Dirtbagism.

I'm reading "Graham Platner and the Rise of the ‘Dirtbag’ Democrat/And what the Maine candidate reveals about politics today" in the NYT.

That's long, so let's jump to the place where the word "dirtbag" is thrown into the mix:

Michelle Cottle: And honestly, is it even fair to compare Platner to somebody like Paxton or Trump? 

Jamelle Bouie: You know, I don’t think it’s fair. And I say that because, so far, what we’ve learned about Platner is that, for lack of a better term, he’s kind of a dirtbag. Just a dirtbaggy kind of guy.... That’s versus Trump, who isn’t just a reprehensible person, but is actively engaged in harming other people in his private life, right? And I’d say the same for Paxton: not just a slimy guy, but a guy whose modus operandi, as a human being, is to try to dominate the people around him in really ugly ways. And so, I think Platner is more on the John Fetterman continuum than he is on the Trump continuum, which is just, eh, kind of dirtbaggy.

Cottle: OK, so I want to drill down just a little bit more....

The drilling down does not explore the concept of dirtbagism. Cottle was swooping in to take the conversation away from that, even though the headline writer saw the click-bait value of the word. In the conversation, "dirtbag" never reappears.

I asked Grok "how the word 'dirtbag' is being deployed what kind of people use that term and why" and got quickly tracked into the subject of the "dirtbag left." There's this New Yorker article from last October: "What Explains Graham Platner’s Popularity? The U.S. Senate candidate from Maine seems like the embodiment of the dirtbag left. But there’s another way to understand his appeal." Excerpt:

"Democrats really, really like Platner in Maine but the Republicans f***ing love him … if Maine wants an asshole with a Nazi tattoo on his chest, they get him."

Said John Fetterman, quoted in "Graham Platner 'sexted women.' Senior Democrats fear voters won’t care/Sexually explicit texts have piled pressure on the candidate for Maine. Long-serving party insiders say it’s a test of the tolerance for scandal" (London Times).

I'm getting my American news from The London Times this morning. For this post, I was charmed by the description of Fetterman as "the Democrats’ most unbiddable member in the upper chamber."

I think it's funny to call the Senate "the upper chamber," and I have to go talk with AI to get a handle on what "unbiddable" means. Once you see the root, "bid," as the "bid" in the phrase "do as you are bid," it's easy to see the meaning of "unbiddable." You can't tell Fetterman what to do.

I spend some time musing about the word "bid" — looked it up in the OED, read the very lengthy etymology, and scanned the quotes. Here's one from a 1984 book called "Country Voices," which is a collection of oral histories from rural England: "You didn't go to a funeral unless you were all in mourning, and you didn't go unless you were what they called ‘bid.' When anybody had died, there'd be a young man come round to bid you to the funeral..the joiner's lad."

Do you see why it would be the joiner's lad? And would you like that approach to funerals? You don't just decide for yourself should I go or not.

"Sen. Jim Justice (R-West Virginia) and I introduced the Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act to allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients to use their benefits to buy hot rotisserie chicken."

Writes John Fetterman, singing the praises of working across the aisle, in "John Fetterman: I haven’t changed. Here’s what has. Working across the aisle is the only way forward" (WaPo).

We can work together. We can accomplish something for the people. We can deliver hot rotisserie chicken.

"I might be a Democrat, but in this specific case, the president is absolutely correct to do these kinds of actions."

'BIZZARRE': Senator John Fetterman calls out his fellow Democrats who don't agree with the U.S. and Israel's strike on Iran:

"I'd like to remind my colleague over in the House that Iran massacred 30,000 of their own people... This war is not about the Iranian people. It's about… pic.twitter.com/jL7D49PKX3

— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 28, 2026

Senator Fetterman: "I'd like to remind my colleague over in the House that Iran massacred 30,000 of their own people.... This war is not about the Iranian people. It's about this poisonous regime. And that's why I'm proud to stand with our military. I'm proud to stand with Israel. I might be a Democrat, but in this specific case, the President is absolutely correct to do these kinds of actions. And now we have Israel's back. And now, that's why it's entirely the path for peace in that region. How many treaties? How much negotiation? I never thought they would work. Iran has only ever responded to these kinds of thing[s]. And now, here we are right now, and we have the opportunity. Real peace. And to change their way committed to trying to destroy Israel and destabilizing the entire region."

Fetterman is a little brain damaged, and I like the ring of truth in the unusualness of his expression. I like: "And now, here we are right now." 

"DO NOT make the mistake President Biden made for not firing a grossly incompetent DHS Secretary."

Writes Senator John Fetterman to President Trump, quoted in "Fetterman calls on Trump to fire Noem: 'Americans have died'" (The Hill).

When I first read that line — "Americans have died" — I thought he meant to say the entire nation has lost its soul.

