Like a lot of people disgusted by the Wesboro Baptis “Church” — I won’t link to them, but rather to the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center pages about the hate group — I signed the petition at the White House website to make that reprehensible organization a hate group.

All petitions at the site which get 100,000 signatures within a month get a response, and the response posted today is thoughtful and explains why what the signers of five petitions about Westboro wanted to happen won’t. One of the most gratifying things was the map posted on the site that shows the progression of signers by location. Most every place in the country had some people sign. And the deepest blue? Well that was from Kansas, were the hatemongers are based.

I like this feature of the Obama government — that we can make our voice heard and expect a response. So I created a petition of my own that brings pay-for-performance to Congress. If they don’t work, they have their pay reduced to minimum wage, with similar benefits that the average minimum wage slave gets (nothing). If they don’t actually filibuster when they invoke filibuster, they lose pay and benefits. If their lack of action leads to cuts that impact people who make less than a congressional representative, they lose pay.

I need 100,000 signatures by August 1. Pass it on. I’d love to see what the White House says about putting a bill before Congress that makes their inaction apparent. I’d be more interested in what happens when the bill makes it before Congress, ideally, with a lot of press and public attention. So, help me out. Sign and share. Let’s see if we can see something pretty happen on a map of signatures for this petition, too.