[J.P.’s Moment of Common Sense on Broad View, KJFK 1230 AM and 96.1 FM in Reno. Listen live Saturdays at 3:00 PM Pacific Time.]

In September of 2011, the White House launched an Internet site called, “We The People.”  It’s an online way for people to informally petition the federal government.  I say “informally” because the petitions have no legal standing, no requirement that anything actually happen.  It’s not like petitioning your state government to place a resolution on the ballot.

The Obama administration promised a “response” to any petition that received 5,000 signatures within 30 days.  That’s all.  Like a lot of stuff in Washington, it was set up to look good and score points with the public, not actually accomplish anything.

The very first month they realized they’d made a mistake so they upped the requirement to 25,000 signatures.  Apparently they were getting too many petitions and responding to them was cutting into the president’s golf time.  By the end of 2012 the public was having some serious fun with the White House petition process.  More than 70,000 of them were started in November and December alone, many of them hilarious, and the White House is so sick of the jokesters, this week they upped the requirement to 100,000 signatures.

Some people want their state to secede from the union, other people want marijuana legalized, and some yahoo even started a White House petition to eliminate White House petitions.  34,435 people signed a petition requesting that the government build an $850 quadrillion Death Star like the one in Star Wars and, as of the deadline Wednesday, 17,248 people had signed a petition requesting that the Obama Administration “send Piers Morgan back to Great Britain.”

Ya gotta love that one.

[Update: turns out there was more than one petition to deport Piers and the other one has over one hundred thousand signatures.]

Piers Morgan, if you don’t know, hosts a news commentary show on CNN.  The petition to deport him was inspired by Morgan’s reaction to the Sandy Hook school shooting.  He’s been wildly ranting anti-gun ever since the shooting happened, getting facts wrong, lying through his teeth, browbeating and insulting anyone who disagrees with him, determined, apparently, to take the United States down the same path as the United Kingdom... the last country he was run out of.

In case you don’t know about Morgan’s sleazy history on the other side of the pond: after years of government investigations, ethical violations, and shady dealings as a newspaperman, he was fired from his job as editor of the Daily Mirror because he published crudely faked photographs of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.  Basically, this was Britain’s version of the fake Bush memos that got Dan Rather fired.

After that, Morgan spent a year bankrupting another newspaper, then branched out into television, eventually taking over Larry King’s spot on CNN.  So now he’s over here, in our country, lowering our standards.  He’s virulently leftwing, flagrantly rude, blatantly dishonest, snide, supercilious, and stupid—which explains why seventeen thousand people expressed fondness for the idea of deporting him.

Most people didn’t take the petition seriously but we have an interesting real-world parallel: in 2009, radio commentator Michael Savage was banned from the United Kingdom because of opinions expressed on the air.

Let’s think about that for a minute.  Michael Savage wasn’t accused of being dishonest, like Piers Morgan; wasn’t accused of proselytizing against British laws, like Piers Morgan is doing against the U.S. Constitution; and wasn’t even in the United Kingdom or on the air in the United Kingdom, like Piers Morgan is here.  But the Brits banned him anyway.

Seems to me turnabout would be fair play.

Trades are commonplace when it comes to international diplomacy.  During the Cold War, we didn’t put Russian spies in front of a firing squad when we caught them—we traded them back to the Russians for our own spies.  Sanctions against Iran, sanctions against North Korea, sanctions against Cuba—they’re all set up so we can trade for what we want from those countries.  That’s what diplomacy is: trading.

The banning of Michael Savage from the United Kingdom was arbitrary and unfair, a silly attempt by politically correct bureaucrats in the British government to ban a Jewish person so it wouldn’t look like they were picking on Muslims.  So they banned a bunch of Islamic terrorists... and Michael Savage.  A radio commentator.  Who happens to be Jewish.

See?  We’re not picking on Muslims!

The decision was ludicrous but government bureaucrats never admit they’re wrong—they need some kind of trade so they can fix a mistake without losing face.  This petition is our chance.  Let’s tell the UK we’re deporting Piers Morgan unless they lift the ban on Michael Savage, an offer we win either way.

That’s... today’s dose of common sense.

“Those who plead their cause in the absence of an opponent can invent to their heart's content, can pontificate without taking into account the opposite point of view and keep the best arguments for themselves.”—Christine de Pizan

“Hypocrites kick with their hind feet while licking with their tongues.”—Russian proverb

From Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA        Tweet

January 25, 2013 - Immigration is now being discussed on both sides of the aisle. I have a novel idea! Why not use ole Piers Morgan as the poster boy for immigration? The caption can read something to the effect of "make your stay in the U.S. legal! How difficult can it be? They let me in!" – Pam T., Virginia

J.P. replies: I wish you were president.

January 23, 2013 - J.P. - thanks for sharing the "We the People" website! I never made it through all of the 700 open petitions. The website is set up poorly, which accounts for many of the more important issues like gun control, and the budget have numerous petitions. I also like that the administration decided unless the petition had over 100,000 supporters they would not address or respond to the petition. Clever! The American people can't get our House and Senate to agree on anything and they represent a number waaaay lower than 100,000. Here are are a few of my favorite petitions. -Officially recognize the Sasquatch as an indigenous species and have them lawfully protected by laws banning any hunting. -Save the Lewpty-Lew -Develop and issue a stamp or a series of stamps that depict, promote and normalize breast feeding. -And last but not least, the various petitions to light up the White House in different colors to commemorate various issues. – Pam T., Virginia

J.P. replies: You’re right about it being set up poorly.  That’s why I missed that there was more than one Piers Morgan deportation petition (dammit).  The MOST irritating feature of the website is that once a petition with insufficient signatures expires, it disappears.  So you can’t go back and look at old petitions and see how many signatures they got.

January 19, 2013 - I agree! I can't stand Piers Morgan. I used to listen to Michael Savage when I lived in Georgia. Now I'm in Charlotte, I can't find him (or much of anything else conservative). I've missed you. – G.D., North Carolina

J.P. replies: Squeeze the trigger, don’t jerk it.