ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Gores&#39; Marriage Goes Caput</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright June 4, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style7">O</span>nly befitting the man who once claimed he invented the Internet, former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper announced over e-mail that their marriage is caput, stunning the once model couple that stole the show at the 2000 Democratic National Convention with an interminable kiss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Married at age 21 and 22, Al and Tipper showed no signs of the same estrangement as his former boss, President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, whose scandalous affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky practically took down his presidency in 1998.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After dragging the country through an exhausting impeachment scandal, Gore couldn t quite make it to the White House in 2000, losing to former President George W. Bush by a razor s edge, decided in the U.S. Supreme Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> With all the positives of Clinton s strong economy, it didn t land Gore in the Oval Office.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Gore lost the presidency to Bush, in part, from so-called Clinton-fatigue, where<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>voters, especially crossover and independents, tired of the Lewinsky scandal, leaving a bad taste for many Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Gore s strong point, unlike his former boss, was his apparently close relationship with Tipper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Unlike Al and Tipper, Bill and Hillary were seen as a political marriage, one for image and convenience, not love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Little did anyone know at the time that the Gores, like so many other couples, put on a happy public face, not telling the real story about their marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We tend to mistakenly believe that once people reach a certain point in a marriage, they just stop splitting up, says Betsy Stevenson, an economist at the University of Pennsylvania s Wharton School of Business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> But that s simply not true, reciting data about the steady divorce rates among long-term marriages.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Few things last forever but mature adults are supposed to work out the kinks of long-term relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Forty-years of marriage is nothing to sneeze at, hardly considered flaky by anyone s standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While the Gores are certainly entitled to do as they wish, it s misleading to blame their decision on only demographics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  After a great deal of thought and discussion, we have decided to separate, read the official e-mail, Tuesday, June 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together, dispelling speculation about a possible affair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With Tipper s well-reported bouts of depression, one wonders whether the couple  grew apart or whether Al simply bailed out as Tipper s caregiver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Whatever Al s frenzied schedule since leaving the White House including winning a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and Academy Award relationships just don t die.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Gore s carefully worded press release emphasized the  mutual decision, putting tabloids on notice that there s no dirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Admitting that Al travels frequently automatically raise issues about possible alternative relationships, though none were reported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It s unrealistic to think, unless the 63-year-old former veep suffers from unknown medical condition that robs him of his libido, he has no relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It s not inconceivable that people s desires, preferences, and interests would have changed enough over 40 years that they d decide they d be better off splitting up, said Evergreen State College professor Stephanie Coontz, author of  Marriage:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>A History, failing to acknowledge powerful entanglements that tend to keep people married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> If the marriage is on the rocks, film director Woody Allen once said,  the rocks are usually in bed, referring to a break in affection and intimacy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Given that the Gores have spent sometimes months apart, it s unrealistic to think that either one or both of them haven t developed alternative relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Al s widely published lectures on  global warming or Tipper s reported photographic work had nothing to do with why they decided to break up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Break-ups invariably have to do with a fatal split in the physical and emotional intimacy between couples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>How long the Gores have not had a functional marriage is anyone s guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> People see this as sad, but I don t see how we can look at a 40-year marriage and say it s a failure, said Wharton s Stevenson, missing the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When long-term couples break up there s a real failure on some level to fulfill important needs for one or both the partners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While neither Al nor Tipper are exactly seniors, it s difficult to replace the trust and complexity of a 40-year marital partnership.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Unlike most couples, the Gores are independently wealthy, not in need of one another for financial support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> No matter how much the break-up looks amicable, there are always issues at stake, especially disappointing the extended family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins are all affected by divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rather than a perfunctory press release, it would be helpful to know whether the nation s former second couple tried some marriage counseling, a prudent step before couples with such long histories decide to call it quits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Saying they  grew apart says nothing about what really went wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Al Gore once told a reporter he and Tipper inspired author Erich Segal s 1970 best-selling novel  Love Story. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Like Al s claim to inventing the Internet, Segal denied any such claim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Al and Tipper can try to control the story but sooner or later the truth will come out.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>