The United States is reminiscent of the big, largely dysfunctional Irish families that populated Boston in the 1940s and ’50s.

The best fistfights I ever saw were between brothers. The daily, bruising tensions of living under the same roof were a wonderful catalyst for bloody fights, complete with rolling in the dirt, punching, swearing, kicking and no surrender.

But you never made the mistake of walking into their house and getting between the two brothers. In the blink of an eye, they would unite against you and make you pray for a quick and merciful death.

This country, in many ways, is the same. We don’t agree on much. The last election was too close to call by anyone but the U.S. Supreme Court. We have well-articulated battles between the liberal and conservative, urbanites and rural dwellers, rich and poor, easterners and westerners. We love a good fight. Listen to our talk shows.

Now, the family has come back together.

Like no force since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Osama bin Laden and his murderous attacks on New York and Washington have managed to unite us. He should remember the words of the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, Adm. Yamamoto Isoruoku. While the U.S. Navy ships were still burning, he made the prophetic comment that Japan had “awakened a sleeping giant and instilled in it a terrible resolve.”

Even a brief weekend trip from Rockland to Waterville illustrated the reaction to the sneak attack on New York and Washington. Two teen-age boys had taken to an Augusta rotary with their flags and a sign that asked God to “bless the USA.” American flags were flying on front lawns and from houses, car-radio aerials, on car bumpers and back windows.

These were not the World War II veterans who were flying the flag like they always did. This was the “Gen X” types who were flying the flag. Male and female, rich and poor (judging by their cars). I would bet that these people would not have been caught dead flying a flag before Sept. 11. Too corny. Too old school.

No more.

You can’t find a flag in Maine. Most companies have just taken their phones off the hook, unable to handle the sudden demand.

Vincent Lobozzo was looking for a “sleepy business” when he opened the TriState Flag company in Lewiston in 1961. When the retail sales went down he dropped it, in favor of commercial and industrial customers. Business was so slow on Tuesday, Sept. 11, that he called old customers looking for reorders. One customer said, “Is your television on? You better order some flags.”

Lobozzo didn’t know what the customer was talking about. He turned on the office TV and saw the twin towers burning.

“Some people called that day, Tuesday. Some more called on Wednesday. I called and ordered a few hundred flags. I should have ordered thousands. On Thursday, it all broke loose. I must have got 200 calls, with a lot more on the answering machine. It was one right after the other. Everyone wanted the big ones, 30 by 50 feet. I sell them for $1,496 and I could have sold 1,800 of them in a few days.

“I could have sold a year’s worth of flags in a week, if I had them,” Lobozzo said.

He has a few hundred names on his waiting list. One company called and bought every single flag that Lobozzo had on the lot.

The most amazing change has occurred in his own family. “My kids were never what you would call patriotic. Now they want flags for their cars, their houses.”

His daughter called from New Hampshire to tell him a story. A bunch of college kids went out to dinner last week and a couple in uniform came in. The college students went up to the couple and thanked them for their service. When the couple got up to leave, their waiter told them their meal was taken care of.

“Twenty years ago, they would have been spitting on that uniform,” Lobozzo said.

Osama bin Laden has changed all of that. He has brought this American family back together again.

Send complaints and compliments to Emmet Meara at emmetmears@msn.com.