Democrats should own cyber security the way republicans own guns.

[Hortensis]

1. Since it's critical to our futures, it needs to be owned by both.

Fortunately -- except when the Republicans are betraying their nation with foreign enemies to take power in this country -- both parties tend to agree on protective national security issues.

Any of several nations could turn the entire continental U.S. into Texas with the power down, only most of the country would stay down for a very long time. A study a few years ago estimated that 90% of all Americans would be dead from a variety of causes within a year.

More likely scenarios involve partial takedowns of many sizes and types, and various nations have been in our systems exploring capabilities for years. Many events are suspected to have been trials of capacity to break municipal water systems, nuclear reactors, skyscrapers, subways, dams, power plants, computer and communications systems, and many others. Just imagine if GPS satellite capabilities were wiped out. Terrorists could also accomplish partial grid-down and other cyber attacks.