Aaron Rodgers and Covid: A Thanksgiving Analysis on NIDC

 

Editor’s note: as regular readers will know, I’m always absolutely thrilled to welcome a new writer over on NIDC as part of our Friends of the Blog initiative; and that’s precisely what we’ve got on today’s docket. 

In a memorable pop culture takedown, Wisconsinite and podcaster extraordinaire Charles Minnich explores the intersection of celebrity, privilege, and responsibility towards the common good in an unlikely place; the National Football League. 

 

Fourth and Wrong

To tell you the truth, I've been fishing around in my social circles for a left wing popular culture writer for a little while; so when my friend and soon-to-be partner in podcasting crime Mr. Minnich volunteered to cover the Aaron Rodgers COVID story, I snapped at the chance to publish that. While an opinion piece about Rodgers' coronavirus lies might seem out of place on ninaillingworth.com, the truth is that this is a tale that exists inside a vortex of fame, obligations, and the politicization of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Whether Rodgers intended this or not, his decision to blame the fallout from his reactionary behavior on a rampaging "woke mob," has made this entire story inherently political.

Writing from the perspective of both an informed observer on the left, and a Green Bay Packers fan, our guest author tackles the facts, as well as their larger meaning; and in doing so, drops the hammer on Aaron Rodgers.

 

"Like everything political in the Badger state, feelings about football and the pandemic are very complicated. Masking and vaccination mandates have driven anti-vax fanatics to their local school boards in ginned-up outrage. With Thanksgiving conversations about football and COVID looming large, it is important to consider the facts of the matter. Aaron Rodgers lied to the public and said he was vaccinated, although he added that he wouldn’t judge those teammates who refused. But that was back in August. Fast forward to today and we come to find out through a positive test for COVID, that he was lying all along. A lie complicated by the knowledgeable complicity of everyone involved, from the Packers players and organization, to league officials."

 

Check it out over on ninaillingworth.com by clicking on the quotation block above, or the title header below:

 

Aaron Rodgers and Covid: A Thanksgiving Analysis

nina illingworth

Anarcho-syndicalist writer, critic, and analyst. 

You can find my work at NIDC, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

Updates available on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon and Facebook. Podcast at “No Fugazi” on Soundcloud.

Inquiries and requests to speak to the manager @ASNinaWrites

Chat with fellow readers online at Anarcho Nina Writes on Discord!

“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”

 

Beefing with White Supremacy in Online Left Spaces on NIDC

 

Editor’s note: welcome back to Film Sessions; a monthly feature on NIDC in which I share, analyze and expand on a relevant video created by someone on the left wing of YouTube.

If you're wondering why I've moved these posts off of Media Madness, check out this mid-October content update notice. 

 

Left Solidarity and Abolishing Whiteness

Hello my friends; happy, um, November I guess. After taking a month to kind of re-establish my bearings and fire up a new blog, I'm back in the swing of things early with a new essay-length Film Sessions post on ninaillingworth.com. Today we're returning to important discussions about whiteness, and the corrosive nature of low-key white supremacist ideology in online left spaces; with an assist from a creator never-before featured in our study rotation. Join me as we examine John the Duncan's new video about why decolonization is not genocide, and Vaush is not a credible source of left wing analysis; this month in Film Sessions.

 

"In practice then, whiteness is about stigmatizing, delegitimizing, and dehumanizing non-white people in an extremely pervasive, everyday sort of way. This tracks well with history, because whiteness is not a naturally occurring concept; it was invented justify genocide and slavery while greasing the wheels of settler colonial capitalism."

 

To read more over on ninaillingworth.com, click on the quotation block above or the header below:

 

Film Sessions: Beefing with White Supremacy in Online Left Spaces

 

- nina illingworth

 

Anarcho-syndicalist writer, critic and analyst.

You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

Updates available on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon and Facebook.

Podcast at “No Fugazi” on Soundcloud.

Inquiries and requests to speak to the manager @ASNinaWrites

Chat with fellow readers online at Anarcho Nina Writes on Discord!

“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”

 

In the Aggregate: A Neofeudalist Dystopia on NIDC

 

Editor’s Note: as of now, In the Aggregate is a regular round-up feature on NIDC, that showcases and expands on my social media analysis from around the web.

Gimme One With Everything

Whelp; in terms of my private war against arbitrary publishing deadlines, it's been a week of ups and downs so far.

