Petitions.whitehouse.gov is an official way that anyone with a grievance can try to lobby public support for their cause directly with the White House, and if they garner enough signatures, the administration will find the right person to consider the question and answer it.

Most of the time it’s used for serious stuff – to improve medical device safety, or restore federal recognition of a native American tribe, for example.

Sometimes it’s used for funny stuff, like the time more than 34,000 people petitioned the White House to build a Death Star.

That number of signatures put that petition over the threshold that elicits serious consideration by the administration, so the White House recruited Paul Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget, to draft a response. The response, entitled This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For, is nothing short of awesome. I’m not going to ruin it here – just check it out.