Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE) has begun a petition campaign in support of the Bulgarian MOU. See
http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post_27.htmlBut the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has already set up a procedure for public comment open to all interested in whether there should be an MOU with Bulgaria. Can't SAFE follow directions?
Petitions like SAFE has prepared are inherently unreliable:
There is no way to verify that the signatories are real people or if one person has signed the petition under different names;
It's doubtful that many of the signatories have any real knowledge of the issues involved beyond the minimal information they have received with the petition.
It is likely that some signatories have also made public comments, thereby overstating support for the proposition. SAFE already has already asked its supporters to use the regulations.gov website to comment on the Bulgarian MOU? So, can this petition accomplish anything, but to mislead?