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So, last night at 7:02PM Eastern time, US Congressman Eric Swalwell appeared on Hardball and appeared to - on a hot mic - break wind explosively.




The is quite the controversy about this. Swalwell denies responsibility. One conspiracy theory is that it was actually Chris Matthews, not Swalwell.


I personally think the evidence for this is poor - there is definitely a pause right after which I think is incontrovertible proof.

Hardball is claiming they moved a mug on the desk. I also doubt that.

1.) #fartgate was briefly trending on twitter
2.) Literally every news outlet seems to be reporting this now

What is your take? Remember, no politics allowed so don't bring them up!

Best thing to do would've been to laugh, but the second best is to blame someone else.

Best thing is to blame last night's chili/pea soup/feijao/what-have-you.

Sounded like a cellphone vibrating on a tabletop to me.

But then pretty much any politician opening their mouth may as well be making fart noises to me.

 chromedog wrote:
Sounded like a cellphone vibrating on a tabletop to me.

But definitely not a mug being slid on a desk, right?

Oh... okay. I guess this is a big deal...?

I’m something of an expert in this field, so I’ll break it down.

The perpetrator has the look of a man who is holding something back throughout the interview. The tight, pursed lips and the total focus in his eyes. That, to my trained eye, looks like a man who knows he might just bust ass on live television. He’s holding it back, but its taking its toll and that levee wasn’t built to withhold the hurricane thats brewing.

Right before touchdown, there is a brief verbal hesitation from the perp. A good half second before he says “Cheat”. He’s inhaling to exhale, so to speak.

Then the bomb drops.

There’s a slight but visible posture change right after. Dude let one rip, theres no doubt.

But here is where things get tricky. Sometimes all of us start things that kind of get out of control, it happens to the best of us and it looks like the perp fell victim to a similar situation. I don’t believe he truly meant to dominate the area like he did. He was probably aiming for a stealth launch, maybe even a little squeaker that the mics wouldn’t pick up, but he was betrayed and it was devastating.

The silver lining for the perp was that it sounded like a dry blast, so no risk of any fallout. #Swalwelldidntshithimself.

Totally agree. It was that damning pause that sealed it in my mind - the pause of a guilty man who underestimated just what he was sitting on, both figuratively and literally.

He definitely blew rump on TV. Denying it just looks bad. He should have made a joke about it and moved on.

Does the world really have nothing better to know about?

News these days.

I'm not convinced that 'People fart' is particularly newsworthy, frankly.


Moving on.