March 31, 2026 11:06 AM UTC

Lapel Pins Make The Republican Man, Rep. Max Brooks Edition

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• by: Colorado Pols

The first problem Republican state Rep. Max Brooks faces every day is explaining to unfamiliar faces how he’s not that Max Brooks, author of the Zombie Survival Guide and its more famous sequel World War Z. The second problem Brooks apparently faces is choosing from a tellingly narrow selection of lapel pins:

There was a time when a simple American flag lapel pin was all a politician needed. On the other extreme, we had Rep. Ryan Armagost festooned with more pins than a biker jacket.

For Rep. Brooks, it seems there are Jesus days and there are Punisher days, punctuated occasionally by Molon Labe helmet days and Gadsden flag days. We suppose he could wear two of these pins and throw a Jesus/Punisher day into the mix, but that seems like a contradictory message. Unless it isn’t. Some denominations do Jesus differently. The “thin blue line” over the Punisher skull itself feels like a contradiction, since the latter is a controversial symbol of vigilante violence.

But hey, it’s just a pin, right? Don’t read too much into it, even though that seems to be what Rep. Brooks wants you to do by showing you his pin collection.