The White House Explains Why It Isn't Building A Death Star

Normally, when a presidential administration blatantly ignores the will of the people, it's cause for public outrage. In this particular case, though, we think we'll let it slide.

Despite the fervent pleas of thousands of citizens, the White House has opted not to go ahead with the building of a Death Star after all. That's the bad news. The good news is that they let the nation's geeks down in friendliest way possible. The official response to last month's petition starts with a tongue-in-cheek title — "This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For" — and only gets better from there. Hit the jump to read more.

The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

• The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.

• The Administration does not support blowing up planets.

• Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

Sound like good points to me. The rest of the post (which you can read in full here) goes on to talk about what the White House is doing on the science and space front, pointing to the Mars Rover, the International Space Station, and President Barack Obama's handiness with a lightsaber. In the end, it's tough to disagree with the administration's most persuasive argument: "Remember, the Death Star's power to destroy a planet, or even a whole star system, is insignificant next to the power of the Force."