Over the past… year, let’s say, there have been a steady stream of breakup and “troubled marriage” stories about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. There were rumors about Ben and his young costar Blake Lively – rumors that persisted from production through the promotion of the film The Town. There have been rumors about Ben cheating on Jennifer with other women too, or at least getting much too flirty with other broads. What else? Oh, there were a couple of rumors about Ben drinking again too. With all of this, I’ve thought for a while now that Jen and Ben are in trouble, but are likely just sticking with the marriage for now, maybe hoping that it will get better, that they’re going through a rough phase. When the tabloids do report the stories, it’s always “poor Jen, but don’t worry, they’ll be fine.” Because for some reason, Jennifer gets treated with kid gloves in ways that other celebrity women don’t. Anyway, the National Enquirer has another marriage drama story, and this one is about Jennifer issuing an ultimatum to Ben:

Ben and Jennifer Garner’s five-year marriage is hanging by a thread as the pair lead increasingly separate lives, say the couple’s concerned friends. They have been drifting apart for months as Ben throws himself into acting and directing stints, and devoted mom Jennifer juggles mulitple projects while tending to their daughters.

Now, in a bombshell development, their estrangement has pushed Jennifer to the edge.

“Jen is ready to give Ben a shape-up or ship-out ultimatum,” divulged an insider. “She wants Ben to make her and the kids his main priority. She wants him to start by letting her and the girls join him when he travels. I think jen believes that spending quality time together can save the day.”

A source says the situation is “tragic” and “Things are not looking good between them right now, and she must be growing extremely pessimistic about her marriage. They are barely together these days, and when they do meet up, it’s more about being parents. They used to be so happy, but unless something changes drastically, it seems inevitable that the couple will split.”

As Ben promoted The Town, Jen stayed home and took the kids out. A source says: “Jen appears to have become the loneliest soccer mom in Hollywood.”

Another issue: Ben’s sobriety. Sources say there are renewed fears that he is drinking again.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition]

Eh… don’t get me wrong, I think Ben and Jen have problems, I really do. And I think their problems are more than most couples working and struggling to raise the kids, I think Ben and Jen’s problems are about infidelity and alcoholism and keeping up appearances and who is going to leave the relationship with public sympathy. But we’ll see – Gwyneth and Chris Martin seem to live completely separate lives, and I thought they were headed for a split by the end of the year too – and now I think that they’re going to stick it out. We’ll see…

Oh, and Gossip Cop slammed this story, but GC didn’t have any denials from reps or anything, so it’s just his opinion that the story is false. Just like it’s my opinion that they’re having problems.