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5 strange White House petitions

U.S. President Barack Obama drinks Guinness beer as he meets with local residents at Ollie Hayes pub in Moneygall, Ireland. In September 2012, the White House released its own beer recipe after the online demand garnered more than 12,000 signatures and a request from a user on Reddit during Obama's "Ask Me Anything.". AP Photo

As if he isn’t busy enough, U.S. President Barack Obama now has to deal with the whole Justin Bieber problem.

That’s because 100,000 people have signed a petition on the White House website calling for the Beebs to be deported and to have his green card revoked.

READ MORE: White House will have to answer petition’s call for Justin Bieber deportation

A much less popular petition to not deport Bieber has also made its way to the site with a mere 520 signatures to date.

Once a petition reaches 100,000 signatures, the White House is compelled to offer a reply.

The Canadian pop star was charged with DUI, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license.

Here’s a look at other strange, but true, petitions the White House has received:

The ‘we really need a Death Star’ petition (Total signatures: 34,435):

Last year, a spoof petition demanded that America build an “$850,000,000,000,000,000, Star Wars-style Death Star.”

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The White House had to produce a tongue-in-cheek suggestion to that one. It informed people that a Death Star was not fiscally feasible in a time of budgetary constraints.

“We don’t have a Death Star, but we do have floating robot assistants on the Space Station, a President who knows his way around a light saber and advanced (marshmallow) cannon, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is supporting research on building Luke’s arm, floating droids, and quadruped walkers.”

The ‘Save the Twinkies industry’ petition (Total signatures: 2,972):

In November 2012, a petition to saving the popular junk food from possible extinction began to circulate on the White House “We the People” petition site.

“We the undersigned, hereby request Barack Obama to immediately Nationalize the Twinkie industry and prevent our nation from losing her sweet creamy center,” said the petition.

FILE – A Jan. 20, 2012, file photo shows Hostess Twinkies in a studio photograph made in New York.
FILE – A Jan. 20, 2012, file photo shows Hostess Twinkies in a studio photograph made in New York. AP Photo

Last year, Twinkies and other snack cakes were purchased by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. after Hostess Brands said it was closing down.

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Editor’s note: The petition failed to garner enough signatures and has now expired.

The ‘let’s deport (almost) EVERYONE’ petition (Total signatures: 29,650):

In November 2012, a petition to “deport everyone that signed a petition to withdraw their state from the United States of America” gathered more than 29,000 signatures.

In response, the White House wrote the following:

“In a nation of 300 million people — each with their own set of deeply-held beliefs — democracy can be noisy and controversial. And that’s a good thing. Free and open debate is what makes this country work, and many people around the world risk their lives every day for the liberties we often take for granted.

“But as much as we value a healthy debate, we don’t let that debate tear us apart.

“Whether it’s figuring out how to strengthen our economy, reduce our deficit in a responsible way, or protect our country, we will need to work together — and hear from one another — in order to find the best way to move forward.”

The ‘show us the beer…recipe’ petition (Total signatures: 12, 240):

In September 2012, the White House released its beer recipe after the online demand garnered more than 12,000 signatures and a request from a user on Reddit during  President Obama’s “Ask Me Anything.”

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“Inspired by home brewers from across the country, last year President Obama bought a home brewing kit for the kitchen,” reads the official White House response.

“After the few first drafts we landed on some great recipes that came from a local brew shop. We received some tips from a couple of home brewers who work in the White House who helped us amend it and make it our own. To be honest, we were surprised that the beer turned out so well since none of us had brewed beer before.”

For those interested in drinking brew ‘like a boss’ (or president), here’s the White House recipe below:

The ‘have Obama attend a fark party’ petition (Total signatures: 1,100):

Also in 2012, a call for President Obama to sit down with the creator of Internet news aggregator Fark.com  also made its rounds.

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“Too many serious petitions on this site asking the President to work his butt off,” wrote petition creator Aaron A. “We believe that he should have a chance to have a good time.”

As perhaps expected, the petition also failed to gather enough signatures.

With files from The Associated Press

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