Reconciliation of Reps. Anthony Weiner, Peter King embodies spirit of fallen 9/11 hero Mychal Judge
By Michael DalyNY Daily News
September 9, 2010
Anybody who doubts that Fire Chaplain Mychal Judge's work continues long after his death on 9/11 should have seen Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens) and Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.) standing together yesterday in what was once the shadow of the World Trade Center.
Back at the end of July, Weiner and King got into a shouting match on the floor of the House, pointing fingers and accusing each other of betraying ailing 9/11 first responders. The squabble came as another dispiriting measure of how divided we have become since those days immediately after the attack when we truly seemed one nation, indivisible.
But now, here stood the two erstwhile foes, along with Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Joe Crowley and Jerrold Nadler in support of a bill Weiner drafted to award a congressional gold medal to someone whose example of courage and selflessness can still unite us.
"I think it is the spirit of Father Judge that brought you and I together on this platform today," King said of Weiner. "It truly is a miracle."
Until Weiner spoke, I wondered if the bill was just an attempt to make a little political capital with a murdered priest. I then heard him say of my friend Mychal, "He was always trying to find the things that bring us together, that we have in common."
Exactly.
Weiner actually got it.
He was speaking over the rattle of riveters rebuilding skyward at Ground Zero, but the words made me think of a nearby structure that Judge always loved far more than the World Trade Center or any other towers or even spires.
"There is just something about the Brooklyn Bridge," Judge once told me.
For him, greatness lay not in soaring high but in reaching across, be it from his native Brooklyn to the wonders of Manhattan or from one person to another.
Nobody would have been happier than Mychal to see how we joined as one after he and so many others perished that day, how from the fiery rubble of the fallen towers rose a bridge of the spirit that spanned all differences.
And nobody would have been more distressed by the divisiveness that has lately cursed our public life, even on the floor of the House with the 9/11 health bill, extending to the very edge of Ground Zero with the contention over the proposed Islamic center.
But Mychal's example was still there, his spirit still ready to work when the mosque controversy prompted Weiner to wonder if there were not some antidote to all the poison.
"I just was thinking of a truly unifying religious figure and he came to mind," Weiner recalled. "If there's one guy who can pull us all together and also reinforce the lessons of Sept. 11 .... "
So, there was Mychal yesterday, back at work as Weiner and King stood together by Ground Zero. The platform was within sight of where his lifeless body was carried, but there was not a trace of grimness, for this was a true Mychal moment. And that can only bring a smile.
Weiner promised the work will continue as the New York group seeks the support of all 435 members of our fractured House of Representatives for the gold medal.
"This will be a labor of love for us," Weiner said. "We will enjoy the task of telling the story of Father Mychal Judge."
Also on the platform was Mychal's twin sister, Dympna Judge Jessich. King joined Weiner in helping her down at the end.
"Good job," King then said to Weiner.
"You, too," Weiner said to King.
The two shook hands, just as Mychal would have wanted. There remained the issue of the Islamic center two blocks away. His twin later made clear how Mychal would have felt about that.
"He would have been there to lay the cornerstone," she said.