Michelle Obama´s extended absence from Washington and a flurry of renewed speculation about the state of the first couple´s marriage threatened to overshadow her 50th birthday party at the White House on Saturday. Not for the first time in their 22-year marriage the Obamas are approaching what should be a happy family milestone under a cloud of rampant tabloid innuendo. The LC's source for this is a site behind a paywall: Rupert Murdoch's The Australian, which is normally reasonably reliable.