GnomeUI-WARNING **: While connecting to session manager

When I try to run gvim or gedit from a GUI Terminal in Debian 6.0.6, I get these errors:

root@debian:/etc/default# gvim grub

(gvim:2007): GnomeUI-WARNING **: While connecting to session manager:
None of the authentication protocols specified are supported.
root@debian:/etc/default# gvim

(gvim:2010): GnomeUI-WARNING **: While connecting to session manager:
None of the authentication protocols specified are supported.

The editors seem to work ok, but there is an error window that pops up every time that says gvim may not work properly because the configuration information could not be saved or loaded. If I click on "Details", then it says the session manager server could not be contacted. Googling the problem indicates it's been around for greater than 6-years!

The problem also occurs in Ubuntu 11.04 running the "Classic" Gnome GUI (Not Unity)