【18 U.S.C 2257】

LONDON -- Democracy8 U.S.C 2257a powerful thing, and the UK is considered one of the world's foremost champions of this sacred concept.

That being said, it's not terribly surprising that when asked to use their hallowed rights to select a name for a £200 million ($243.3 million) polar research vessel, the British public chose Boaty McBoatface.

The ship, set to sail in 2019, celebrated its first phase of construction with a keel-laying ceremony at Cammell Laird shipyard in Liverpool, UK.

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The powers that be (The Natural Environment Research Council), perhaps regretting their decision to hand the reigns to the People, chose instead to name their ship the RSS Sir David Attenboroughin tribute to the legendary English naturalist.

This upset many people because democracy. In an attempt to placate the ensuing outcry, a high-tech remotely operated undersea vehicle that will be known as Boatyin reference to the vote's outcome was also unveiled at Monday's ceremony.

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However, the return of #BoatyMcBoatface to Twitter shows that many people have not forgotten this offence to the democratic process:

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Howeve, because the Britons are a resilient people, a petition has sprung up in the interest of democracy and justice beseeching Sir David to change his name to Boaty McBoatface.

Seems reasonable to us.

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