Did Barack's Ancestors Own Michelle's Ancestors?

It's not out of the question. The media seems delighted about the recent news that proves Michelle Obama's ancestors were slaves. Of course, that was a given was it not?

New genealogical research has traced the roots of U.S. first lady Michelle Obama to a mixed-race family line that began around 1859 with a union between a 15-year-old slave girl and a white man in Georgia.

The findings provide, for the first time, evidence to back up rumours Obama has said have circulated in her family for decades -- that in addition to being a descendant of slaves, her ancestors also include slave owners.

According to documents unearthed by genealogical detective Megan Smolenyak, Obama's maternal great-great-great grandmother was Melvinia Shields, a woman born into slavery around 1844.

"Of all her ancestors, the one who called to me the most was one named Melvinia," Smolenyak told an interviewer Thursday. "She was just fascinating."

Of course, what the media is not reporting is that Barack Obama's ancestors were slave OWNERS. So it is not out of the realm of possibility that Barry's ancestors owned Michelle's ancestors and, you know, that the two of them are blood relatives.

...an intriguing snippet of the Illinois senator's family history has received almost no attention until now: It appears that forebears of his white mother owned slaves, according to genealogical research and US census records.

The records - never addressed publicly by Senator Obama or his relatives - were noted in an ancestry report compiled by William Addams Reitwiesner, who works at the Library of Congress and researches genealogies in his spare time. The report, on Mr Reitwiesner's website, carries a disclaimer that it is a "first draft" - one likely to be examined more closely if the senator from Illinois is nominated.

According to the research, one of Senator Obama's great-great-great-great-grandfathers, George Washington Overall, owned two slaves who were recorded in the 1850 census in Nelson County, Kentucky. The same records show that one of Senator Obama's great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers, Mary Duvall, also owned two slaves.

The records show that Overall, then 30, owned a 15-year-old female and a 25-year-old male, while Mary Duvall, his mother-in-law, owned a 60-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman.

An Obama spokesman did not dispute the information and said that the senator's ancestors "are representative of America".

"While a relative owned slaves, another fought for the Union in the Civil War," campaign spokesman Bill Burton said on Thursday. "And it is a true measure of progress that the descendant of a slave owner would come to marry a student from Kenya and produce a son who would grow up to be a candidate for president."

It was unclear whether Senator Obama was aware of any slave-holding ancestors.

The irony is just delightful. Hey Barry! Is this a teachable moment? Speak up. Learn us something.

Mmm...Mmm...Mmmm...Barack Hussein Obama