Virginia's Bob Good
Posted on: 2022-07-17Updated: 2022-10-01
I live in Virginia's 5th district. Our current house representative is a certain Bob Good. Who is Bob Good? In short...
- He's pro sedition
- He lies a lot
- He either doesn't care or is even pro Virginians suffering and/or dying
- Is a huge hypocrite
- Is a do nothing
- Is corrupt
- Is Trumpite
- Is divisive
This whole post is arguably just the tip of the iceberg that is Bob Good.
Come on Virginia we can do better than this!
Anyway here goes...
About Bob
The self-described biblical conservative, a former county board supervisor in rural central Virginia, has taken a scorched-earth approach to his first year in Congress, castigating members of his party he has deemed not conservative enough while allying himself with some of the House’s most bombastic lawmakers.
A member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, Good has embodied the kind of GOP purity test that has conflicted more-moderate members of the party in the post-Trump era. He still believes the falsehood that fraud cost Donald Trump the election, he said in an interview. He said he still believes the government’s pandemic response is “phony” and has even encouraged high school students in his district to defy a school mask mandate.
And though he rarely garners the same viral fame, he has joined Republican lawmakers such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Paul A. Gosar in protesting masks on the House floor — and has been fined for refusing — or in rallying outside the Justice Department to demand answers about the treatment of Jan. 6 defendants.
So Bob is a Trumpite in the vein of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Paul A. Gosar. It remains unclear why Bob doesn't receive similar media coverage.
Jan 6th Coup Attempt
On Jan 6th, a mob entered the capital to stage a failed coup under the direction of Trump and other cronies. How does this relate to Bob Good?
The district director for newly elected Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) was in the crowd outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after the building was invaded but did not join those who pushed their way inside, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.
In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote yesterday, 413 members of Congress voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Capitol and Metropolitan Police officers who protected the building during the January 6 insurrection.
Congressman Bob Good wasn’t one of them.
A day after the Capitol attack, Good released a statement on his reasons for challenging the electoral votes from six states: “This is about more than the 2020 presidential election; it is about all future elections and Congress doing its constitutional duty to ensure election integrity and to not accept electoral submissions from states with sufficient evidence of fraud, which warrants full investigation, as well as states where legislators did not ensure the law was followed or ensure the integrity of their elections.”
He (Bob Good) has also doggedly pushed the “big lie” — the ex-president’s false claims of voter fraud that fueled the Jan. 6 insurrection against Congress in an attempt to undermine our democracy. That night, Good objected to efforts to certify the election results on the premise that states had “sufficient evidence of fraud.” A week later, he said Democrats were mounting a “phony” impeachment charge despite reams of video evidence in its support.
A legion of conservative activists, media personalities and elected officials are seeking to rewrite the story of what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6, hoping to undermine the clear picture of the attack that has emerged from video and photo evidence, law enforcement officials, journalistic accounts and the testimonials of the rioters themselves: that a pro-Trump mob, mobilized by the former president’s false claims of a stolen election, stormed the seat of American government to keep Trump in power through violent means.
As the House Committee investigating the storming of the Capitol explains the likely illegal behavior of Trump and his minions trying to overturn that election, Good’s constituents should remember that their representative voted against formation of that committee. If Good is reelected and Republicans gain control of the House they will likely vote to disband the Jan. 6 investigation and discredit its findings.
This will prove one thing Bob Good is crystal clear about: He’ll do whatever it takes to make sure his constituents never learn the truth about the most infamous attack on democracy in modern U.S. history.
It seems pretty clear Bob is pro-sedition and anti-democratic.
Pro-Putin/Anti-Ukraine
Bob says he supports Ukraine. Actions speak louder than words though...
...few were aware that two weeks earlier Congressman Bob Good (R-VA 05) had co-sponsored a bill to refuse security support resources for Ukraine.
The bill that was submitted February 8, U.S. House 6648, would “prohibit the obligation or expenditure of military or security assistance to Ukraine until operational control of the United States-Mexico border is achieved, and for other purposes.”
Even if it passed today, the timeline to complete a wall would take years. Ukraine is in need of help now but Good used them as pawns in a political game of funding the southern border wall.
It's perhaps also worth pointing out that Trump is also happy to use Ukraine as a political pawn, just like Bob.
