Today's Daily Schadenfreude: the late Strom Thurmond

In the first-ever posthumous presentation of the Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude, late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-19th Century) (right -- literally and figuratively) is in the headlines again. Seems his family tree may have a few interesting branches:

The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond through his great-grandfather, a slave owned by an ancestor of the late senator.

"I can't find out anything more shocking than I've already learned," Sharpton told the Daily News, which on Sunday reported the link based on genealogists' findings.

[...]

Professional genealogists, who work for Ancestry.com, found that Sharpton's great-grandfather Coleman Sharpton was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.

"Based on the paper trail, it seems pretty evident that the connection is there," said Mike Ward, a genealogist with Ancestry.com, who called the link "amazing."

Ancestry.com's chief family genealogist, Megan Smolenyak, said Sharpton would need to match his DNA with a present-day descendant to see if they are biologically related.

"I think the odds are slim he would match," Smolenyak told the News. "There is no particular evidence to suggest that there is a direct relationship between the two (black and white) Sharpton families to suggest they share a common ancestry. But, given the legacy of plantation society, you can't rule it out."

Oh, this is rich. I mean, we already know that Sen. Thurmond fathered a biracial child (Essie Mae Washington, right, with Dan Rather). Of course, the mere fact would be irrelevant ... if Thurmond were not a virulent segregationist who ran for president as a Dixiecrat (read: segregation forever) in 1948. It's even more fun for me personally, because I had the opportunity to meet Sen. Thurmond back in 1988 when he was just a kid of 85. Profoundly feeble even then (although, remarkably, he lived another 15 years), he spent half an hour calling me "Jim," even though I wore a large nametag bearing my first name ... which is not "Jim."

I've always found that hypocrisy produces the best schadenfreude, and today is no exception. So, from this life to the next, congratulations go out (or down?) to Strom Thurmond -- today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!