Friday, March 9, 2012

About That Chris Christie Town Hall Yesterday . . .

Please note: The Following is cross-posted from the Save Jersey blog:

Chris Christie and Bill Brown Have Some History

Written on March 9, 2012 by Matt Rooney in Chris Christie, Higher Education, Rutgers Camden Merger

You may’ve heard about Governor Christie’s “shouting match” with a “former Navy Seal” yesterday afternoon in Roebling, New Jersey. It was all over the news last night. The Governor often is, and it’s not unusual for a emotionally-charged town hall verbal encounter to be the impetus of the coverage.
But the “Navy Seal” in question? None other than William Brown. Ring a bell?
From ABC27 (yes, the Harrisburg station):

Christie got into a heated exchange with 34-year-old William Brown, who is unhappy with the governor’s plan to merge Rutgers University’s Camden law school with Rowan University.
The exchange began when the former Navy Seal questioned the governor’s plan to merge the two South Jersey schools Thursday. It ended with the governor berating the Mount Laurel man, who attends Rutgers-Camden and interrupted Christie several times before being escorted out.
The governor said: “Let me tell you something, after you graduate from law school, you conduct yourself like that in a courtroom, your rear end’s going to be thrown in jail, idiot.”

Our long-time readers know we’ve been covering Mr. Brown for awhile. He’s been a public figure in New Jersey politics for several years now. He’s testified in Trenton. Advocated for legislation. Save Jersey cheered his early work for servicemen as head of the “Veterans for Education” organization in 2008. We criticized him for abandoning the South Jersey GOP and running on a liberal Democrat slate for Assembly in 2009.
At all times, I think it’s perfectly fair to categorize William Brown as a vocal activist for more than one cause.
Of course, many South Jersey Republicans believe his favorite cause is “William Brown,” and will therefore conclude that he’s perfectly happy to have been on the receiving end of a signature Christie smackdown since it resulted in intensive media coverage. I’ll reserve final judgment on this particular incident until I see the video; I’m disinclined to trust print media accounts of the exchange. Their tone always suggests that the Governor was picking on someone defenseless.
I do, however, think you need to view the entire incident in this context: Mr. Brown is not a neutral party with a neutral opinion of the Governor. He’s an active Democrat with an anti-Christie worldview, not a random private citizen who showed up and happened to catch the Big Guy on a bad day!
Again, like I said, Bill is not a stranger to participation in public forums; in fact, he’s questioned the Guv at least once before. He posed a veterans affairs-related question to Governor Christie back in September 2010 at a veterans’ event (notably a full year after Mr. Brown’s failed bid for legislative office on the Corzine slate).
I think you’ll agree that THAT particular question was met with a perfectly civil response from the Governor:

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About Dan Cirucci

He's been cited by the late Rush Limbaugh, quoted in the New York Times, featured at Real Clear Politics and Lucianne.com and interviewed across all media.

He's Dan Cirucci, the founder and editor-in chief of the Dan Cirucci Blog, a Save Jersey blog columnist, frequent guest on the Matt Rooney radio show and one of the most widely honored public relations professionals in his field. He's also been a public relations consultant to numerous organizations and individuals and hosted The Advocates on RVN-TV.

Inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Hall of Fame, for many years he served as a Lecturer in Corporate Communication at Penn State University. A former President of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association (PPRA) he has lectured at Rowan University, Temple University, The College of New Jersey and Arcadia University. He has conducted workshops on public relations for thousands of participants throughout the nation and has taught countless others the art of public speaking. He has also advised numerous lawyers, judges, public officials and political candidates.

Cirucci is a prolific writer and his op-ed pieces have appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier-Post, Broad and Liberty and other print and online platforms.

A native of Camden NJ, Cirucci is a former President of the Philadelphia chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Cirucci served as Associate Executive Director of the Philadelphia Bar Association for nearly 30 years. He served as Chair of Penn State University's Professional Advisory Board for the Corporate Communication major at Penn State Abington and on the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Judicial Selection Commission.

He received his MA degree from Rowan University and his BA from Villanova University. He has been named a Distinguished Alumnus of Rowan's public relations program and received the E. A. "Wally" Richter Leadership Award, the highest honor from the National Association of Bar Executives' Communications Section. He has also been honored by numerous other local, state and national groups.

In his hometown of Camden, Cirucci taught fifth grade at the Ulysses Wiggins Elementary School named for the founder of the Camden NAACP. There he was one of the first teachers in the country to teach African-American history to inner city students. He later served as editor of a local weekly newspaper, as Assistant to the Township Manager of Cherry Hill Township and as Associate Director of Communications at the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Cirucci's passions include all things Italian, politics, the popular culture, books and authors, art, communication, music, theatre, movies, dining and travel.

He and his wife Carole have two grown children and seven grandchildren.

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