On the Pro-Putin front Bob voted against Sweden and Finland joining NATO along with 9 other Republicans.
The measure, which has bipartisan sponsorship, expresses support for Finland and Sweden’s “historic decision” to apply to NATO and calls on member states to formally support them joining the military alliance.
It also opposes any efforts by the Russian Federation to adversely respond to Finland and Sweden’s decision to join the alliance and urges NATO members to satisfy the two percent defense spending pledge that countries signed on to at the 2014 Wales Summit.
Covid 19
Some statements from Bob Good
- FALSE : “Wearing masks has not been demonstrated to make a significant impact in preventing the spread of COVID.” (Nov 15, 2021 facebook)
- FALSE : “This is a phony pandemic.” (Dec 12, 2020 speech.)
During a press conference on Tuesday with Republicans, including the bill’s sponsor Marjorie Taylor Greene, Good criticized Fauci for changing his initial recommendation on masking. He also blamed Fauci for mental health problems stemming from the pandemic and said requiring masks in schools is “child abuse.”
Rep.-elect Bob Good took the stage at Freedom Plaza on Saturday afternoon and looked out at a sea of masklessness. Thousands had come to march for President Trump — some carrying signs declaring the novel coronavirus a hoax.
They were just the kind of group, Good told the crowd, who “gets that this is a phony pandemic.”
“It’s a serious virus, but it’s a virus. It’s not a pandemic,” said Good (R)..
The last line "It’s not a pandemic" is particularly stupid:
A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals.
Covid is literally the definition of a pandemic. As of today when I write this 20,801 people in Virginia have died of Covid 19. That number is likely a significant underestimate the real number is probably over 50% higher. Leaving that aside, a large percentage of Virginians now have the misery of long Covid.
Anti-Choice
Lyin' Bob again...
- LIE : Ketanji Brown Jackson “believes in abortion on demand up to the moment of birth.” (Mar 22 2022 radio interview.)
Is a religious Zealot...
Bob Good, who defeated Riggleman in that primary, is a fundamentalist zealot and a former athletics director at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. Good essentially ran for office because he was upset by Riggleman’s involvement in a gay wedding, calling Riggleman “out of step with the base of the party.” A born-again evangelical Christian and staunch social conservative, Good wants to end birthright citizenship and opposes abortion for any reason — even if the mother’s life is in danger.
Bob want's to make all abortion illegal. This was cosponsored by more than 160 Republican members of the House of Representatives.
Just so there is no doubt, the current moves by Republicans and Bob have nothing to do with 'states rights'. They advocate for a national ban.
A Do Nothing
Whether Republican or Democrat, residents of Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District deserve better than they’re getting from Rep. Bob Good. The first-term Republican represents Albemarle, Charlottesville and a big swath stretching down the middle of the state. He appears happy to be an embarrassing legislative do-nothing in league with an all-star cast of gun-totin’ grifters and election fraud liars who happily put obstructionism ahead of anything that serves their constituents.
More proof arrived last week as the Lugar Center, a group dedicated to getting members of Congress to work together, named the most and least bipartisan members of the U.S. House and Senate.
Good ranked 431st in the 435-member House, fifth worst.
It seems Bob is more about posturing and grandstanding rather than doing anything that might benefit Virginians.
Want more evidence? Look at how he has voted.
Corrupt
Newly sworn-in Congressman Bob Good is under fire by a fellow GOP leader and election opponent for his recent hire of the district director.
Some are speculating that this hire is a conflict of interest as the new district director is married to Good’s chairman of the 5th District.
...
“This is not surprising. It’s just what the 5th District gets. And I feel sorry for the citizens of the 5th District," outgoing Rep. Riggleman said.
Riggleman tweeted the decision is “Corruption in Virginia GOP at its finest” and “part of a rigged convention.”
“This is an ethical issue," says Riggleman. "You can’t promise jobs to people on the campaign.”
Who did Bob corruptly hire? It's Sandy Adams, the same Sandy Adams who attended the Jan 6th failed coup attempt.
Patrick Burgwinkle, a spokesperson for ECU said that Good abused the public’s trust when he voted to give Abbot Laboratories a “corporate hand-out,” while serving as supervisor. “Good’s new disclosure reveals that he holds up to $15,000 of stock in Abbott Laboratories – an opioid giant that he once voted to give a record-breaking corporate handout on the Campbell County Board,” said Burgwinkle on Friday.
