The White House Was Petitioned To Build A Real Death Star, And They Actually Responded
The way the economy is right now and the way the government spends money, we really don’t want to give anyone in the White House any bright (or not so bright) ideas. Building a real-life Death Star doesn’t appear to be on the government’s agenda (unless it’s buried in some bill and we don’t know about it).
But there was a time when an actual petition went to the White House with the express intent on having a Death Star built. Fully functional and ready to eliminate planets if need be.
Back in 2012, using the White House website petition service, John D. of Colorado started a petition to build a fully operational Death Star. Yes, just like the one that blew up the planet Alderaan in Star Wars.
As part of the petition (which is no longer available for viewing, the good citizens (and netizens) of the United States, began making their case why a real Death Star was in then-President Barack Obama’s administration’s best interest. Part of it read:
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.
There was a groundswell (such as it were) at the time to actually get this thing done. At one point, it even got over 25,000 signatures. They wanted to see this bad boy operational and maybe even fly an American flag on it as well.
To their credit (or maybe not), the White House actually did respond to the Death Star petition. Paul Shawcross, the Chief of the Science and Space Branch in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, wrote back to the petition explaining why they wouldn’t be moving forward on the Death Star.
It was tongue-in-cheek saying that the administration didn’t support blowing up planets and even jokingly referencing the exploitable weakness in the design.
And sure, the Death Star was a symbol of the Empire’s dominance over the galaxy, so it might not have been the message the United States wanted to send. Also, there was the matter of the bill. The estimated cost of building a fully operational Death Star was approximately $852,000,000,000,000,000 (not adjusted for inflation). It would also take an estimated 833,315 years to complete it. Even for a country that loves to spend, this was a galaxy too far.
He then went on to describe all of the space initiatives the government was actually working on like the International Space Station (yawn) and the James Webb Telescope (double yawn) among other things.
In all, you have to respect the gumption of the American citizens to actually put it out there about building a Death Star. It was worth the try. That White House administration didn’t want to get on board, but that isn’t saying another one in the future won’t see it as a good idea.
One day we might even get a future President running on that platform. Heck, they might even call themselves the Emperor before it’s all said and done. Then we would really be making galactic progress.
