The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

My wife sent me this link today, about the familial connection between Angelina Jolie and Hillary Clinton, as well as the connection between Brad Pitt and Barack Obama.

Jolie and Clinton are ninth cousins, twice removed, while Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, according to a genealogical study conducted over the last three years.

In addition to her kinship with Jolie, Clinton is also related to Madonna, Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette, researchers found. Other cousins include Camilla Parker Bowles and Jack Kerouac.

Obama, on the other hand, shares his ancestry with six U.S. presidents, including current commander in chief, George W. Bush, and his father, George H.W. Bush.

Other far-reaching Obama relations include Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney and Sir Winston Churchill.

[...]

[John McCain] was found to be a sixth cousin to first lady Laura Bush.

Strange, isn't it, that almost every presidential election cycle in recent memory has some article about the familial connections between politicians and other politicians and/or celebrities. Isn't this only more evidence that our entire mainstream political and cultural structures are run by a perpetuating elite few?