Virginia Fifth Congressional District
by James C. Sherlock
Republican Rep. Bob Good (R-Va), who represents Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, got his five minutes of fame.
Yesterday he was given a tree with which to hang himself on The New York Times editorial page.
His op-ed contained statements that Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tx) called “stupid platitudes that some consultant told you to say.” The rest of that tweet is NSFW.
There was talk of fistfights about to break out. Mr. Good was not reported to have contemplated fighting the former Navy Seal, Crenshaw’s single remaining eye notwithstanding.
Good clearly wanted to get his goals, from whatever source, in print for the ages.
I support regular order, which is at the core of what Good indicated he wanted to keep from having to vote for omnibus bills. But that is hardly revolutionary thinking.
The House had last exercised regular order way back in 2019 under Republican Speaker Paul Ryan. When Kevin McCarthy was Majority Leader. Before Good was in Congress. Apparently unconvincingly to Mr. Good, McCarthy had already agreed to regular order when Good’s op-ed was written.
Good wanted the ability of individual members to offer amendments on the floor. Mr. McCarthy had already agreed to that as well.
He wanted the ability of a single member “to move to vacate the speaker’s chair.” We are left to wonder if Mr. Good had an individual member in mind.
He comforted readers that he “understood the frustrations of Republicans” and stated his intention to grant Republicans “total confidence in the Speaker” they were to elect. Kevin McCarthy, he had concluded, was not that person.
He offered that it was time for Republicans to “move on.”
That op-ed will likely next re-appear in Mr. Good’s obituary along with the accompanying Times photo of him standing in the spotlight in front of a nearly empty House chamber. In the photo Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is seen smiling. It is probably safer when she smiles.
A forecast by the reliably wrong Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl) that “Mr. McCarthy doesn’t have the votes today. He will not have the votes tomorrow and he will not have the votes next week, next month, next year” proved ephemeral.
Very late Friday night, Mr. Good and his soulmate Gaetz along with three other Republicans voted “present” on the ballot in which 216 Republicans elected Mr. McCarthy speaker.
That victory required one member to fly back from his hospitalized wife’s bedside in Texas for the vote to put Mr. McCarthy over the top. So that Good would not have to compromise whatever may constitute his principles.
I hope the citizens of Virginia’s Fifth House District have taken careful note. If this is what they elected Bob Good to do, he delivered.
Just as he urged, the House has moved on.
