Your move, White House.
Among the many pressing issues facing our great nation, the people have rallied together in support of the most pressing one of all: our reckless lack of functioning Death Stars.
A petition asking the Obama administration to gather the resources and begin production of our very own Death Star has passed the signature threshold on the White House’s We The People petition site. Crossing that 25,000 signature barrier means that the White House is forced to issue an official response.
“Forced,” in theory. The White House says that they “will do our best to respond to petitions that cross the signature threshold in a timely fashion, however, depending on the topic and the overall volume of petitions from We the People, responses may be delayed.” So maybe they’ll get to it, maybe they won’t. But at least it’s officially on the list.
Unfortunately, that list has other official responses ahead of it. As you may remember, a flood of secession petitions inundated the We The People site following President Obama’s reelection. A few of those petition actually succeeded in breaking the 25,000 signature threshold. Those petitions have yet to receive a response.
The Death Star petition has its roots in 4chan and received additional promotion from reddit. Here’s what it asks:
Those who sign here petition the United States government to secure funding and resources, and begin construction on a Death Star by 2016. By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.
As I said yesterday when I told you that the petition was nearing the signature threshold, this petition shows just how off the rails the White House’s online petition initiative has gone. Death Stars, secession – I’m pretty sure that this is pretty far from what they had in mind when they developed the portal back in 2011.
But then again, the White House may have to respond to the people’s desire for a Death Star. Cool.
