The RP: Why did Ah-nuld and Maria Separate? NYFB!!

The political blogosphere is abuzz with the news of family strife within a bi-partisan family dynasty: the separation of former California Governator Arnold Schwartzenegger and Kennedy scion Maria Shriver.

The mainstream news and political media want to know why, and they’re making their best guesses:  Read here and here and here and here.

My response? 

It’s None of Your Freaking Business! 

Yes, he’s an international movie star who served two terms as Governor of our nation’s most populous state.  Sure, she was a national news broadcaster, and a member of the most influential and popular modern American political dynasty.  Of course, a long time ago, they both voluntarily submitted themselves to public scrutiny.

But as I argued a few weeks ago concerning three-year-old Trigg Palin, I believe that every one of us — even the richest, most powerful, and most famous — have a discrete zone of privacy which the responsible press should not disturb.  And as long as their separation did not involve actions that were criminal or a violation of the public trust while Arnold was in office, the mainstream media should leave them and their family alone.

Of course, I am a passionate First Amendment advocate, and I certainly don’t believe in laws to restrict such reporting.  But I believe that the Fourth Estate bears a special responsibility to the public to draw ethical lines every so often and not cross them.  This is one of those occasions.

Let’s leave this story where it belongs: to trashy mags like TMZ and OK and The Hollywood Gossip.

The rest of us should leave Ah-nuld and Maria alone.

What say you, RP nation?