Unfortunately, a frustrating tech fail yesterday morning left me without a mid-week essay to publish. Fortunately, I'm so extremely online I was able to make lemonade out of analysis I haven't shared on ninaillingworth.com yet. Combining original material, with most of my recent blogging, and polished highlights from all of my various social media feeds, this epic edition of In the Aggregate should feel like we're hanging out and watching the news together. Whether that cool, or a horrifying nightmare, is a question I'll leave to the historians. Check it out today on NIDC.

"What the liberal establishment refuses to accept is that America has always embraced the same foundational principles this fascist movement is built on. Slavery, genocide, extraction, exploitation, rigid social hierarchies, virulent anti-communism, the national security state; these too are the legacies of American democracy and values. Just because the punditry refuses to acknowledge these truths, doesn’t mean they aren’t real."

To read more over on ninaillingworth.com, click on the quotation block above, or the header below:

In the Aggregate: A Neofeudalist Dystopia 

nina illingworth

Anarcho-syndicalist writer, critic, and analyst. 

You can find my work at NIDC, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

Updates available on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon and Facebook. Podcast at “No Fugazi” on Soundcloud.

Inquiries and requests to speak to the manager @ASNinaWrites

Chat with fellow readers online at Anarcho Nina Writes on Discord!

“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”

Six Things I Think: A Bipartisan Propaganda Frontier (Link)

 

Author's note: I'm not going to lie, this essay took me six days to write. Given the dense material we cover here however, I hope readers will find it worth it.

Please also note this piece is also part of the “Leftist Theory” collection on ninaillingworth.com.

Nested Propaganda About Imaginary Lines

In this lengthy, heavily-sourced essay I take a look at the public discourse surrounding the story of the so-called US migrant crisis, through the lens of the propaganda model. There is certainly a crisis, but it's not about the border, and it's not really about migrants either. Looking at eight separate stories from a wide spectrum of the political media, I untangle both the spin, and the reality of this controversy.

I'm sure it will surprise no one to hear that the real villain here is capitalist extraction, and the reason nobody wants to tell you that is they're all in on the slaughter.

"Folks, this isn’t just the kind of story you won’t find on the news; this is the reality that the partisan blather they do put out as news, is designed to prevent you from seeing. And whether propagandists in the public eye like it or not, Biden’s stated intention is to continue the cycle of violence and plunder even if it means separating families in Mexico or locking up brown kids on a toxic military base. What Biden, his flunkies in the media, and indeed much of the ruling establishment really care about here, is keeping your attention focused elsewhere while rich people count the spoils." 

To read more on ninaillingworth.com, click on the quotation block above, or the header below:

Six Things I Think: A Bipartisan Propaganda Frontier 

nina illingworth

Independent writer, critic and analyst with a left focus. Please help me fight corporate censorship by sharing my articles with your friends online!

You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

Updates available on Instagram, Mastodon and Facebook. Podcast at “No Fugazi” on Soundcloud.

Inquiries and requests to speak to the manager @ASNinaWrites

Chat with fellow readers online at Anarcho Nina Writes on Discord!

“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”

Six Things I Think: The Enemy of My Enemy Is Still a Fascist, Actually (Link)

 

Editor’s note: our Six Things I Think feature is a type of post I use when I want to cover a lot of ground about a multi-faceted topic very quickly. Although you don’t strictly *have to* click on every citation link in this essay, you might want to at least read the headline articles, and watch the embedded videos, as they each frame the discussion immediately underneath them.

Please also note that this article is part of the “Amerikan Musik: Fascism Ascendant in the USA” collection on ninaillingworth.com.

Ok, so I'm definitely aware I've been away for almost a week but I'm hoping by the time you click on the link to this article, you'll understand why - it's pretty, extensive.

What is it? An extremely detailed, multi-media Deep Dive post explaining why Boogaloos are fascists, Jimmy Dore is no leftist, and online pinkos have a crypto-reactionary infuencer problem.

Finally I guess I should warn you that I wasn't exactly thrilled about having to spend 9,000 words explaining to pinkos who don't read theory, why we don't make alliances with fascist militias; it's funny, but I'm not pulling punches out of respect for your faves, and there's quite a good deal of profanity in the piece. I literally do not care if this makes folks mad because going along to get along with reactionaries and fascists is no way to do leftism.

You can check out by clicking on the header below:

Six Things I Think: The Enemy of My Enemy Is Still a Fascist, Actually 

- nina illingworth

Independent writer, critic and analyst with a left focus. Please help me fight corporate censorship by sharing my articles with your friends online!

You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

Updates available on Instagram, Mastodon and Facebook. Podcast at “No Fugazi” on Soundcloud.

Inquiries and requests to speak to the manager @ASNinaWrites

Chat with fellow readers online at Anarcho Nina Writes on Discord!

“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”