Tom Morello: 'Paul Ryan Is the Embodiment of the Machine Our Music Rages Against'
Rage Against the Machine's guitarist blasts Romney's VP pick and unlikely Rage fan
Last week, Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan, the Republican architect of Congress's radical right-wing budget plan, as his running mate. Ryan has previously cited Rage Against the Machine as one of his favorite bands. Rage guitarist Tom Morello responds in this exclusive op-ed.
Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn't understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn't understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.
Ryan claims that he likes Rage's sound, but not the lyrics. Well, I don't care for Paul Ryan's sound or his lyrics. He can like whatever bands he wants, but his guiding vision of shifting revenue more radically to the one percent is antithetical to the message of Rage.
I wonder what Ryan's favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of "Fuck the Police"? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!
Don't mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta "rage" in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he's not raging against is the privileged elite he's groveling in front of for campaign contributions.
You see, the super rich must rationalize having more than they could ever spend while millions of children in the U.S. go to bed hungry every night. So, when they look themselves in the mirror, they convince themselves that "Those people are undeserving. They're . . . lesser." Some of these guys on the extreme right are more cynical than Paul Ryan, but he seems to really believe in this stuff. This unbridled rage against those who have the least is a cornerstone of the Romney-Ryan ticket.
But Rage's music affects people in different ways. Some tune out what the band stands for and concentrate on the moshing and throwing elbows in the pit. For others, Rage has changed their minds and their lives. Many activists around the world, including organizers of the global occupy movement, were radicalized by Rage Against the Machine and work tirelessly for a more humane and just planet. Perhaps Paul Ryan was moshing when he should have been listening.
My hope is that maybe Paul Ryan is a mole. Maybe Rage did plant some sensible ideas in this extreme fringe right wing nut job. Maybe if elected, he'll pardon Leonard Peltier. Maybe he'll throw U.S. military support behind the Zapatistas. Maybe he'll fill Guantanamo Bay with the corporate criminals that are funding his campaign - and then torture them with Rage music 24/7. That's one possibility. But I'm not betting on it.
Related
Quoting Veni.Vidi.Vici.:
Quoting krysstizzle:I love Rage. This story (Ryan claiming to like them) is kinda hilarious.
Can you imagine Ryan blurting out "...fuck you I won't do what they tell me!"
I sure can't.
Quoting Iconoclast:It is true that the arts in general influenced and formed the consciousness of many. Neil Young "Ohio", many songs by Bob Dylan, CCR, John Lennon, Public Enemy, Buffalo Springfield, BDP, and many more. Laugh if you want but what BigRoni writes is true.
Quoting 12hellokitty:
I know all those things and found your comment amusing, especial the part about the arts forming ones conscious....
I'm curious as to what art formed the conscious of the Occupy bowel Movement.?
Quoting BigRoni:
Quoting asfriend:
Ok, that was funny.
Quoting BigRoni:
Thanks OP for posting this. I always find it funny that some people seem to think that entertainers don't have a voice or rather should not express their thoughts, voices, concerns about political/social issues. The arts has always acted as our conscious... this has always been the case and history proves it over and over again...
Do you know the song? Do you know the lyrics? Do you know anything about the group NWA? Do you even like hip-hop or even listen to it? Do you know that there is a difference between rap music and hip-hop? If you did you would not find my comment funny. You would know that it is truth.
Quoting NWP:Oh...I almost forgot this one:
Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With" which details the experiences of the Little Rock Nine with one, innocent little girl.
Vocal anti gay marriage, award winning far right historian kills himself inside Notre-Dame Cathedral
- LucyMom08
on Aug. 17, 2012 at 4:00 PM