The shock defeat of the najority leader of the House of Repressentatives, Eric Cantor, who lost his primary election in Virginia to little-known economics professor David Brat, prompted this witty Twitter comment: "'Brat Upsets Cantor' is the name of my barmitzvah memoir."

It was posted by Dave Gilson, a senior editor on American investigative, magazine Mother Jones.

"Let's all lift this tweet up on a chair," said one admirer of Gilson's wit.