He Said/He E-mailed

I've been watching with interest the quarrel going on in New Jersey between Gov. Chris Christie (R) and his now-fired Education Commissioner Bret Schundler over who screwed up their Race to the Top grant application.

In an e-mail and statement provided to reporters this afternoon, former New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler (R) defended himself against charges by Gov. Chris Christie (R) that Schundler deliberately misled the governor over the events leading up to the state's loss of a $400 million grant. Although he would have been able to accept being fired over the error that cost the state money, Schundler said he was unwilling to accept any further character assassination.

"I will not accept being defamed by the Governor for something he knows I did not do," he wrote. "The Governor called me a liar this week. That was the last straw."

I'm sorry the school kids in New Jersey will lose out on some of the funding -- after all, the whole thing is about improving public education -- but who knew that screwing up a grant application would lead to headlines and a possible court case?

There but for the grace of the FSM...