President Barack Obama and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin - can you imagine the dinner-table conversation at that family gathering, were it ever to happen?

Obama and Palin have said some pretty nasty things about each other.

Yet, as hard as it is to believe, Obama and Palin are related, according to genealogists at the website Ancestry.com. The president and one of his harshest critics are 10th cousins through common ancestor John Smith, who was a pastor and early settler in 17th-century Massachusetts.


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Obama and Palin are related to Smith through their mothers, according to Ancestry.com.

Obama and Palin are related to former President George W. Bush, too. Obama and Bush are 11th cousins through common ancestor Samuel Hinckley. Palin and Bush are also 11th cousins related through Hinckley.

The genealogists also discovered that Obama is related to another of his most vociferous critics, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. "Perhaps Rush will ease up on the president when he learns they are actually 10th cousins once removed via common ancestor Richmond Terrell," Ancestry.com noted dryly.

Limbaugh easing up on the Democratic president?

That's about as likely as Obama inviting Palin and Bush to the White House for a family barbecue.