It sounds like a case of “May the farce be with you.” At this moment, in a galaxy not far away, there is a petition on a White House website pushing for the funding and construction of a Death Star like the one featured in the “Star Wars” film saga.
The specific petition is on the White House’s “We the People” site, and states:
We petition the Obama administration to: Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.
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.
In the “Star Wars” movies, the Death Star was an armed battle station in space that produced enough concentrated firepower to instantly destroy a planet.
The petition is apparently one of several posted as satire, possibly in response to petitions urging states to secede from the U.S.
News of the petition has received media attention across America and the globe, with coverage in the Huffington Post, Washington Post and Australia’s Daily Telegraph.
So far, there’s no official response from the White House, but there could be one should the petition collect 25,000 signatures by mid-December. As of Monday afternoon, more than 800 people signed the online measure.
Interestingly, one of the names on the petition is “Darth V.” from Burlington, N.C., who signed the measure Dec. 1.
Darth Vader is the legendary character from “Star Wars” who was the father of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, and was seduced to the “dark side of the force.”