The moment in question took place in July of 2016 and involved Good voting in favor of an expansion incentive that totaled more than $500,000 for Abbot Laboratories.
Riggleman became vulnerable when the 5th District’s Republican committee voted in November to have a nominating convention instead of a primary.
...
His opponent, former Liberty University athletics director Bob Good, told CQ Roll Call the party committee was planning a drive-thru convention in the parking lot of the church where Good happens to worship.”
Sounds super appropriate and fair to have a drive-thru convention in the parking lot of the church where Good happens to worship. Which speaks to the corruption of both Bob and the Republican party that made that happen.
After previously disclosing owning zero financial assets, Virginia congressional candidate Bob Good filed an amended financial disclosure this week showing he holds dozens of stocks, including in two companies that had business before the Campbell County Board of Supervisors when Good served on the panel.
Good (R), who is running against Democrat Cameron Webb for the open 5th District seat, filed amended disclosures dating to 2018 after facing questions last week from news outlets in his district, such as the Rappahannock News, about why he had reported no assets, unusual for a longtime businessman. He now reports between $213,000 and $1.65 million in assets and unearned income.
Among the dozens of stocks now disclosed in Good’s individual retirement account are shares in Abbott Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company, and McKesson, a drug distributor and health-care IT company. The companies benefited from contracts with Campbell County in 2016.
...
In 2016, Good voted to give Abbott Nutrition, a subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories, a $567,000 corporate subsidy to help fund its expansion and create jobs at a facility in Altavista, Va.
So from zero financial assets to between $213,000 and $1.65 million(!) And theres an obvious conflict of interest, providing a strong motive to not want to release information.
Divisive
"Good argued that rather than bullying of trans students contributing to suicide, “the fact that these kids are killing themselves is because of grooming,” aides recounted, and the congressman said they were being “forced” to undergo gender-affirming surgeries — comments that the aides said raised the temperature in the room."
Where to start? It claims that suicide is because of grooming. Which purposefully misuses the meaning of the word. It also claims kids are being forced to undergo surgeries. What?
It's as if Bob is trying to project blame elsewhere, when his own actions would seem to be an obvious source of suffering. This assumes Bob really cares about trans people, when it's pretty clear they are an out group for him.
Describing this as "divisiveness" is underselling how vile it really is. Why is Bob saying this, does he believe it? Is it performative cruelty? Is it a good way to rile up the rubes in the culture wars? Is it just a way to project away his and people like him's guilt? Is it the fascist act of blaming all problems on "out groups"? Whatever it is it's striking in it's blatent distortion, disdain and cruelty.
But wait! There's more...
More about Bobs voting record...
- Voted against Food Security Help for Veterans Newsweek
- Voted against visas for Afghans who helped U.S. troops Newsweek
- Voted against birth control protections/contraception Huffington Post
- Voted for Marjorie Taylor Greene to keep committee assignments govtrack
- Voted against Covid-19 Hate crimes act CNN
- Voted against investigating Jan 6th coup attempt govtrack
- Voted against researching Covid's effect on the brain Newsweek
- Voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act govtrack
- Voted against the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 govtrack
- Voted against bill to create supplemental funding for infant formula govtrack
- Voted against the Domestic Violence Prevention Act govtrack
- Voted against Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act govtrack
Leaving aside the details and relative merits of these bills, it seems to show a pretty clear pattern. It's not in any way good.
Yet more about Bob...
- LIE : “The infrastructure bill itself is only 10% true infrastructure.” (Nov 4, 2021 radio interview)
- Blames same-sex marriage for “everything that plagues our society” LGBT Nation
- Is pro adding cameras to childrens classrooms Dogwood
- Is pro predatory debt collection The Intercept
- Is pro voter-fraud executions Washinton Post
- Uses racist dog whistles in his ad campaigns NBC News
- Is pro criminalization of cannabis. Despite many years of legality in other states refute his claims PBS
- Is a conspiracy theorist The Roanoke Times
- Is pro deregulating silencers for guns !? The Roanoke Times
Perhaps some of this is performative cruelty, or perhaps it's just actual cruelty. It's hard to tell.
Here's hoping Virginia District 5 votes for something much better than Bob Good in the midterms.