mysql> select current_date()>'2011-01-01 12:01:01';
+--------------------------------------+
| current_date()>'2011-01-01 12:01:01' |
+--------------------------------------+
| 1 |
+--------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> select '2011-01-01 12:01:01' > current_date();
+----------------------------------------+
| '2011-01-01 12:01:01' > current_date() |
+----------------------------------------+
| 0 |
+----------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>