Here is a solution I created using tables. you can see how I used the selectors. Im sure it could be cleaner, but here you are:
$('.showColumn').live('click',function() {
var theEl = {{id of the element}};
var setEl = $('th#' + theEl + '');
var index = setEl.index(setEl.parentNode);
$('table tr').each(function() {
$('th:eq(' + index + ')',this).show();
$('td:eq(' + index + ')',this).show();
});
});
cheers.bo