Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Mitt Romney's running mate, gives a "thumbs up" to supporters at a Romney rally in Mooresville, North Carolina on August 12, 2012. UPI/Nell Redmond . | License Photo

American guitarist Tom Morello performs with Rage Against The Machine at the "Leeds Festival" in Leeds on August 23, 2008. (UPI Photo/Rune Hellestad) | License Photo

Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick was a shot in the arm for the GOP presidential candidate's campaign. Paul Ryan is young, and between his famed adherence to the P90X workout regimen, his skills as a sportsman and his beautiful young family, Ryan's dose of relatability was just what the Conservative wing of the GOP ordered.

And (hello, populism!) Paul Ryan loves Rage Against the Machine.


But Rage Against the Machine doesn't love Paul Ryan back.

In a sharply-worded editorial posted by Rolling Stone, Rage guitarist Tom Morello calls Ryan's admiration "amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades."

RELATED GOP sees campaign boost from Ryan pick

Labeling Ryan as "clueless," Morello says the potential veep's stances are the complete opposite of his band's.

"Ryan claims that he likes Rage's sound, but not the lyrics," Morello writes. "Well I don't care for Paul Ryan's sound or his lyrics."

"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 "F*** 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!"

RELATED Ryan admits to requesting stimulus cash

Morello finishes with a good dose of wishful conspiracy theorizing.

"My hope is that maybe Paul Ryan is a mole," he writes. "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."

Ryan's love for Rage is particularly ironic in considering the band-led protest during the 2008 Republican convention in Ryan's home state, Wisconsin.

A Rolling Stone report from September 2008 describes the scene: