Andre Agassi

On Federer/Nadal versus Agassi/Sampras:

SI.com: You recently said the Federer-Nadal rivalry is “more compelling” than the one you had with Pete. Why do you think that?

Agassi: For a couple reasons. I think, first of all, they’re the two greatest players historically speaking and playing in the same generation. Their accomplishments are — maybe Laver you could compare, what he did was extraordinary on two surfaces — but for these guys to win all of them? Plus for Nadal to play so long at No. 2 and just to be so relentless during those years when Fed was dominant and to believe that he could still be better than thim — and to prove it with his head-to-head record. To have the No. 1 best player of all time have a losing record against the No. 2 player of all time, and to have the No. 2 player heading into his prime. That Pete and I really never had. We were No. 1 and No. 2 in the world, but we hadn’t come anywhere near establishing what these two have established during their primes.

Martin Luther King Day

The time is overdue
For people like me and you
Who know the way of truth
Is love and unity to all God's children
It should be a great event
And the whole day should be spent
In full remembrance
Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people
So let us all begin
We know that love can win
Let it out don't hold it in
Sing it loud as you can

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday

Reinstating DADT

Tim Pawlenty is a former governor of Minnesota, billed as the guy who's "too nice" to be an effective contender for the presidency.

So what did the nicest Republican presidential contender say on Republican talk radio today?

"I mean, families and traditional marriage is so important to that and I don't believe all other domestic relations should be on the same platform as traditional marriage, I just don't buy it," he said.

Pawlenty added that he thinks Roe v. Wade was poorly decided, and emphasized that he has "been a public supporter of maintaining Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and I would support reinstating it as well."

Gays, a third of whom voted for Republican candidates in 2010, are outraged.

Today on Twitter, we saw furious comments like this one from @Clarknt67, which was retweeted several times:

"Note to Tim Pawlenty: #DADT repeal was supported by 80% of the country. Reinstating it is not a route to the POTUS."

Wrong. Pawlenty is doing what he needs to do to to be one of the final two. If anything, his assessment proves that at least some expression of homophobia remains a litmus test for the GOP nomination, unless you have the evangelical bona fides of a Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee, in which case the faithful will accept the wisdom of a stealth candidacy.

Could he actually reinstate DADT if he became President? Of course not; even some Republicans from battleground states and districts backed repeal. But that's what makes it such an effective tool. Republican president will spend exactly as much political capital to reinstate DADT as they do to banning abortion: zero. It's a freebie; a way to telegraph a satisfactory level of hatred to the bigots who comprise the majority of the party base.

And yet it isn't cynical. Statements like these do provide information to voters.  For the eventual Republican nominee, like his predecessors,  (unless, as I explained earlier it's Huckabee or Palin) will block further progress on gay rights. Values voters expect this at a minimum from any Republican president. A bit of moral opprobrium, however, is icing on the cake.

The bottom line about the 2012 presidential election is that it will be a referendum on the President; all things being equal, the economy will determine the results of that referendum. No one, not the President, not Haley Barbour, knows what the economy will look like in the decisive second and third quarters of next year.

Every presidential election (an exception being 2004, but ) comes down to a bloc of non-ideological voters, say 15% of the population, the preponderance of whose votes will go with or against the party in power based on the economy.  The eventual nominees' stances on Don't Ask Don't Tell may be important to some voters, but they won't matter to the voters who prove decisive. 

The name of the game for every Republican is to get the nomination and pray that the economy is bad enough that the public votes for him. That's the playbook for every presidential nominee, regardless of party when there is an incumbent president. It's why Dole lost in 1996, and it's why Reagan and Clinton won in 1984 and 1992.

By being the first GOP contender to back repeal, Pawlenty telegraphs the seriousness of his candidacy (even if he really only has a shot at VP), and the homophobia that remains, along with a hatred of African Americans and Latinos, at the heart of the post-1964 Republican Party. 

Moment of silence

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

CNN anchor's departure to Fox causes border war!

The carnage can be found at deadline.com, where news of John Roberts' departure had Republicans celebrating at the big "get." Our ordinarily sedate neighbors to the north, however, were horrified that one of their own could work for an uncivilized corporate propaganda machine. Then the insults started flying:

Canadian 1:

Sad to see a fellow Canadian, ex- MuchMusic VJ go from a liberal station to a propaganda conservative network. He’s making Canadians look bad. Shame.

Canadian 2:

Why would Mr. John Roberts (aka JD Roberts, for those Canadians) make Canadians look bad? He chose to become an American Citizen, marry an American, he lives and works, almost more than half his life,in the USA. He may have been born in Canada, but chose not to stay. Life is made up of the choices we make, and his choices make him American not Canadian. So how did Mr. John Roberts become a Canadian representative? He doesn’t represent me, for I am Canadian. Good luck JD! We Canadians wish you all the best! Thank you.

It's worth learning Portuguese

Just to understand this extraordinary campaign appearance by the great Lula.