But he meant the simpler, concrete reality: Renee Good and Alex Pretti have died.

There's also this: "Trump Holds 2-Hour Meeting With Noem Amid Backlash to Minneapolis Shooting" (NYT): "The meeting came after Ms. Noem requested to see the president.... Ms. Noem has been the face of the administration’s immigration crackdown, and she has been among the most vocal in spreading false accusations against Mr. Pretti, including labeling him a 'domestic terrorist.' The Oval Office meeting also included several of Mr. Trump’s top aides.... The meeting came the same day Mr. Trump announced he was sending Tom Homan, his border czar, to oversee the operation in Minneapolis. The move was seen as a way to elevate an official who is steeped in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s longstanding practice of prioritizing targeted arrests, rather than the kinds of sweeping raids that the Trump administration has carried out in cities across the country."

The referenced "grossly incompetent" Biden DHS Secretary was Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversaw the 10+ million illegal border crossings. Why didn't Biden fire him? A cynic would say Biden approved of what was happening. And yet even if he approved, he should have signaled that he did not approve, and firing the Secretary is a showy way to express disapproval.

"Nuzzi’s book compares in first week sales to those like John Fetterman's 'Unfettered' (2,600 copies in its first week) and Michael Wolff's 'All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America' (3,000 copies)..."

"... both of which were largely considered busts. Experts theorized 'Canto' was an example of the disconnect between media elites and consumers, and that scandal-filled headlines preceding its release exhausted the public interest before the book even hit the shelves...."

From "Olivia Nuzzi’s 'Canto' Sells Just 1,200 Print Copies In First Week" (Forbes).

"The Right would say really rough things and names ... but on the Left, it was like they want me to die or that 'We're cheering for your next stroke' ... they even have a gif where they have a stroke in your head."

🚨NEW: John Fetterman *STUNS* CNN's Dana Bash by telling her how Left crueler than Right🚨

FETTERMAN: "The Right would say really rough things and names ... but on the Left, it was like they want me to die or that 'We're cheering for your next stroke' ... they even have a gif… pic.twitter.com/iMRyVTssgs

— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) November 12, 2025

Fetterman praises Trump: "We can have true peace in the region now."

"My party loses the moral high ground...."

I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that.

This is anarchy and true chaos.

My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/pPYbvP6xR0

— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) June 10, 2025

What did John Fetterman say about the riots in the summer of 2020?

"[T]his is like an amazing puzzle, uncovering the secrets of an ancient civilization that went extinct … except it’s still around."

The logic flow diagram for the Social Security system looks INSANE. No one person actually knows how it works.

The payment files that move between Social Security and Treasury have significant inconsistencies that are not reconciled. It’s wild. https://t.co/BQUyxG72AC

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2025

And what's going on here — mostly typos?!:

"I think [the Democrats'] primary currency was shaming and scolding and talking down to people and telling them 'Hey, I know better than you, or you’re dopes...'"

"'... or you’re a bro, or you’re ignorant or, how can you be this dumb?' I can’t imagine it. And then, by the way, they’re fascists. How can you vote for that?... And you know, when you’re in a state like Pennsylvania, I know and I love people that voted for Trump, and they’re not fascist. They don’t support insurrection and those things. And if you go to an extreme, and you become a boutique kind of proposition, then you’re going to lose the argument. And we have done that.... And in some cases, in the conversations I’ve had, a lot of people, they don’t even want to say it publicly, but they just feel like the other side seems like…the men’s the problem. Men are to blame. Or their masculinity is toxic. Or unless you’re able to conform to our very strict kinds of definition of what we think is appropriate, well then, hey, I’m going to find an alternative. And they’ve done that.... it’s going to be difficult to rebuild and replace that...."

Said John Fetterman, quoted in "Democrat Sen. John Fetterman blasts party brand as ‘toxic’ after years of ‘shaming and scolding’ voters" (NY Post).

Man in shorts.

This is what it’s like bringing your engineers to a client meeting pic.twitter.com/J0y7TkUbao

— Alex Cohen (@anothercohen) January 20, 2025

Was the Louisiana Purchase bonkers?

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Fetterman took a flamethrower to the Democratic Party’s “freak-outs” over Trump’s interest in Greenland. Comparing it to historic deals like the Louisiana Purchase and the acquisition of Alaska, Fetterman dismissed the hysteria.

“If anyone thinks… pic.twitter.com/B6I6fK1HZw

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) January 8, 2025

"I mean, I would describe it as god-tier level trolling, that has triggered a full-on China Syndrome to own the libs in perpetuity."

Said John Fetterman, quoted in "Sen. John Fetterman calls Rep. Matt Gaetz AG nomination ‘god-tier’ level of trolling to 'own libs'" (NY Post).

