Family values

Nice find by mnobserver at Norwegianity and the good folks at The Guardian:

Now don't go pretending to be shocked at this bit of Bush family history from the Guardian:

The US president's now apparent ancestor, Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke -- known as Strongbow for his arrow skills -- is remembered as a desperate, land-grabbing warlord whose calamitous foreign adventure led to the suffering of generations. Shunned by Henry II, he offered his services as a mercenary in the 12th-century invasion of Wexford in exchange for power and land. When he eventually died of a festering ulcer in his foot, his enemies said it was the revenge of Irish saints whose shrines he had violated.

But wait! There's more:

The genetic line can also be traced to Dermot MacMurrough, the Gaelic king of Leinster reviled in history books as the man who sold Ireland for personal gain.

Even before MacMurrough earned the title of Ireland's worst traitor by inviting Strongbow's invasion to save himself from a local feud, the Irish chieftain had a reputation for gore. One English chronicler told how MacMurrough, recognising the features of a personal enemy poking from a pile of severed heads after a battle, snatched up the rotting flesh and tore it with his teeth in a "hideous frenzy".

He then turned to his lieutenant and said "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie."