By Becky Burgwin
I have just come home from seeing the movie Miracle. There are so many levels on which this movie is meaningful to me. I come from a hockey family. My father played, my daughter's a fanatic. Well, actually, so am I. When I go to hockey games, I become transformed from a fairly easy going Zen Buddhist into someone who's particularly fond of yelling things like, "Hey Messier, you're ugly."
The miracle that was the subject of this movie was the American Olympic hockey team's victory over the Russian Olympic hockey team who was widely considered to be unbeatable. But what made it the stuff that legends are made of was that it happened in 1980"the end of one of the most turbulent decades in our country's history. As I don't have to tell anyone, these were some difficult years. The Viet Nam war was at it's worst. Protests were huge and violent. There was the Watergate break-in, Nixon's subsequent resignation, the Iran hostage incident" Crazy, troubling times.
Americans were sorely in need of a lift when the Americans beat the Russians and went on to win the gold medal in hockey, and the entire country went bananas. I remember it because I was in Vail, Colorado where every single bar and restaurant had the game on and, when we won, it was pandemonium.
We in America are very lucky that cultural happenings can affect us so deeply. In 1964, after JFK was assassinated, we got The Beatles. I was there for this, too, and, believe me, it worked. I was 13 years old when President Kennedy was shot and for many months afterward I would sit at the piano and play the Naval Hymn and cry. 40 years ago this month the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and saved me and the entire nation from our winter of grief. I still use the Beatles to get through tough times. You cannot listen to the Beatles and be sad for very long. I'm listening to them now.
But I digress. Once again, we are in a place in our country's history that is comparable in many ways to the 70's. We have an ignorant, crooked president whose advisors are certifiably insane. They have convinced him that they can do anything they want, for any reason they want. Need more oil? Let's invade Iraq. Need to put anyone who disagrees with us in jail...The Patriot Act.
If we give these guys 4 more years without having to worry about getting re-elected, there's no telling what horrors they could unleash upon the world. There are several countries in line to be invaded after we decide we've done enough damage in Iraq. God only knows what's in store if they get to appoint 3 Supreme Court justices. It's too terrifying to imagine.
We are tremendously in need of another miracle.
Then, exactly one year ago, I read a tiny blurb in Newsweek that the ex-governor of Vermont was running for president and the first thing he had to say was how wrong this war is and, "By the time this administration's through, women won't even be able to go to school in this country." I knew immediately that the winds of change were upon us and that they were good. And he's a doctor"BONUS. For a little while no one listened when I said there's a guy running for president who is fresh and honest and not afraid to speak his mind. "Oh, he'll never get elected," they said. He's passionate and inspiring. "They'll have him for breakfast." He's fearless and moral. "Forgetaboutit." I didn't listen. I just began to e-mail everyone I know about him.
Little did I know that I would be in for one of the most exciting years of my life. As one of the early supporters, I ended up getting to do many very cool things for Howard Dean's campaign. I have been blessed to have been present for many of his speeches and I was even lucky enough to have spent an afternoon with him.
In August, I received a phone call, "Hi. This is Andrew from Burlington. We were wondering if you would be available to pick up Gov. Dean and his staff at the airport tomorrow?" Oh, gee, no. I really need to do my nails. Scared to death, I went to the airport with another young gentleman and together we drove them to all of their engagements that day. Gov. Dean and I gabbed about the state of healthcare in our country. My husband's a doctor, so he joined us later. I was totally snowed. Yes, I have a thing for cute doctors and believe me, this guy is cute !!!
We were fortunate enough to be in the room when he addressed the United Steel Workers in Pittsburgh. Let me assure you that when you hear Howard Dean speak in person, it can move you to tears. He told the steelworkers that day about the 80-year-old veteran who came up to him after a speech and said that he had landed on the beach at Normandy and thanked him for his advocacy of gay rights. Dean asked him, "Oh, do you have a relative who's gay?" He said, "No. I am."
Howard Dean tells that story in almost all of his stump speeches to explain why he believes that gays and lesbians should have the same rights as every other citizen in this country. The fact that he told it to a roomful of steelworkers tells you all you need to know about Howard Dean's integrity. He wasn't wondering, "How will this play out with these guys?" or "Will this get me the endorsement?" He doesn't tailor his rhetoric in order to say "the right thing to the right people," he talks about what he believes no matter where he is or to whom he is speaking. The steel workers gave him a standing ovation. They ended up endorsing Gephart but that's OK. They all learned something that day. This was a miracle.
Howard Dean has openly said that when he signed the Civil Unions bill in Vermont, he didn't know much about homosexuals, or how the bill would affect his state or his chances for reelection, but he was unequivocal about the fact that every single citizen of this country gets the same rights, no matter what color they are, what religion they practice or who they love. He was willing to risk his career and ultimately his life for this ideal and, in fact, due to death threats, he wore a flak jacket for months after that. This was a miracle.
His Success by Six Program reduced child abuse in Vermont by 50% and incest by 70%! This was a miracle.
People all over the country put on T-shirts that said, DEAN TEAM, and went to work in their neighborhoods, cleaning up vacant lots turning them into playgrounds, feeding people at homeless shelters, and doing all kinds of volunteer work. They wanted to show the world that Howard Dean had inspired them to be the best Americans that they could be. This was a miracle.
I have been so fortunate to have met and worked with so many of the people that Howard Dean inspired. Young people who took semesters off from college" Republicans who are disillusioned by their party"folks who quit their jobs and drove to Burlington in the hopes of finding some way to be of help. These are people from all walks of life who were given hope that for the first time in a very long time, our country could really be changed by someone who puts people before special interests, ideals before politics, truth before cynicism and family before everything. This was the miracle.
Howard Dean's candidacy was a breath of fresh air in one of the most dark and dismal periods in our country's history. Each one of us who has lived through the last three years and the horrifying events that have left us terrified and demoralized has been given the chance to see very clearly the incredible power for goodness that Americans are capable of and that our founding fathers wished for us when they wrote:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
I just want to end by saying:
Dr. Dean,
You have done more for Freedom and Democracy in our country than anyone has in a very long time and you came along at a time when we all so desperately needed hope. I now know that I spent my life preparing for this and that the people I have met along the way are some of the finest people I've ever known. Being able to work for you and your dream was a wild and wonderful ride. It was way better than the Beatles.
(My family just fainted.)
It was a Miracle.
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Ms. Burgwin's writing has appeared in Newsweek, Time, New York Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review as well as several online Op Ed sites. She is also involved in gay rights, women's issues and the environment. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.
