Liberal Talk Radio

But as Times critic Kelefa Sanneh points out, there’s a great plug for due process somewhere in there:

Zack De La Rocha is the lead rapper and agitator and sermonizer of Rage Against the Machine, but on Saturday night at Randalls Island he barely talked between songs. Then, near the end of the set, came the speech everyone was anticipating.

On April 29, during this rap-rock band’s reunion concert at the Coachella festival, Mr. De La Rocha gave a speech accusing the Bush administration of war crimes and said, “They should be hung and tried and shot.” (Hmm. In that order?) A clip found its way to the Fox News program “Hannity & Colmes,” which was not overstocked with Rage Against the Machine fans. The on-screen headline read, “Rock grp ‘Rage Against the Machine’ says Bush admin should be shot.”

Sean Hannity seemed to suggest that the Secret Service should be alerted. Ann Coulter, a guest, got in a good quip (“Has anybody checked in with a Flock of Seagulls to see what their position is on Bush?”), then delivered a final verdict, “They’re losers, their fans are losers, and there’s a lot of violence coming from the left wing.”

On Saturday night Mr. De La Rocha responded. He attacked the “fascist” Fox News pundits for “claiming that we said that the president should be assassinated.” As the crowd shouted its approval, he continued, “No: he should be brought to trial as a war criminal and hung and shot. That’s what we said.” Despite the insistence on due process, this still isn’t a position any mainstream politician would endorse. But that’s precisely the point: At a time when unimpeachable causes and pragmatic endorsements are the norm, it’s nice to be reminded that rock stars can get political without sounding like politicians.