the rix mix

This makes me sad.

Al and Tipper Gore, married 40 years, to separate

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, are separating after 40 years of marriage that included a White House run when their sunny relationship offered a counterpoint to President Bill Clinton's philandering.

According to an e-mail circulated among the couple's associates on Tuesday, the Gores said it was "a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration."

If, as they say, there's no one else involved, there must be quite an emotional chasm between them. Many other older power couples, when their kids are grown, take it as a given that they won't be spending much time together as they go about their separate interests. It's the price of keeping the marriage intact. So I almost admire the Gores if they are acknowledging that it isn't enough to just maintain - that a condition of their marriage is being a couple, being a family, & they are no longer able to do it. They defined their marriage in a certain way, & it's not the marriage they have anymore. We've seen enough sham public marriages over the past year.

When I see the resumes & activities of some local political/professional couples when one of them runs for office, I wonder how they manage any kind of close, routine family life. The reality is probably that they do not, that they rarely have supper together or synchronize their schedules. They probably don't have time for extra-marital affairs, either. A busy, ambitious politician can easily be out at a meeting or social event six nights out of seven.

Al is trying to save the planet for human civilization. Tipper's projects are more modest, focused on health care, especially mental health.
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