Mo Brooks is a clown – and not the funny kind

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You can’t judge a Brooks by its cover. Mel Brooks, in his heyday, looked a bit like a maniac. His acting roles and his talk show appearances were often frenetic and careened off into the absurd.

Mo Brooks, in his official photo, looks like he could be a distinguished banker or even a respected member of Congress. Appearances, as we know, can be deceiving.

Mel Brooks is known for producing farces: Blazing Saddles featured the famous campfire farting scene and a man punching a horse. Young Frankenstein showcased a mad scientist who insisted his name was pronounced Fronkensteen.

And The Producers was centered around a couple of con men who tried to fleece their investors, oversubscribed their latest production and embarked on a crazy scheme to make money by “losing money,” with a play called “Springtime for Hitler” that featured a big musical number of the same name. (Come to think of it, this sounds like Trump’s business plan/political agenda).

But in reality, Mel Brooks is a thoughtful, considerate, and compassionate man. The aforementioned Blazing Saddles also included some serious (though humorously expressed) commentary on race in America. And just last year, the 94-year-old Brooks and his buddy Carl Reiner posed wearing “Black Lives Matter” t-shirts in a photo that went viral on social media.

In contrast, Mo Brooks is a seditionist and would-be terrorist. Of course, he has an extra helping of the stupid gene, so when he tried to stir up the crowd before Trump unleashed them on the Capitol on January 6th, Brooks declared “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” which is an ass backwards rendition of the actual admonition to “Kick ass and take names.”

Mo Brooks later sought to downplay any role he had in fomenting the Capitol Insurrectionists to violence by stating that he wore body armor under his windbreaker. Nothing says you hope and expect the crowd to remain non-violent like wearing a flak jacket.

on Thursday, Mo Brooks doubled down on his support for those who would attack the Capitol. In a statement about the man who threatened to blow it up with explosives he claimed were packed in his truck, Brooks said ”generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society.”

To sum up, Mel Brooks used Springtime for Hitler as a biting satire. Mo Brooks would regard it as a rousing call to arms. Mel Brooks once wrote for Get Smart. Mo Brooks thinks Matt Gaetz is smart. Mel Brooks is a comic genius. Mo Brooks is an unfunny clown.