What 'inappropriate' petition did the White House remove from its site?

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees Americans the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." But according to the Obama White House, the selection of Ben Affleck to be the next Batman is no such grievance.

A petition campaign spearheaded by a man from Westland, Mich., was removed from the WeThePeople website in accordance with the White House's Moderation Policy "because it is in violation of our Terms of Participation."  (It may or may not be worth noting that Ben Affleck has donated thousands of dollars to President Obama in the past...)

"While you can't sign this petition, there may be other petitions on We the People on a similar issue that you'd like to add your name to." -- Yes, like this one calling on President Obama to use taxpayer dollars to fund a sex-change operation for Bradley Manning.  That one is apparently a-ok.

Before his petition was taken down, its curator noted that “there are more serious matters that need to be addressed in our country but fans/citizens are outraged at the selection and we want to send a message to Warner Brothers, DC Comics, and Zack Snyder using an outlet that could garner the appropriate media attention to do so.”

Never fear, Change.org has got you covered with a petition of their own.  At press time, it had collected more than 15,000 signatures:

(Image: Screengrab/Change.org)

From the petition:

His acting skill is not even close to being believable as Bruce Wayne and he won’t do the role justice. He’s not built, nor is he intimidating enough for the role of Batman. His portrayal of Daredevil was atrocious and he’s not remotely close to an action star. Please find someone else.

Poor Ben.