For Atlantic senior editor Josh Green, some things are sacred. High on his list is a man's relationship to his favorite rock band. So when Green wedged a rift between Rand Paul and the Kentucky senate hopeful's beloved prog rock group Rush, he felt pretty remorseful. How did Green cause the split? It all started when he attended Paul's victory-night celebration at Bowling Green country club.

At the event, the sound system was blaring Rush. Green (like many others) found it highly amusing. You see, Rush isn't your typical political campaign music. The band is famous for its zealous fan-base who revel in the group's overwrought compositions and sci-fi fantasy lyrics. This is not your standard Bruce Springsteen/John Cougar Mellencamp fare. Reacting to the incongruous music selection, Green made a few quips on Twitter ("Will Geddy Lee permed mullet/ponytail now take off among Randians?"). And bam, the news spread across the blogosphere.

Green's readers informed him that the members of Rush are known to be libertarians so it's not such a big coincidence. But then thing's really got hot. Rush filed a cease-and-desist to the Paul campaign saying "The public performance of Rush's music is not licensed for political purposes." It's not clear if Rush found out through Green's writing but there's a strong likelihood.

Anyhow, Green felt a bit sheepish about his potential role in the whole ordeal and he issued "An Apology to Rand Paul":

I want to apologize to him and say that I feel like a total shitheel for bringing this all down on him. There are certain things that are simply out of bounds in national politics, and messing with somebody's favorite band is definitely among them.

For more Josh Green-Rand Paul entertainment see Green's mirthful interview with Rush's lawyer Bob Farmer

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jhudson at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
John Hudson