Where did everyone go?

In America, after 9/11, there was this outpouring of patriotism and a renewed sense of pride. People showed their love of America by flying little American flags on their car windows and sticking patriotic ribbon magnets on their cars. I no longer see those vehicles driving around, so I'm left wondering, where did all of those people go? I would guess that they numbered in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands. I doubt that that many people were shallow enough to just go along with a patriotism fad. So something had to have happened to all of those people? There appears to be the same number of cars, but they aren't the pro-American ones that were driving around 5 years ago. It's kind of spooky. I would like to think that a persons pride in their country isn't just displayed when it is convenient. I guess that patriotism is okay as long as it doesn't involve any kind of long term commitment.