Amazing 😂
pic.twitter.com/CmDmUFXptP

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2024

"Everybody’s constantly looking for the next job, and it’s incredibly cynical and transactional and, now, dysfunctional."

"I’ve been disappointed on the reality of that part of it. And it’s just also astonishing. I can’t understand why there’s people that are willing to spend tens of millions of their own money to try to hold that office. ’Cause then you can get there and be like, Hmm, look at the glamour: I’m sitting in a 500-square-feet apartment, and I’m on Grubhub and watching bad TV on Netflix or whatever. I like to ask all of my colleagues, Hey, is there some kind of secret society or like a social life or something glamorous? Even [Mitt] Romney, I mean, he’s incredibly wealthy, and he has a nice house, but I read that he sits on his nice chair and watches Netflix and eats salmon from his friend, and actually puts ketchup on it. So I haven’t met that one person that’s having that quintessential glamorous life. It’s been elusive for me, but it’s not one that would even appeal to me. I think people all think life is like 'The West Wing' or something, where it’s snappy dialogue. But a lot of it comes down to just really bad performance art."

Said John Fetterman, asked to explain why he doesn't consider himself a politician, in "The Interview/John Fetterman Fears Trump Is Stronger Than Ever" (NYT).

Here, you can watch the interview:

ADDED: The headline may make you think there's something valuable about Trump. I'll cherry-pick it for you:

Watch Senator Fetterman deal with the question of fracking by repeatedly invoking the old eating-the-dogs-eating-the-cats foofaraw.

You may question your brain function:

Fetterman on Meet the Press in response to Welker's question about fracking: "Now in 2024, we're still trying to talk about fracking & the other side is talking about eating cat and geese and dogs... having a serious policy conversation when the other side is absolutely on fire." pic.twitter.com/5A4ZuBfAS4

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 22, 2024

"There's a line from the first 'Batman,' Joker, he's like 'I’ve already been dead once already. It's very liberating.'"

"That's not reckless, that's just freeing. It's just freeing in a way. And I just think after beating all of that, I just really want to be able to say the things that I have to really believe in and not be afraid of if there's any kind of blowback."

Said John Fetterman, responding to Bill Maher's question whether there was a connection between his "physical and mental health issues" and his political courage, quoted in  "Sen. Fetterman Explains Political Independence: 'I've Been Dead Once Already, It's Very Liberating'" (Real Clear Politics).

"Fetterman’s health has improved more and faster than expected, and in what may not be a coincidence..."

"... the more his brain damage recedes, the less he agrees with lefty activists and the Democratic Party’s functionaries. Speaking at Yeshiva University’s commencement, Fetterman dramatically stripped off his Harvard hood and announced he was 'profoundly disappointed' at his alma mater’s refusal to address the antisemitism rampant on its campus, a discontent he extended to the entire antisemitism-enabling Ivy League. Quoth Fetterman: 'As an alum of Harvard — look, I graduated 25 years ago, and of course, it was always a little pinko. But now, I don’t recognize it....' When pro-Palestinian protesters showed up at the senator’s house (no dogpiling in his defense from lefty activists over this) and told him he had 'nowhere to hide,' Fetterman defiantly got on his roof with an Israeli flag....."

Writes Glenn Reynolds, in "Mea culpa, Fetterman: I was wrong about the senator and his illness" (NY Post).

This idea that the politics of the other is a mental disorder — literally.

Fetterman literally went to a mental hospital and now he's no longer a progressive. Whatever therapy he went through should be studied and replicated across the country and world. https://t.co/ZNZxhS94TR

— Heidi (@HeidiBriones) January 7, 2024

"We’re in a season of hand-wringing and scapegoating over social media, especially TikTok...."

"Young people are overwhelmingly unhappy about U.S. policy on the war in Gaza? Must be because they get their 'perspective on the world on TikTok' — at least according to Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat who holds a strong pro-Israel stance. This attitude is shared across the aisle. 'It would not be surprising that the Chinese-owned TikTok is pushing pro-Hamas content,' Senator Marsha Blackburn said.... Consumers are unhappy with the economy? Surely, that’s TikTok again, with some experts arguing that dismal consumer sentiment is a mere 'vibecession' — feelings fueled by negativity on social media rather than by the actual effects of inflation, housing costs and more.... Why don’t we know more about TikTok’s true influence, or that of YouTube or Facebook? Because that requires the kind of independent research that’s both expensive and possible only with the cooperation of the platforms themselves... [U]ntil politicians and institutions dig into the influence of social media and try to figure out ways to regulate it, and also try addressing broader sources of discontent, blaming TikTok amounts to just noise."

Writes Zeynep Tufekci — a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University — in "Avert Your Eyes, Avoid Responsibility and Just Blame TikTok" (NYT).