Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

An Obstructionist Rises to the Top

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by

Dick Hall-Sizemore
in ,

Rep. Bob Good (5th District)

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Amid all the other topics being discussed and debated on Bacon’s Rebellion, we have neglected to note that the Commonwealth has recently picked up a dubious distinction. It is now the home of the chair of the House Freedom Caucus — Rep. Bob Good (R–5th District).

His selection was not cheered by all conservatives. Those supporting Donald Trump’s presidential bid are upset that Good is backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. State Senator-elect John McGuire (R-Goochland) announced soon after the November elections that he would challenge Good in the Republican primary in the spring. “I’m running for Congress against ‘Never Trump’ politician Bob Good,” he declared.

Good’s fellow conservative member of Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga), citing footage from a hidden camera in which Good says he does not think Trump can win, branded Good “another disloyal fake MAGA Trump traitor.”

Good’s track record on what he labeled as his top near-term priorities is not good:

  1. Defeat the National Defense Authorization Act compromise reached by House and Senate leadership. It passed 310-118 and has been signed by the pPresident;
  2.  Defeat the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act without reforms demanded by conservatives. It was extended by four months in the defense authorization act;
  3. “Hold the line” on the House bill to pay for additional aid to Israel with cuts to the IRS. This proposal has disappeared in the Senate and is not a factor in the discussions of aid to Israel;
  4. Strengthen border security. He might get this, but he will have to accept a lot of money for Ukraine with it;
  5. Pass the remaining five appropriation bills still in the House while Congress is still under a continuing resolution. This is a pipe dream. Congress recessed soon after Good made this statement. The House will not reconvene until January 8 and the continuing resolution expires on January 19.

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28 responses to “An Obstructionist Rises to the Top”

  1. Turbocohen Avatar
    Turbocohen

    Wow, you make me like the guy the more you dis.. Say what you liberals want but the Republican wing of the Republican party in 5CD likes a good fighter. I was originally dead set against Good, but his votes are pretty much in line with conservative expectations.

  2. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    I miss Robert Hurt. That was the last time the 5th district had a good leader.

  3. James C. Sherlock Avatar
    James C. Sherlock

    I wish he’d lose because he is a jackass.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Ain’t gonna happen. Your party has co-opted the Democrats’ mascot by becoming them.

      1. James C. Sherlock Avatar
        James C. Sherlock

        “Your party”. I left the organization. We have a lot of good conservatives in Virginia Beach. Most of them vote for the Republican candidate. So do I most of the time.

        But that is different than being a member of the Republican Party of Virginia. That organization is a hot mess.

        Both parties in Virginia and nationally have unfortunate tendencies for their activists to be extremists. There has always been some of that, but not to the degree we see today.

        I don’t know why CD 5 elected Rob Good. He is a bigger thorn in the side to Republicans in the House than to Democrats. But they did, and by a very large majority. With a few more than 300,000 votes cast, Mr. Good won by almost 50,000. (His opponent won 87% of the vote in Charlottesville).
        https://results.elections.virginia.gov/vaelections/2022%20November%20General/Site/Member_House_of_Representatives_(05).html

        So they like him there. I would not vote for the man, but he does not, and should not, care.

      2. James C. Sherlock Avatar
        James C. Sherlock

        “Your party”. I left the organization. We have a lot of good conservatives in Virginia Beach. Most of them vote for the Republican candidate. So do I most of the time.

        But that is different than being a member of the Republican Party of Virginia. That organization is a hot mess.

        Both parties in Virginia and nationally have unfortunate tendencies for their activists to be extremists. There has always been some of that, but not to the degree we see today.

        I don’t know why CD 5 elected Rob Good. He is a bigger thorn in the side to Republicans in the House than to Democrats. But they did, and by a very large majority. With a few more than 300,000 votes cast, Mr. Good won by almost 50,000. (His opponent won 87% of the vote in Charlottesville).
        https://results.elections.virginia.gov/vaelections/2022%20November%20General/Site/Member_House_of_Representatives_(05).html

        So they like him there. I would not vote for the man, but he does not, and should not, care.

