A new report from the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston reveals that both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are tied to two political candidates by blood. Barack Obama is a distant cousin of Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie is a distant cousin of Hillary Clinton.

This could make for one odd family reunion: Barack Obama is a distant cousin of actor Brad Pitt, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is related to Pitt’s girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.

Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society found some remarkable family connections for the three presidential candidates — Democratic rivals Obama and Clinton, and Republican John McCain…

Genealogist Christopher Child said that while the candidates often focus on pointing out differences between them, their ancestry shows they are more alike than they think.

“It shows that lots of different people can be related, people you wouldn’t necessarily expect,” Child said.

Obama has a prolific presidential lineage that features Democrats and Republicans. His distant cousins include President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison. Other Obama cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Civil War General Robert E. Lee.

Obama often jokes about his cousin Cheney at campaign appearances.

“His kinships are across the political spectrum,” Child said.

Child has spent the last three years tracing the candidates’ genealogy, along with senior research scholar Gary Boyd Roberts, author of the 1989 book, “Ancestors of American Presidents”…

Obama and President Bush are 10th cousins, once removed, linked by Samuel Hinkley of Cape Cod, who died in 1662.

Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769. Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment on the senator’s ancestry.

Clinton and Jolie are ninth cousins, twice removed, both related to Jean Cusson who died in St. Sulpice, Quebec, in 1718.

[From Yahoo! News]

If this proves anything, it’s that the gene pool on this planet is getting way too close for comfort. No wonder the new generation is so stupid– they’re all cousins! I have never been curious about my ancestors, and with reports like this coming out, I want to know where I came from even less. With my luck, I’d turn out to be related to Hitler or Jack the Ripper or something. Who needs that kind of pressure? It’s bad enough that my immediate ancestors had a history of cancer, mental illness and heart disease!

Note by Celebitchy: I didn’t see what the big deal was here, except to highlight that we’re all related somehow through genealogy.