Petition: Obama should build Death Star

By Jeremy Herb - 12/03/12 12:53 PM ET

Forget the White House beer recipe — what the American people really want is a Death Star.

Well, 495 of them anyway.

A petition on the White House’s “We the People” website calls for the United States to find funding and begin construction on a Star Wars-style 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,” the petition reads.

“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.”

While funding for a Death Star is no doubt jeopardized by the threat of sequestration, the petition could attract an official White House response if it gets 25,000 signatures by mid-December.

The White House’s petition website has sparked some interesting causes, from a call for Texas to secede last month to helping secure the release of the White House beer recipe — which happened in September after more than 12,000 people signed the petition on the White House site.

As for the Death Star, 495 people have so far joined the petition as of Monday morning.

Luke and Leia aren’t on the list of petitioners. But there is a “Darth V” from Burlington, N.C., who signed on Dec. 1.