Tom Morello Calls Paul Ryan An 'Extreme Fringe Right Wing Nut Job'

Tom Morello, "The Nightwatchman" and the former lead guitarist of Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave, called Paul Ryan's love of his former band "amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades."

Morello published his thoughts in a column on Rolling Stone on Thursday evening.

"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," Morello wrote.

Shooting back at Ryan's statements that he likes "Rage's sound but not the lyrics," Morello said he doesn't care for Ryan's sound nor 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," Morello said.

Morello wonders what Ryan's favorite song could possibly be, given the nature of subjects Rage would choose to write songs about. Native American genocide, American imperialism, take your pick. Morello has no clue why Ryan would identify with Rage Against the Machine, but he does have a theory:

"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," Morello said. "Basically the only thing he's not raging against is the privileged elite he's groveling in front of for campaign contributions."

Morello had some Rage of his own for Ryan, saying he and his fellow members of the "super rich" need to convince themselves that "people are undeserving" just so they can sleep at night as "millions of children in the U.S. go to bed hungry every night."

Morello said that if Ryan learned anything from Rage Against The Machine, it was probably just how to mosh. Morello asserts Paul Ryan clearly wasn't listening to the music.

"Maybe Rage did plant some sensible ideas in this extreme fringe right wing nut job," Morello said. "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."

Morello, who currently tours around as his acoustic solo act, "The Nightwatchman," is the co-founder of a non-profit political activist organization called Axis Of Justice, whose purpose is to "bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice."