Wednesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
·
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
·
1 comment
OTB relies on its readers to support it. Please consider helping by becoming a monthly contributor through Patreon or making a one-time contribution via PayPal. Thanks for your consideration.
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
********************@
It seems that as many as 10-20,000 Iranians have been gunned down in the streets, with another 20,000 imprisoned, presumably hangings to follow in many cases.
Would ICE be able to pull off something similar in the US? Some police departments and some state National Guards would probably co-operate, as well as some right-wing militias. Would these forces gun down fellow Americans? IMHO, yes.
OTOH, liberals can buy guns, too. We are a much bigger population and much bigger geographically as well. And many police forces would resist, as well as some National Guards. The deciding factor would be the US Army. Some military units would comply, some would not.
Thoughts?