Who’s really at fault in the hacking of DNC computers?

Please explain this to me. Maybe I’m just not understanding what’s going on here.

Everyone is mad at Russia. U.S. Sen. John McCain says Russia’s hacking is an act of war. Congress, the Democratic National Committee, the right and the left are gnashing their teeth. Are you with me so far?

Now, we’ve known that both Russia and China have been perfecting their cyber capabilities. We know that lots of countries would love to hack into our system. I seem to recall that we hacked Germany.

We know that Hillary Clinton was using an unsecured server. We know that John Podesta’s email password was “password.” He told lots of people.

Still with me? So, think about this: I’m a farmer and I know a family of foxes is around, but I allow my chickens to roam free at night. Whose fault is it if my poultry get killed? The foxes? Or mine? I’m scratching my head.

Just sayin’.

— Kathryn Dews

Salisbury

Citizens must organize

To Eric Marsh, author of the letter “Take partisanship out of drawing district lines,” the gerrymandering that concerns you is actually worse than you think.

You noted that Rep. Carl Ford ran unopposed in State House District 76. Rowan’s other state representative, Harry Warren, also ran unopposed in the general election for District 77.

In fact, of 170 senators and representatives elected this past November, 72 ran without opposition. That’s almost half! This contributed to sustaining the one-party dominance in the General Assembly that has been established over the past several election cycles.

Although North Carolina’s registered voters include 2.7 million Democrats, 2.1 million Republicans and 2.1 million unaffiliated voters, the state Senate contains 34 Republicans and 16 Democrats. The House contains 74 Republicans and 45 Democrats. Prior to 2010, the situation skewed in favor of Democrats.

Partisan swinging from pole to pole is bad for the citizens of our state.

Whichever party is in the majority, they devote time, money and other resources toward cementing their dominance.

When successful in this pursuit, the laws they enact gravitate to the more extreme positions of their party. This effort could be better invested in moderate governance that is equitable to all North Carolinians.

Do not expect those who benefit from the current skewed system to “step up” and change the rules. The citizens of North Carolina must organize and apply pressure to our government officials to achieve greater parity.

Most other states have not done better in this regard.

Two-thirds of states have one party that controls their state legislature, state senate and the governor’s office.

It’s up to us, the voters, to tame the partisan thrashing that leads to polarization and inefficiency in government. We deserve better.

— Jeffrey Sharp

Salisbury