What a tangled web our bloody, shameful, slave-ridden American history has woven.

A genealogical study has found that silvern newsman Anderson Cooper's great-great-grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, once owned Michelle Obama's great-great-grandfather, Jim Robinson, on Friendfield(!!!!!!!!!), a 3,000-acre plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina.

Whitney Tower, a budding author and cousin of Cooper's who still lives in Georgetown, has now invited Obama to visit Robinson's resting place at Friendfield. Obama has yet to accept the offer, probably because walking amid tremendous wealth tended to for decades by one's enslaved ancestor and people like him, many of whom are now buried underfoot, is equal parts infuriating, creepy and fucking depressing.

If her husband is elected, Michelle Obama would be the first First Lady with slave roots.

Update: Whoops! The Daily News has updated their article to include the information that the Vanderbilt family did not own Friendfield in the slave era, meaning Cornelius Vanderbilt never owned Jim Robinson—some other horrendous, lazy pig did.