a damn thing with our current political swings, myself included.

**** And then after I finish writing all this, I hear that they intentionally positioned some of Bernie's supporters up front near the mics.  Well, fer...


Update: Full video here from C-SPAN, including the warm-up, if you give a crap about that, and the post-speech Q&A.