Over the half year or so that the White House has been operating their We The People online petition site, we’ve seen that it can be used in a variety of ways.
There are the ridiculous petitions – the ones that have absolutely no basis in reality but I’m sure some people think they do. This would include the ones designed to have the Obama administration deport talk show hosts and let states secede because they’re unhappy about election results.
Then there are the meaningful petitions that deserve White House responses. This would include recent petitions like the one asking the Obama Administration to make cellphone unlocking legal or this anti-CISPA one.
Then, of course, there are the Stars Wars-related petitions. For a cultural phenomenon as powerful as Star Wars, it’s actually hard to believe that there aren’t more like this. You may remember the people’s attempt to get the U.S. government to build a fully functioning Death Star. It actually succeed, crossing the signature threshold and forcing an official White House response. But alas, the White House said that they do not support blowing up planets.
Today’s Star Wars-related governmental petition is a little more reasonable. It asks the Obama administration to “Create a national R2-D2 Day whose motto is ‘selfless not selfish’ and commemorates under appreciated heroes.”
Cute.
Here’s what creator S.M. from Alexandria, Virginia, has to say.
In the iconic Star Wars saga, R2-D2 always seems to save the day, getting his Jedi masters and the forces of the Republic out of harm’s way, and doing so with grace and humor. But the astromech droid never gets the full credit or honors he deserves for his deeds.
In that sense, R2 is a stand-in for all of the under appreciated and unheralded heroes in our everyday lives — in our workplaces, schools and communities.
We should all join together on a national holiday to pay homage to those who, like R2, live by the “selfless, not selfish” creed.
America sure does have some under-appreciated heroes. Sounds like a good idea to me.