Today, 17 DEC 2012, it seems to be fixed, on my 64-bit system with Nvidia graphics.
First, install googleearth-package, lsb-core, ia32-libs-gtk, and libfreeimage3.
Then, as user, run "make-googleearth-package". As root, install the package with dpkg.
This reminds me of the old saying ... "patience is a virtue".