Rumors abound recently about the marriage of Barack and Michelle Obama.  One source suggests that a divorce mediator might be needed at the White House PDQ.   And the fact that Michelle stayed in Hawaii alone after the President and their two daughters returned to the mainland only served to add fuel to the rumors.   Other sources, however, contend that their marriage is “rock solid,” despite being “often-rocky” in the early years.

Recently, at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, Obama posed smiling for a selfie with Denmark’s  blonde and leggy female prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt.  In the photo shown round the world, Michelle was definitely NOT pleased.  Women everywhere identified with Michelle’s expression in the photo.  People were mad at Barack FOR Michelle after seeing the way he humiliated her publicly.  #1 rule for husbands is that you NEVER embarrass your wife in public and you never flirt with another woman.  Guess that’s two rules, and Barack broke both of them in a major way.   We won’t even go into the rules for husbands who happen to be President of the United States.

While I generally have not given much credence to The National Enquirer, I became more accepting of them after they were exonerated in their reporting of the John Edwards’ scandal.  If they were right about Edwards (and boy, were they!), then they might be right about this, too.  According to this article, The Enquirer talks of serious problems in the Obama marriage: 

. . . Presi­dent Barack Obama and his wife are now sleeping in separate White House bedrooms.

Sources say an enraged Michelle is also preparing to boot her hubby of 21 years out of their ritzy Chicago home – and seriously discussing divorce.

“The smart money says the marriage is doomed,” said a close source.

“Barack and Michelle have had a rocky go for years and mainly stayed together for their daughters and his political career.

“But now Michelle is mad AS hell. She feels violated in front of the whole world, and screamed at him, ‘I’ve had enough!’

“She’s met with divorce lawyers and told Barack that she wants a life apart from him.”

An Oval Office insider added: “Mi­chelle will stay in the White House for the rest of Barack’s term for ap­pearances’ sake, but she made it clear they’ll be leading separate lives.

“She’s moving into one of the va­cant bedrooms in the family’s private living quarters, and she’s preparing to move his clothes and personal things out of their million-dollar house in Chicago.”

That sounds just a tad sensationalist, but it’ll sell a lot of magazines.  The truth is probably somewhere between “rock solid” and “on the rocks.”  All marriages go through rough spots, and I’m sure that Obama’s behavior at the Mandela memorial service was a sore topic for the couple.  I sincerely hope, though, that the Obama’s marriage is not in  dire straits.

As someone one who has first-hand experience with divorce, I hope that they are able to work things out.  I remember going on a trip with my first husband and having a person who sat across from us on the plane compliment on us how happy we seemed together.  At the time, our marriage was less than two weeks from ending.  The trip was a last ditch effort to see if it could be salvaged. Appearances can be deceiving, and no one knows the true state of any marriage except for the couple themselves.  People that are desperately unhappy can put on a good show when necessary.  And sometimes people who can’t get along privately can do quite well in public.  Conversely, the couple you see arguing might have an amazingly strong marriage.  You just can’t tell from outward appearances.

And the photo to the left shows the biggest reason I hope the marriage is solid.  Two young girls will do best with parents who have a loving and strong marriage, and we wish no less for anyone.  As far as the rumors of the marriage ending?  Only time will tell.