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          Voting for them is being them. Abstention is rapidly becoming an untenable position.

          This year is fast becoming one of those times where you may even have to hold your nose and vote against them. When you stare at the top of the ticket next year, you’ll have a hard choice, Captain. I don’t envy you. Tossing a 30-year career defending democracy won’t come easy. He’s told you what he’ll do.

          1. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            When you ask me to choose between senile dementia and pathological narcissism that’s a tough choice. In ’16 and ’20 I voted 3rd party because I couldn’t stand the alternatives. That may become fashionable in ’24.

            Narcissism may be remediable, but there’s no coming back from dementia. How the H did we get into this fix?

          2. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Narcissistic? Senile? Hell, Reagan is also dead.

          3. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            Fortunately Reagan’s not likely to be on the ballot this year, although I wouldn’t put it past the Colorado SC to add him. 🙂 Amazing that’s 40 years ago. Time flies.

          4. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            Fortunately Reagan’s not likely to be on the ballot this year, although I wouldn’t put it past the Colorado SC to add him. 🙂 Amazing that’s 40 years ago. Time flies.

          5. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            I keep thinking about his head wagging whenever he spoke. I wonder if he suffered from Parkinson’s too?

            Lemme see, 1968 a megalomaniac, 1981 an Alzheimer’s victim, 1988 detachment syndrome, 2001 a yale bro, 2008 PTSD, 2016/2024 a fascist.

            The GOP’s on a roll.

          6. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            The Dems have been on an underwhelming roll too. LBJ, McGovern, Dukaka, Bill, Barack, Hillary and old Joe.

            If in the ’80s you had told me for the next 40 years after Raygun we’d have Poppy, cigar Bill, Duhbya, Barack, almost Hillary, Don, old Joe and likely either Don or old Joe again for Prez I’d have demanded to know what you were smoking so I could avoid it. The near misses are scary too. Gore, Kerry, McCain, Mittens and Hillary. Psycho-delic man, bad trip.

            But wait, there’s more. Things could be worse than a rematch between Don and old Joe. It’s possible we could have Nikki vs Gavin. If that does not send shivers down your spine nothing will.

            Where’s Pat Paulson for Prez when we need him?

          7. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            not too worry… one can abstain secure in the knowledge that there are ample guardrails to keep the guy in check….. snicker…

        2. Lefty665 Avatar
          Lefty665

          It’s a funny district. It runs from C’ville down to the Carolina border. It is pretty much a big rectangle that extends east to just west of Richmond.

          The Dem candidate was sort of a dingbat. The C’ville vote does not surprise me, but he was not attractive to the rest of the district. Hence the big vote difference.

  4. Matt Adams Avatar
    Matt Adams

    1. Defeat the National Defense Authorization Act compromise reached by House and Senate leadership. It passed 310-118 and has been signed by the President;

    2. Defeat the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act without reforms demanded by conservatives. It was extended by four months in the defense authorization act;So you’re an authoritarian? Clearly you haven’t read the NDAA or you’re now okay with Warrantless wiretaps? One of the only substantial items in the bill “Military Pay Increase” isn’t even 1% of the total cost.

    3. “Hold the line” on the House bill to pay for additional aid to Israel with cuts to the IRS. This proposal has disappeared in the Senate and is not a factor in the discussions of aid to Israel;So clearly the DHS has no issue with increasing the debt, hey who needs to offset spending.

    4. Strengthen border security. He might get this, but he will have to accept a lot of money for Ukraine with it;Boarder Security has nothing to do with Ukraine, either buy a plane ticket to Ukraine to fight or stop stumping for it.

