I often tell people I know that I feel bad for Democrat voters this Presidential election cycle; they have to choose between a socialist and a security risk for President.
Bernie Sanders, the self-described socialist Senator from Vermont, has been giving Hillary Clinton, who stored classified information on an unsecure closet server when she was Secretary of State, an unexpectedly strong challenge for the nomination.
Here in Maine a large group of state lawmakers, who clearly preferred socialist policies over national security risks, endorsed Bernie Sanders for President. Rep. Jeff McCabe, the Maine House Majority Leader, was one of the more prominent supporters of the socialist.
However, this week Rep. McCabe seemed to decide that creating security risks was not the exclusive domain of Hillary Clinton. On Monday he took to Facebook to attack a local elderly woman by posting a picture her private medical information from a medical bracelet he found while picking up trash.
The practice of seeking out personal information about individuals and posting it on the internet to shame or bully said individual is known as ‘doxing’, and can lead to criminal charges under state harassment, threat and cyberstalking laws.
In a state with a growing problem of opioid and prescription drug abuse, posting the private medical information of an elderly woman who just received medical services on a public forum such as Facebook clearly put her at risk.
Any reasonable mature adult would realize that people don’t just casually throw medical bracelets out the window to be found by strangers yet somehow, the Majority Leader of the Maine House lacked the maturity or ability to understand this, and instead of contacting the woman, chose to shame her online instead.
The day after Rep. McCabe’s attack, we learned that the bracelet had not been “littered” per say, but had blown out of the woman’s car window.
This is the man that is second in charge of the Maine House of Representatives. A public official tasked with protecting the safety and security of all Maine people, and Rep. McCabe was comfortable with exposing this woman’s private medical information to score a few anti-littering points with no proof the bracelet had been intentionally discarded to begin with.
In my eyes, this breach of privacy is a violation of Rep. McCabe’s Oath of Office as a Maine Legislator, sworn to protect the safety of the people of Maine and the United States.
In Rep. McCabe, the people of Maine have a liberal who brings to the table the worst qualities of both Democratic Presidential Candidates. An enthusiastic supporter of a socialist candidate for President and his socialist policies, with a Clintonesque disregard for the security of the people he is sworn to protect.
We should all be grateful that the classified information Hillary Clinton left unsecured in her closet email server wasn’t thrown in a ditch near Rep. McCabe’s home, there is a chance the whole world would have seen it immediately on his Facebook page.
Rep. McCabe is seeking to climb the political ladder this November by challenging incumbent State Senator Rod Whittemore in Somerset County. Because Rep. McCabe is still unapologetic about his actions, it is unclear if public shaming will be a part of his campaign platform, or if he is simply unwilling to say he is sorry and apologize for his horrible decision.