United We Stand, Divided We Fall

The motto of the July 1942 flag-cover campaign has been in popular use since the time of the American Revolution. It originated in the fourth verse of a 1768 patriotic ballad, The Liberty Song, by John Dickinson.

During the Civil War, the phrase became a rallying cry for the Union cause. By the early 20th century, labor unions had taken up the slogan as a call for solidarity in the struggle for better working conditions.

In World War II, United We Stand invoked not just American patriotism but unity among the Allied nations, as expressed by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in her address to the U.S. Congress on August 5, 1942: “United we stand, and united we will achieve victory.”

Most recently, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the phrase United We Stand reemerged along with the flag as Americans confronted a new national crisis.

The last stanza of the Pink Floyd song, “Hey You,” goes like this:

Hey you, out there on the road
Always doing what you're told,
Can you help me?
Hey you, out there beyond the wall,
Breaking bottles in the hall,
Can you help me?
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.

Long before we even knew of Pink Floyd, Abraham Lincoln new the importance of the phrase:

On June 16, 1858, more than 1,000 Republican delegates met in the Springfield, Illinois, statehouse for the Republican State Convention. At 5:00 p.m. they chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. At 8:00 p.m. Lincoln delivered this address to his Republican colleagues in the Hall of Representatives. The title reflects part of the speech's introduction, "A house divided against itself cannot stand," a concept familiar to Lincoln's audience as a statement by Jesus recorded in all three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke).  Read more  

But Sean Hannity, and it is his right, disagrees.

Sean Hannity on Wednesday said Americans deserve the government they voted for and "America now deserves Barack Obama” — “good luck with that.”

“Americans, you get the government you deserve," he told listeners to his radio show on Wednesday. “And it pains me to say this, but America now deserves Barack Obama. You deserve what you voted for. I know half the country didn’t vote that way, but America deserves the government that they want and they deserve. Four years ago, the public could be excused for voting for Obama because, frankly, he was a blank canvas.”

“Now he is a known entity,” the conservative radio host said. “And just barely over 50 percent looked at his pathetic record and decided they wanted more of the same. I’m not sure exactly why they arrived at that judgment, I think it’s a bad judgment, but we are a self-governing country and the voice and the will of ‘We the People’ have now been heard. America wanted Barack Obama four more years. Now you’ve got him.”

“Good luck with that,” he added.

Needless to say, his comments are divisive and polarizing, and when the time comes again (and it will in another 4 years) then the Republicans (and I hope they do) can mount another campaign to put fiscal responsibility back into the administration; but, in the meantime, we need to try and find a way out of our financial problems and divided country.