    5. Pass the remaining five appropriation bills still in the House while Congress is still under a continuing resolution. This is a pipe dream. Congress recessed soon after Good made this statement. The House will not reconvene until January 8 and the continuing resolution expires on January 19. This is just the standard DHS partisan dig and actually one of his continued ad hom attacks and should be stricken from the article.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      I did not comment on the merits of extending FISA, tying IRS cuts to aid to Israel, or increasing aid to Ukraine. I was only pointing out the lack of success Good is having on his top priorities. As for the appropriations bills still languishing in the House with no chance of getting passed in time after the House reconvenes after its Christmas recess, how is that an ad hom attack? As a matter of fact, I agree with Good that Congress should pass those appropriations bills on time for the start of the Oct. 1 federal fiscal year. It is just that Congress, notwithstanding which party is in power, has historically been unable to do that.

      1. Matt Adams Avatar
        Matt Adams

        “Good’s track record on what he labeled as his top near-term priorities is not good:”

        So in essence your article is an ad hom attack, since you’re attacking the messenger and not his message.

        “Ad hominem means “against the man,” and this type of fallacy is sometimes called name calling or the personal attack fallacy.”

        To quote Bertrand Russell,
        “to have a meaningful debate, one should first be able to explain their opponents argument so clearly and vividly, that even their opponent would say ‘thank you. I couldn’t have put it better myself’.”

      2. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        It’s not. He likes the Latin, not its meaning.

        It would be ad hominem if you made his failure to succeed based on, oh say, his intellectual dishonesty or a failure to bathe regularly as opposed to the unpopularity of his proposals with others.

        You are arguing with anger directed at you. That is an ad hominem.

  5. VaPragamtist Avatar
    VaPragamtist

    If the recent mass meeting for the Republican nomination for Ruff’s seat is any indication, Good is very vulnerable to McGuire.

    Usually its the extremely devoted (far right) who willing go to a last-minute man meeting on a Tuesday night, days before Christmas, and stay there until after midnight before driving an hour+ home. Smart money would have been put on Sturdifen, despite the establishment push for Mulch. Add to that Sturdifen and his consultants bombarding voters with (anonymous) text messages and flyers in the days leading up to/throughout the meeting, attacking two of the candidates. And every sentence in Sturdifen’s speeches included a noun, verb, and “I’m endorsed by Bob Good.”

    Nevertheless, Mulchi won. From what I’ve heard she led every round of voting.

    And that’s the devout Republicans. Add in the other Republican primary voters and the Dems and independents tired of Good, and McGuire has a strong chance.

  6. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Knew a few like him. Makes his way climbing on the bodies of others. Stands on their toes, not their shoulders.

    Shouts “government doesn’t work”, then works hard to prove it.

  7. Lefty665 Avatar
    Lefty665

    Good’s position #2, defeating the FISA reauthorization without major reforms of section 702 is right on the money. Hopefully the House will stand firmly on this.

    The repeated abuse of 702 by the FBI and other Feds by accessing domestic communications of Americans is a disgrace and a clear and repeated violation of the 4th Amendment. We may not be able to stop the NSA from collecting all communications all the time. Hopefully we can stop the domestic abuse of that collection against citizens in the US by the FBI et al by reforming section 702.

    I don’t agree with Good on much, but he’s got this one right. I’m in his district and this is a voting issue. Go for it Bob!

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      How else can an FBI agent be sure their spouse isn’t having online sex?

      1. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        Too bad that was not the worst of the abuses.

    2. Matt Adams Avatar
      Matt Adams

      I don’t have a single dog in the fight with his election, however the listing of items he has labeled as top priorities. There isn’t much in there that isn’t common sense and should be a top priority.

      This was just another DHS run of the mill partisan dig. I wonder if he’ll ever do the same for someone say Rep. Spanberger…. I won’t hold my breath.

  8. William O'Keefe Avatar
    William O’Keefe

    Good’s name is an oxymoron. He and his ilk have turned the Republican Party into a cult. He gives true meaning to the observation that politicians are like a cesspool. The big chunk float to the top!

  9. Drive-by Commentator Avatar
    Drive-by Commentator

    What’s the problem? Good is a Republican. He was elected overwhelmingly by the Republicans in his district. He is a big favorite of your friend Jeanine Martin. RPV Chair Rich Anderson is Good’s BFF. He’s right down your alley.

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