This probably won't work for many of the reasons mentioned here, but this petition isn't like other petitions that make their rounds on the internet. It's not persuasive because it is well reasoned and has a lot of signatures, it's persuasive because it will make Obama seem like a complete dick if it ever makes its way into a history book.
So you're saying that some online petitions are actually meant to diffuse dissent about the thing they're petitioning? That would be a stroke of evil genius if it's true. Doesn't strike me as being the case so much as their being driven by naive idealism, but in the case of the whitehouse one, it's at least conceivable. In the long run, it's probably just going to demonstrate to a lot of people that online petitions are mostly counterproductive.
I find it astonishing that people actually consider it worse to have this petition website than not to have one, simply because the President will not toe the line of every petition which gets a few thousand votes.
Even though not a single petition has been taken seriously so far, I think this one actually has a decent shot. If Obama acts were to actually act on one of them before the next election then this one probably has the best chance because it's a relatively small change, and it probably wouldn't be excessively controversial.
It's a good start. If enough people sign, it will force the administration to answer the petition. Even if it doesn't push the administration to give a positive answer, it can help fuel more protests and actions.
Clearly we all are familiar with WH petitions that don't fare well. This one I think has the hallmarks of something different--and something the president could probably actively support. Regardless, the time required here is minimal. In fact, in the time it took you to write your pessimistic note, you could have voted to support the petition instead, and done one or two other things as well.
I don't understand this fascination with internet petitions. Hasn't it been demonstrated to the point of absurdity that our government does not care?
Before anyone claims "OH, so we should just do nothing instead????". Posting a dubious e-signature to an internet petition does nothing. There are people out in the streets sleeping in parks getting pepper sprayed and arrested because the government can't simply ignore it (unlike every single internet petition).
Filling out a whitehouse petition is like getting punched in the face by your boss then slipping a folded piece of paper into the complaint box he put in the break-room next to the donuts.
This is the third or fourth petition with a massive, lengthy non-answer I've seen pop up on the site. I'm generally an Obama fan, but this is just unacceptable.
Looks like it's time for a "Answer petitions with something meaningful" petition.
Exactly. Which is why the petition matters - it forces a response from the White House. (Obama promised to respond to each petition that reaches 100,000 signatures)
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