A petition calling on the United States to begin construction of a moon-sized superweapon has achieved 25,000 signatures, which according to the rules of the Obama administration's feel-good bullshit platform "We the People," requires a response from the White House. None has yet been made.
You might recall all those articles of secession a bunch of folks drew up and signed after Obama was re-elected, and the fact they've also gotten the requisite 25,000 twangs of approval from America's spittoon. The 30-day signing window just closed for them, too, presumably meaning an official administration response is forthcoming. Wouldn't it be awesome if the White House engaged this one first, just to troll the neo-secessionists?
How reasonable is this proposal, anyway? Well, an actual Death Star costs $852 quadrillion (it's in the Skymall catalog, next to the high speed money counter and the limited edition 14K gold Dale Earnhardt hotdog cooker.) Even if it's a virtual lock defense spending will not be touched in the current fiscal cliff pose-off; I think even Republicans would find that kind of a big ticket item to be a hard sell right now.
If this particular initiative results in the total destruction of anything, maybe it's the idea that these petition efforts are useful for anything other than making people feel like they're doing something without actually doing something.
It would be as if thousands of voices suddenly cried out, and were silenced. Good.
Empire strikes: White House to respond to Death Star petition. [CNET]