I'm still miffed about the Veterans Committee for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Doesn't it seem unfair to have all the living members of the Hall get to decide who else can join their ranks? Wouldn't they have a selfish motive to keep as many people out as possible on the grounds that the higher they can raise the bar and the fewer people who can get in will make those who are already there look that much better?

On another note, there are now 9 announced Democratic presidential candidates. I wonder what the record is? The latest entry is U.S. Sen. Bob Graham of Florida. I predict he will be treated as a Top Tier contender because of his Senator status, at least initially. Here is the complete list to date in the order that I think they shake out:

U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts
U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri
U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina
Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont
U.S. Sen. Bob Graham of Florida
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio
Rev. Al Sharpton
Former U.S. Sen. Carole Mosely-Braun of Illinois

And they say that U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado are waiting in the wings.