LEE’S SUMMIT, JANUARY 13, 2013 – In a surprise move the Obama White House rejects a petition to build a Death Star due to its budget estimated at $850 quadrillion. The White House stated “the cost was simply too high in a time of tight budgets.” Moreover, “the administration does not support blowing up planets”.
Yes, just like you I thought this was a joke; but it was on the Washington Post and provided by the Associated Press (AP) on January 12, 2013 under the title “White House rejects ‘Death Star’ petition.
My favorite quote from the story is “Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?”
I must point out (as a Star Wars and a Star Trek fan) that someone of the caliber of Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget, could include in the final plans a way to block such an attack from a force wielding space jockey.
The fact is that anyone can post a petition on the “We the People” site of the White House; the only requirement is that it gets at least 25,000 signatures – which in this day and age of the internet should not be that hard to do. I can only imagine the poor individual (perhaps an intern) who watched the petition tick up past 25,000 knowing that the petition now warranted a reasonable (even if the petition was not) explanation as to why building a Death Star was just not the right thing to do.
The good news is that perhaps the damaged Death Start may be for sale to cover the costs of the acquisition of Lucas Films by Disney – perhaps we can get a good discount and a great payment plan. The reported sale was for $4 billion.
I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did; and for once I do agree with the Obama Administration – we do have far more fun projects for NASA to work on. Discovering new planets – for a space geek like me – is truly a cool accomplishment. No longer do we have to rely on the Fiction part of Science Fiction to think of planets outside of our Solar system. Now we have the evidence that they are out there.
Have a great Sunday.
Respectfully Submitted
The Lee’s Summit Conservative