This is almost too incredible to believe (which, admittedly, is about what you'd expect from an article headlined "Sharpton's Ancestor Was Owned by Thurmond's"): according to a genealogical study released today, one of Strom Thurmond's distant cousins once owned Al Sharpton's great-grandfather, a South Carolina slave named Coleman Sharpton. Seriously. What are the odds of that?

(Also be sure to note this marvelous quote:

While some of Thurmond's relatives contacted by the Daily News expressed skepticism about the report, Doris Strom Costner, a cousin of the late senator, said Sharpton should be proud to know his family's connection to hers. "He's in a mighty good family," she said by telephone from Edgefield, S.C.

Yeah, because "pride" is exactly what I'd be feeling. Nothing says "honor and integrity" quite like the Thurmond family name.)