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The lessons of history provide general repercussions of behavior. Individual ego versis the standard of recognition of the time. Beatles, self centered statement-reaction-decline of popularity and public revulsion. Will the historic example hold true for this event, we'll have to wait and see.

The "historic example" is in a sense false: the furor over John Lennon's Jesus remark lasted barely a month (Lennon apologised in short enough order, saying his belief that Christianity was shrinking didn't exactly mean he held un-Christian thoughts: "Sometimes," he said at the press conference, "we forget that we're the Beatles") and the Beatles' popularity never waned, to the day they split up for good in 1970. It still hasn't: it was their anthology of their number-one singles (though an incomplete one: "Please, Please Me," their first British number one, didn't appear on the set) was the best-selling album of 2000. We don't know yet how long the furor, if any, over Lee Ryan's remark will last, though bear in mind that Blue isn't exactly as popular now as the Beatles have remained. If one of, say, *NSync had made the "Who gives a f@ck about New York when whales and elephants are dying?" remark, that would probably kick up a huge furor, *NSync being, for better or worse, extremely popular these days. A member of Blue making it isn't really going to kick up as big a stink about it as other members of the band seem to have feared.

But that said, I should further say this: Asking "Who gives a f@ck about New York when whales and elephants are dying?" about the slaughter of the innocents 11 September would seem to be way more of an affront and an outrage than observing that one's own musical group just might be more popular than Jesus Christ in a certain place and time. Saying words to the effect that religion is for a time less influential than a certain musical group isn't exactly the same thing as saying human beings slaughtered in cold blood matter less than dying animals. If someone cannot conjugate the distinction, he should be pitied. If someone will not conjugate the distinction - and there are those, alas, who would so refuse - he should be condemned.