"Our effort to 'secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016' has failed." So writes Alexandra Petri in the Washington Post today. "The White House has offered its official response, which, while delightfully rife with Star Wars references (well-played, Paul Shawcross), informs us that everything will not be proceeding as we have foreseen. Our overconfidence was our weakness, I guess."
Petri was referring to the thousands who implored the government to develop a Death Star--if more than 25,000 sign a petition the White House automatically responds. But after reviewing the request, Shawcross, the Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the Office of Management and Budget, had this response:
