#BirdieSanders Lights Up Twitter

There isn't a lot of joy to be gleaned from most recent political news: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are meeting in the gutter to figure out whose wife is hotter; #CruzSexScandal is trending on Twitter, which is horrifying for both the rumor behind it and the realization that Cruz is sexually active. It's all pretty grim. But when a bird interrupted a Bernie Sanders speech, the Internet rejoiced with #BirdieSanders. Because we need a bit of good news every once in a while, y'all.

The Democratic candidate was speaking in nearby Portland, Oregon, on Friday ahead of Saturday's caucus in Washington. As Sanders talked about the importance of education, a small bird landed on stage, momentarily distracting the crowd. Sanders paused for a moment, trying to figure out what had drawn attention away from him. When he noticed the bird, he paused, threw his head back and laughed, which might be the last time that he does that in a while if the election keeps rolling on like it has. The bird further delighted crowds when it flew up and landed on Sanders' podium. The crowd went wild, even after the seemingly unaffected bird flitted off into the distance.

"I think there may be some symbolism here," Sanders noted. "I know it doesn’t look like it, but that bird is really a dove asking us world peace." OK, that might be a stretch, but I'll allow some editorializing in this rare instance of positive campaign news.

Members of the crowd weren't the only ones to take pleasure in the tiny winged supporter. Twitter, er, tweeted about the brief stage-crasher.

Of course, there was no shortage of speculation about what would happen if the bird has flocked to a different campaign speech.

Watch it a few more times, because I have a feeling we're about to return to regularly scheduled awfulness.