(Cross posted at DailyKos)

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this stanza from A.E. Housman’s great poem, “To an Athlete Dying Young” recently. Andre Agassi’s tearful farewell brought it into sharp focus. I sat in my father-in-law’s living room, with the extended family as we watched his last set, cheering him on each painful step of the way. It is sad to see him go. He has brought so much grace and excitement to the U.S. Open, and it will not be the same without him. Yet he knew it was time to step aside for a new generation of tennis stars, and he has done it incredibly gracefully.

This marks a profound contrast to Sen. Lieberman. Voters in Connecticut no long see Sen. Lieberman as a champion of the causes of the people of Connecticut. Some people question whether he ever was such a champion, others defend him to this day, but still call on him to recognize and acknowledge his defeat last month, when a record number of voters in a Connecticut primary voted for his opponent.

Andre Agassi leaves the field, with his head held high and people wishing it wasn’t time for him to go. Sen. Lieberman sticks around as people wish he would just leave.