Driveby I: United We WISH

There’s a sign company on the access road along I-26 near Sunset Boulevard in West Columbia that has a particularly apropos way of advertising its wares: It’s one of those computerized electronic billboards that looks like thousands of little lights that can be lit in patterns with such sophisticated detail that they are almost photographic in appearance. (In fact, perhaps they are based on photos; I don’t know.) You know, the kind the State Fair has at the corner of Assembly and Rosewood.

Anyway, this morning I noticed that among its cycling messages is one that shows a waving American flag followed by, in big, bold letters:

"UNITED WE STAND"

We were so used to seeing that expressed by businesses and individuals right after 9/11 that we tend not to notice it when it is still expressed.

I couldn’t help thinking, sadly, that they should give it up and amend the sign to reflect reality. Maybe they should say, "United we should stand," or something like that — but I’ve noticed that most businesses tend to want to display vanilla pieties rather than messages that take sides and make a point that might tick off potential customers (with the exception of the business I’m in, of course).

"United we stand" only described America for a few wonderful weeks right after 9/11. Halcyon days. By the end of fall 2001, we had already returned to our sickeningly routine partisanship.

6 thoughts on “Driveby I: United We WISH

  1. Lee

    Most of America is united against the terrorists.
    There is only a minority of partisan Democrats who decided they had to reverse their previous support for Clinton’s war on Muslim terrorists in order to be against President Bush. The anti-war fever caused a few flashbacks in 1970s radicals like Kerry, Al Gore, and Hillary.
    Journalists have a small circle of contacts: other journalists, who are 85% self-proclaimed Liberal Democrats, and news subjects, who are mostly nutcases and slease. That creates a jaded view of America.

  2. bill

    What’s needed is a united stand to remove a “man” from office who has admitted to impeachable crimes.Not everyone in the country has been brainwashed.George Bush responded to 9/11 by committing his own acts of terrorism.He should spend the rest of his life in prison.

  3. Dave

    Brad, Al Qaeda intends to give us a sequel to 9-11. Unfortunately, that kind of an attack on US citizens will make the sign pertinent again. Just like Bill on this thread, some Americans have become complacent about this threat. Imagine the absurdity of having our military fight and kill terrorists but then telling our security agencies that we can’t listen to their phone calls from overseas. Unreal.

  4. barn2b3

    thank you for supporting the king. put a white clothe with a red band to support the king. he is the only one who can bring peace to the once peaceful kingdom of Nepal.
    god bless you from his heart

Comments are closed.