Chris Christie is really the idiot here. I certainly hope he doesn't aspire to the Vice Presidential spot, because I can't imagine the military being all that fond of a guy who calls an ex-Navy SEAL an idiot ... behind his back no less.

Via Raw Story:

During a town hall-style meeting in Florence Township, a 34-year-old law school student William Brown, a U.S. veteran of three deployments in Iraq, explained that he was upset that Christie was allowing Rutgers Camden to lose the “Rutgers” name when it merges with Rowan Unversity, according to The Star-Ledger. “I know that all my friends in the military no matter what state they’re from respect that fact that I go to Rutgers,” Brown told the governor. “It’s also true that none of my friends in the military no matter what state they’re from have ever heard of Rowan.”

The merger of the two universities is the subject of controversy in New Jersey. Senator Frank Lautenberg has raised questions about it in a letter to Governor Christie, which answers some questions about why, beyond the name recognition, a merger of the two universities would upset people. It turns out there are a couple of reasons. Here's a snippet of Lautenberg's letter:

While Lautenberg raised several concerns about the impact of changes at UMDNJ facilities in North Jersey, the Democratic senator also focused on factors that would affect Rutgers-Camden. “The price of attending Rowan University is, on average, $5,000-$8,000 more than attending Rutgers-Camden,” said Lautenberg.

Yes, that could certainly be a concern. And then there is the question of union contracts, and what happens to workers covered under those contracts due to a merger. Thousands of educators, hospital workers, and food service workers are covered by union contracts in New Jersey and yet the union has not been given a seat at the table to discuss the impact of mergers on their contracts.

Meanwhile, Chris Christie just bullies his way through life, having dissenters tossed and demeaning them, even after they've served their country faithfully for three tours in Iraq. Someone remind me again about when Chris Christie served in the military?

What a nasty bully that man is.