Chuck Freiberger for State Senate.

I've known of Chuck Freiberger since elementary school basketball. Once we were at Floyd Central, we were teammates in baseball and basketball all the way through, from grades 7 through 12. He then played baseball at IU Southeast, and while I did not follow suit, I tried to do my own small part by drinking oceans of beer with a handful of his teammates. He became a teacher, coach, parent and politician. Nothing wrong with any of that, is there?

We're friends, Chuck and me -- not particularly close, but friends. Obviously he's a local Democratic Party stalwart, and I have my disagreements with that particular entity. There's simply no way that Chuck could be as pinko-lefty as me and survive politically. However, his fundamental instincts are sound, as when he attended NABC's health department board meeting last year and expressed support for our appeal. There isn't much he can do about the two-versus-one Falangist imbalance among the county commissioners; no matter, because perhaps he'll be moving on to bigger things.

Earlier today, Silent Ron Grooms voted in support of HJR-3. Having done so, it now is guaranteed: Grooms cannot receive my vote in his re-election campaign this fall.

You may say: But Roger, you wouldn't have voted for him, anyway, irrespective of his view on HJR-3 (known as the Hoosier Stain). I can't deny that. The difference is that the sheer embarrassment of Grooms's stance, and the lengthy silence preceding it -- almost surely a reticence borne of utter terror -- compels me to be more pro-active than might otherwise have been the case.

I'll be donating to Chuck's campaign, and if he pleases, I'll try to devise a way to raise additional money for it. I'll enthusiastically vote for Chuck, and I'll urge my friends and neighbors to do so, too.

If you believe in human rights and freedoms, in the promise of equality in America, and in basic notions of fairness and compassion, Ron Grooms left you today. He may yet try to explain it, but he cannot. It's over, and Ron Grooms must go.

Please join me in supporting Chuck Freiberger for State Senate (46).