My best friend met Prince Charles. Three degrees.
I guess I’ll be the first one posting who is more than 6 degrees from you. I’ve never seen a politician, religious or sports figure, Carlos or Barbra, and have never been to Chicago.
How about Washington, DC? I lived there for 12 years.
Or Jeb Bush?
How about ANY notable person you’ve seen? Maybe there’s a link the other way.
I thought it was, “Who have you shaken hands with?”
Does it count if you met the person long ago, before they really got famous? And, do you count people your contacts met after you met your contacts?
When I was a kid, my family and I had dinner at Ed Broadbent’s house one summer, so that puts me two degrees removed from all sorts of Canadian politicians, leftie types, and union people.
I just joined a film co-op in Toronto, so I’m probably about four degrees removed from all sorts of famous film people…
My best friend’s friend plays in an informal band in New Zealand with crew members from Peter Jackson’s production of King Kong. Four degrees to Hollywood by a different route.
Some of my friends are pagans, environmentalists, and activists, so I’m probably three degrees removed from the likes of Starhawk and Stewart Brand. As well as more leftie political types.
I once worked with the daughter of the then-director of the Bank of Canada. (Had a bit of a crush on her too… but that’s another story.) There’s a route to more political links.
I spent a couple of years in a study group with (among other people) a clothing designer who had dressed many Canadian celebrities. So there’s film people by a third route.
Several members of the Esperanto club I’m in have met all sorts of people at the world conventions, so that’s probably about four or five jumps from assorted world political and cultural figures.
Giles, my cousin is a lawyer in Canberra, so we’re probably four or five degrees removed, connecting through those political people. Now if I could establish that Ed Broadbent had met the Dalai Lama–or Al Gore-- there would be a link to the OP. 
I spent my first 39 years in Canada, so my chances of having seen a famous American in the flesh were few and far between! I’ve seen Jeb on television, but that doesn’t count.
I’ve really been thinking about it since I posted, and I came up with this: I’ve seen Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, who both worked with Billy Preston, who played piano on Streisand’s “Stoney End.” Does that count?
2 degrees
Was “presented” to Prince Charles.
I agree. With the lax definition it just gets ridiculous.
With the strict definition, I have:
Two degrees to Ted Kennedy, and several other Washington bigshots.
Two degrees to Ralph Nader.
Three degrees to Albert Einstein.
Two degrees to Agatha Christie.
Two degrees to Max Zorn, a great mathematician.
Three degrees to Feliz Hausdorff, an even greater mathematician.
Three degrees to Paul Erdoch, another great mathematician.
Three degrees to Rick Pitino, former University of Kentucky basketball coach.
One degree to Richard Popkin, a fairly well-known philosopher.
One degree to Joseph Platt, a fairly well-known physicist.
Under the lax definition, for what it’s worth, I’m one degree from Bill Clinton, one from Hillary, one from the original George Bush, one from Ralph Nader, and one from any number of great baseball and basketball players and coaches.
Boyo Jim, do you accept former state Senators? Fred Thompson? If so, we are two degrees apart. I also see a doctor at the Frist Clinic, but don’t tell anyone.
drewbert, hell, you have named half of my neighborhood in your list!
Jim, I’ve met Margaret Thatcher and I’m pretty sure she’s met the first 5 people on your list.
I saw Bill Clinton give a campaign speech in 1992 at The University of Toledo. I was near a tree where a rather conspicious, hippyish guy had climbed it and was watching Clinton and the crowd. Secretely, I suspect he was an undercover Secret Service Agent.
Second Degree–Series of the second order and first power from you, Boyo Jim](as far as I know.)
The six sidedness of reality is apparent in the ether.
Benard cell convection
http://lists.nau.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9708&L=phys-l&F=&S=&P=1099
…hexadecimal
I’ve been seeing a diabetes specialist at UW-Madison since 1988. Does that get me anything?
Hmm. I met Scott McCallum a few years ago. He’s had to have spoken to at least Thompson. That’s what – three degrees? Also, I’ve seen John Kerry speak a couple times. Something makes me think he’s spoken to at least one person on your list.
I’ve stayed at a guest house in Estonia at which the Dalai Lama also stayed and sat at a table in a restaurant in Hawaii that had previously seated Bill Clinton. I met neither of these people but the staff of the establishments, with whom I spoke, did. So that’s about 4 degrees to Boyo?
In terms of just having seen them, I will claim:
Bill Clinton
Sir Robert Menzies
Bertrand Russell
Gough Whitlam
However, for all of those I was just a face in a crowd.
I shook hands with President Clinton when he came onboard the Eisenhower in 1996. I even have a picture of it somewhere.
And I am within six degrees of Kevin Bacon, through a kid that was in a movie with Gary Sinise. Always thought that was pretty cool.
I’ve seen the winner of the 2004 presidential election in the wild, so that’s pretty easy.
Let’s try a more challenging one:
Barbara Streisand will be in Meet the Fokkers with Robert DeNiro
DeNiro was in Flawless with Philip Seymour Hoffman
Phil was in Love Liza, Screenplay by his brother Gordy
Gordy, when a child, played stick bass as Danny Partridge in a neighborhood Partridge Family tribute band
I was Reuben Kincaid, the manager, because stupid Gordy always hogged the part of Danny and little snot Phil always hogged the part of Chris and stupid Doug always hogged the part of Keith and all that was left was stupid girl parts and I’m taking my ball and going home.
Hm, my mom knew Howard Keel, and my great uncle was in silent movies as a cowboy, and I have met Joel Grey, Arnold Vosloo, Frank Langella, Peter O’Toole Charlie Sheen :wally and Michael York [yummy voice, he can read me a phone book any day] Where does that place us? [oh, and my brother and I were in a print advertisement in 62 in Life Magazine for nitey-nite pajamas 
]
Who was in Show Boat with Bill Warfield, whose brother was in a jazz choir with my dad.
Well, I dated a girl who grew up calling Ron Santo ‘Uncle Santa’, so I guess that’s 3 degrees.
I spent an agonizingly long plane ride with all the members of Santana, including Carlos. He sat next to me across the aisle. He slept or read most of the time, but we chatted for a while. The whole band was seated around me. Carlos’ brother (?) sat next to me on my right side and we talked the whole trip. I forget his name. Jesse, maybe? We were stuck on the ground before departure for something like 4 hours, then a two hour flight, and three more hours circling O’Hare before we could land. Dreadful plane trip. But nice guys.
Oh, but I didn’t know who they were till most way through the trip, when some girl came up to ask them for autographs. When I asked who they were, the guy on my right said, “Have you ever heard of a band called Santana?” I hadn’t. I was only 15 at the time though, and this was before Carlos made his huge solo career. (I was much more excited when my dad flew with Bon Jovi.)
So there’s only one between us, Boyo Jim!
I nanny for a woman who does the hair of a guy who knows Robert DeNiro. So I’m at most four or five away from basically everyone in Hollywood. I get organic meat from the same home farmer Bill Gates does, so that wraps up the entire computer world within five. Politics…hmm…my best friend’s family are mucky-mucks who rub Clinton elbows on a daily basis. My father-in-law is Canadian, and much of my father’s family comes from there, so perhaps we could even link **fishbicycle ** in somehow.
So, I guess I do believe that we’re all within 6 degrees of separation. The trick is finding the right 6 people.
I saw John Edwards at a campaign rally (in Kansas!) this summer so that probably puts me in the ballpark.
And I have three degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. Back in the 80’s, my wife met Jack Nicholson at the store she works at when was in town filming a movie that was never released. And Jack was in “A Few Good Men” with Kevin.