Bernie Sanders Opens Conference Bridging Politics and Spirituality at Sister Giant

The Sister Giant conference, founded and organized by Marianne WIlliamson brings together politics and transcendance/spirituality. It's a different kind of spirituality-- not tied to any one religion-- more tied to the transcendance, metaphysics and higher consciousness movement. Most of the attendees-- I'd say 98% are women. These are not people who are generally political. But this conference is pushing. "It's not either or," WIlliamson says. "We address the internal and external."

Check out the conference website to see the speakers. I went, wanting to hear and see Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich, Alan Grayson, Thom Hartmann, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Jean Houston and Marianne WIlliamson, for starters.

Bernie Sanders opened the conference as the first speaker, telling the audience that when he was mulling running for president, the response he received at the LA Sister Giant conference was a factor in persuading him to go for it.

He spoke for 30 minutes. Some take-aways:

Despair is not an option

We observed the gross failure of the Democratic party

We have to replace the democratic leadership

Donald Trump's views are a minority position

Trumps supporters are not for the most part bigots and racists. They are hard working, decent people asking questions.

As far as Trump taking on the establishment, he says, you don't take on the establishment by appointing billionaires, by appointing a head of the OMB who is on the record calling for ending medicare and medicaid.

We have got to create a democratic party that stands for working people, not for Wall street, that opens doors to working people and young people.

"Every great moment in history came from the bottom up, not from the top-down"

Here's the video of his entire speech. H