Democratic...er, excuse me, liberal...uhm, no, progressive truth is stranger than fiction.  It is also wildly hypocritical, smug, and full of distortions and outright lies.  Not that this bothers the true believers; indeed, they glory in it.  

Over the weekend, this Democrat alternative universe was on full display as supposedly wannabe Democratic presidential nominee Bernie Sanders, the Socialist senator from Vermont who prefers the official party designation, Independent (really!), spoke on Martha's Vineyard, an island vacation spot off the coast of Massachusetts inhabited during the summer by the Democratic one percent, including President Barack Obama (D).  During the other nine months, the Democratic 99% inhabitants have it tough.  

On this exclusive enclave, residents casually shelled out $37,000 a head to hear Sanders castigate the wealthy – themselves – at the annual Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser.  The DSCC gratefully accepted the money.  As the New York Times described it:

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has risen in the polls thanks in part to his denunciations of the forces of concentrated wealth, drawing thousands of liberals to hear his jeremiads against corporate power in early nominating states and liberal hubs such as Madison, Wis.

But Mr. Sanders quietly stepped off the campaign trail this weekend to visit Martha’s Vineyard, a favorite summer destination of the country’s elite, in order to mix with representatives of some of the same interests he inveighs against in his stump speech.(snip)

One prominent attendee, a supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign, suggested Mr. Sanders’s appearance suggested he was more pragmatic than his rhetoric would let on.

“Bernie is attracting throngs and has a wave going preaching against the one percent,” said the attendee, requesting anonymity to speak candidly. “So why would he take the weekend to spend in Martha’s Vineyard with wealthy people who are donating at least $37,000 and change to the DSCC?” (That is the minimum contribution to the Senate Democrats campaign arm in order to attend the event).  (snip)

Asked about Mr. Sanders’s appearance at the fund-raiser, his spokesman, Michael Briggs, said he would not recalibrate his populist language in the wealthy enclave.

“The people who financially support the Democratic Party need to hear the message that Bernie is giving all over the country and that is resonating all over the country,” Mr. Briggs said. “It is also important that the Democrats take back the Senate.”

Give Sanders credit for consistency.  Later, interviewed live from this exclusive spot for Face the Nation, he reinforced his class warfare, victim, and jealousy rhetoric, proclaiming:

I think the American people understand that establishment politics and establishment economics are not working for the middle class and working families of this country and they want real change.

They want to end the absurdity of seeing the middle class of this country continue its 40-year decline, people working longer hours for lower wages, having the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. All the while, there has been a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the top one-tenth of 1 percent, so that today almost all of the new wealth and income being created is going to the top 1 percent. (snip)

Money cannot be the God of life. We have got to look at our kids, look at those people who are hurting; we've got to come together to create a new world and not a world in which a handful of people have so much wealth and so many other people are suffering.

I am a great fan of Pope Francis.

Whew!  Meanwhile, huge Democratic Obamacare rate increases are hitting “middle class and working families” hard, but Sanders will undoubtedly blame the nasty insurers God.

Hat tip: Twitchy has fun with this.