UPDATED - Bernie Sanders goes to Washington. Actual filibuster in action. EIGHT hours and counting!

Jimmy Stewart ain't got nothing on Bernie Sanders. Must see TV here. What an amazing performance from an amazing politician.

About three hours ago, just as he took the Senate floor, Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) staff, tweeted: "You can call what i am doing today whatever you want, you it [sic] call it a filibuster, you can call it a very long speech..."

And he's been speaking, almost uninterrupted, ever since.

It's a filibuster as filibusters were originally intended -- and, as such, makes a mockery of what the filibuster's become: a gimmick that allows a minority of senators to quietly impose supermajority requirements on any piece of legislation.

UPDATE: Think Progress notes this is technically not a filibuster.

UPDATE I: Obama, Bill Clinton and CNN have teamed up to take away from Sanders' extraordinary feat by airing wall-to-wall Clinton coverage with only a snide, comical snippet of a mention about Sanders' historical 'filibuster' speech. Major networks follow suit. Your liberal media!

UPDATE II: Eight and one half hours later, Sanders yields the floor. Well done, Bernie.