Aaron's activity on July 17 touched on several overlapping themes in US politics and governance.
DOGE, ICE, and Government Capacity
Two stories about the consequences of the Trump administration's dismantling of federal agencies drew Aaron's attention. He reposted reporting that DOGE's downsizing of CDC IT infrastructure last year is now showing up in reduced capacity to respond to a cyclospora outbreak — exactly the kind of delayed, crisis-revealing failure observers had predicted. On the immigration enforcement side, Aaron amplified NPR reporting — surfaced through a federal court case brought by Democratic states — revealing that ICE has been using Medicaid data, processed through Palantir, to aid in deportations. He also reposted news that an employee of ICE contractor GEO Group shot a protester outside an Aurora detention facility and was charged with attempted second-degree murder.
SCOTUS, Court Expansion, and Corruption
Aaron engaged with debate over Supreme Court expansion, reposting two takes pushing back on the David French/Brennan Center position that expanding the Court would threaten the republic. One noted that the number of Justices isn't even constitutionally fixed, while another observed the irony of making that argument while a president spreads election conspiracy theories on television. Aaron also reposted skepticism about AOC's bill to ban SCOTUS gift-taking, with a commenter arguing the current Court would strike it down given its post-McDonnell record on corruption.
Canada, Wildfires, and Climate Politics
A cluster of reposts addressed the Trump administration's response to Canadian wildfire smoke drifting into the US. Aaron amplified criticism of Senator Bernie Moreno's bill to sanction Canadian officials "responsible" for the fires, with one commenter noting Moreno is a car dealer whose response illustrated the essence of Republican climate politics, and another observing that Canada routinely sends firefighters and water tankers to help the US with no conditions attached. The HuffPost piece Aaron amplified quoted Canadian environmentalists calling the move "insane."
Left Politics, Intra-Coalition Dynamics, and Strategy
Several posts engaged with debates about liberal and left political strategy. Aaron reposted a piece from Liberal Currents laying out bold plans for liberals retaking power, as well as an essay arguing Trump's rule-breaking is a long-honed skill rooted in his upbringing. He pushed back on the idea that a vague "thicker vision" of liberalism is what's missing from the left coalition, reposting a comment that named concrete things like trans kids' rights and freedom from ICE kidnapping as the actual stakes. He also reposted a warning about the "narcissism of small differences" on Bluesky, and added his own note criticizing a piece that had endorsed Weather Underground tactics — connecting it to a reposted observation that anger can corrupt political judgment.
Oregon Zoning and Data Centers
Aaron reposted with apparent interest Oregon Governor Tina Kotek's administration proposal to essentially replace local zoning across most of the state with a slim, permissive statewide standard — noting it as unusually aggressive even by YIMBY standards. He also amplified a take arguing that opposition to data center construction represents one of the few democratic veto points currently available to society over AI development.