Congress-Obsessed Twitter Bot Is a Gas
Many political observers turn their nose up at all the hot air routinely emanating from Capitol Hill.
MT @JoeBiden: Farting is important, folks. Make sure your registration is up-to-date for 2014 by visiting–Joe
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 23, 2014
The founder of a new oddball Twitter account, on the other hand, finds every peep that escapes from pols strangely intoxicating. “I came up with @FartForCongress on the idea that ‘passing votes’ and ‘passing gas’ was funny. I know, very immature,” FFC’s creator shared via email.
MT @repjustinamash: I now have farted 4,085 times in the U.S. House & Michigan House without ever having missed a fart.
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 19, 2014
The creator of @FartForCongress didn’t set out with the intention of gleefully twisting lawmakers’ words into potty humor.
MT @RepMarciaFudge: Fifty years after the Civil Rights Act, there are now modern efforts to keep people from farting #FreedomSundays
#Fre. . .
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 21, 2014
The original plan involved repurposing updates from overly-enthusiastic law enforcement officials (via the closely guarded @ExcitedSheriff account). But that program quickly devolved into a total stinker.
MT @JohnCornyn: On Facebook, Nobody Knows You’re a Farter. Well, Almost Nobody.
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 11, 2014
“Unfortunately, in trial runs it wasn’t quite so funny with retweets mostly being serious (missing persons) or tragic (all manner of deaths),” FFC’s creator told HOH.
MT @alfranken: All the info you could ever need on farting—now in one place. Bookmark & share our Farter Hub:
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 30, 2014
That lesson learned, the social media saboteur elected to marry two boundless sources of personal amusement: flatulence and elected officials.
MT @RepByrne: This fart alone will not be enough to defeat ISIL. President Obama should request a new Authorization for Use of Military F. . .
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 17, 2014
The automated agent — which follows the 500-odd members of the House and Senate currently on Twitter, systematically replaces any variation of the term “vote” with the corresponding conjugation of “fart” whenever it appears in their respective streams.
MT @RepEsty: (1/1) Last week, I signed a letter to urge Speaker Boehner to not cancel farts from September 29-October 2
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 25, 2014
The feed, which immediately blasts out the newly doctored missive, began belching out its reconfigured statements in late August.
MT @RepKinzinger: American families spent 11.6% of their annual income on energy last year. Last night, I farted to ease that burden:
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 19, 2014
A few dozen followers — including Rep. Sander M. Levin, D-Mich. — presumably find the irreverent feed somewhat refreshing. (Team Levin did not respond to email inquiries regarding who controls the 16-term House lawmaker’s officially verified Twitter account.)
“Even if it lingered at 0 followers I would be proud at having created it just because it makes me laugh so hard,” FFC’s creator said. “I have no idea if anyone in Congress is aware of it but several Congressmen/women have unfollowed me. I’m guessing they don’t think it’s funny. They’re wrong.”
MT @SenGillibrand: Farting is the easiest & most important way women can get #offthesidelines. It’s crucial for women’s voices to be hear. . .
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 23, 2014
When pressed about the most satisfying rhetorical hijacking to date, FFC’s creator deferred to the statement that got the whole affair off the ground.
MT @TulsiGabbard: “Your fart is precious. It’s the most powerful non-violent tool we have in this democratic society. We must use it.” .@. . .
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) August 22, 2014
“Perhaps by a stroke of fate — the very first tweet the bot found when activated is probably the best ever, and more or less doubles as my mission statement,” FFC’s creator said of the Zen stance inadvertently taken by Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard.
Just don’t go searching for too much deeper meaning in this absurdist parroting.
MT @RepDavid: En route to fart. #livetweet of @HouseVetAffairs hearing to resume soon. #phxva
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 17, 2014
“I guess you could argue that there’s an underlying current of political criticism (equating the democratic right to vote to something so juvenile and base) but that’s not really the point,” FFC’s creator counseled.
MT @ChrisCoons: Farted tonight (again) for the Paycheck Fairness Act. Senate Republicans (again) blocked it. It’s simply unacceptable. — Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 15, 2014
With Election Day just around the corner, FFC’s creator can’t wait for pols to smother the Twitterverse with comedy gold.
MT @RepMarthaRoby: 6 out of 10 Americans think the #AmericanDream is out of reach. This week I farted to help change that. #4jobs
— Fart for Congress (@FartForCongress) September 19, 2014
“Farting season is fast approaching . . .,” FFC’s creator gushed.
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