Deporting Justin Bieber has become the second most popular petition in the three-year history of President Obama’s online petition program, tapping a depth of anger at the Canadian pop singer — and leaving the White House to ponder how to respond.

The chance to sign the Bieber petition expires Saturday, 30 days after it was posted by Roger Skrzynski II, who said he did it partly as a way to expose problems with the petition website.

But the petition gained more traction than he imagined. With more than 260,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon, the petition is ahead of other favorites such as building a “death star” or legalizing marijuana. Indeed, the only petition to have gained more signatures was a 2012 plea asking that Westboro Baptist Church be declared a hate group.

“I feel like I finally brought America together on an issue for once,” Mr. Skrzynski told The Washington Times this week.

Mr. Bieber, who turns 20 on March 1, stirred up anger among Americans with his arrest in January. Charges of drunken driving in his Lamborghini in a drag race in Miami Beach, Fla., was one in a string of incidents, including an assault charge in his native Canada and a Los Angeles investigation into whether he egged a neighbor’s mansion, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage.

The petition asking the White House to deport Mr. Bieber drew considerable attention, including from Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who told a radio station that he had three daughters and would love to sign.

Animus against Mr. Bieber has taken other forms, too. A billboard in Chicago hyping Friday’s U.S.-Canada showdown in the Olympic ice hockey tournament showed Mr. Bieber and two Chicago Blackhawks players — Canadian Jonathan Toews and American Patrick Kane. The only words: “Loser keeps Bieber.”

The White House started its petition page in 2011 as a way to give Americans a chance to drum up support for their causes. Initially, any petition that gained 5,000 signatures earned an official response. The threshold was raised to 25,000 and then, at the beginning of Mr. Obama’s second term last year, was increased to 100,000.

The White House said it would respond to the Bieber petition, though it did not say when.

“Every petition that crosses the threshold will be reviewed and receive a response. Response times vary based on a number of factors including issue area and total volume of petitions,” said spokesman Matt Lehrich.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014.../#ixzz2ty2dV4Tg
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Zitat

---

Deport Bieber petition is second-highest ever on White House website

---

The first highest is the petition to deport Zero.