From the NYT:

In Virginia, Women Form an Insurgency to Try to Topple Republican Dave Brat

By Michael Tackett
Aug. 9, 2018

MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — The Liberal Women of Chesterfield County did not exist when Representative Dave Brat, propelled by Tea Party-infused energy, shocked the Republican establishment in 2014 and defeated the House majority leader, Eric Cantor, in a primary triumph here that presaged even greater political upheaval two years later. …

A race that was once considered solidly in the Republican camp is now rated a tossup, and the Liberal Women of Chesterfield County are stirring women to come out in such great numbers that the Democratic nominee, Abigail Spanberger, a well-credentialed former C.I.A. officer, may make history of a different sort in a district that has been deeply Republican for decades.

In Russia, old KGB agents took over the country under Putin. Do you ever get the impression, when surveying recently recruited Democratic candidates, that the CIA alumni association intends to do something similar to the USA?

One difference might be that my impression is that the KGB, given the Soviet Union’s severe economic disadvantage, had to be somewhat competent to stay in the game, while the CIA seems to have a track record of ineptitude.

From World Socialist Web Site:

The CIA Democrats: Part one
By Patrick Martin
7 March 2018

An extraordinary number of former intelligence and military operatives from the CIA, Pentagon, National Security Council and State Department are seeking nomination as Democratic candidates for Congress in the 2018 midterm elections. The potential influx of military-intelligence personnel into the legislature has no precedent in US political history.

I presume a whole bunch of ex-officers got elected to Congress in 1946, like Kennedy and Nixon. But it is a pretty interesting phenomenon. The notion that the successful KGB takeover of Russia might be serving as an inspiration to CIA folks doesn’t seem to have come up much, though.

[Comment at Unz.com]