April 6, 2008 - 10:11 PM EDT

Do you have any idea what it is to be a fifth cousin, eight times removed? Obama isn't, as you say, a "descendant" (which would imply "lineal" descent) of Robert E. Lee. It's so distant it's hardly worth mentioning. Even to say that one was close in terms of being a third cousin is stretching it quite a bit.

FYI, Richard Eltonhead (1582-1664) was Lee's third great grandfather - also my 9th great grandfather - thereby making Lee my third cousin, six times removed. Because of the Eltonhead tie, I'm also connected as a 4th cousin, 6 times removed from James Madison. All-in-all, it's a very distant connection and hardly even one that qualifies with any degree of "familial familiarity." If it impacts the election in any way (which I sincerely doubt that it will), any votes made based on the remote connection of cousins will only reflect the ignorance of persons who make said votes.

April 7, 2008 - 9:11 AM EDT

Thanks for the comment Robert. As I said, I found it interesting. And yes, as you say it is a distant connection to say the least. Still, I wonder why CNN felt the need to report on it with such effort (note the special web panel they created for the article I linked to. I'm not 'for' or 'against' Obama at this point, but any mention of R.E. Lee always gets my attention. Of course this has nothing to do with voting, but I am fascinated by these lineages.