The Patriot Act!

-opoly?

Article in full because it is so funny.

Patriot Act Game Pokes Fun at GovernmentMar 18 7:14 PM
US/Eastern Email
this story

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press
Writer
HAMILTON, N.J.
In this send-up of "Monopoly," players don't pass
"Go" and they don't go directly to jail _ they go to Guantanamo Bay.
Instead
of losing cash for landing on certain squares, they lose civil liberties. And
the "Mr. Monopoly" character at the center of the board is replaced by a
scowling former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"Patriot Act: The Home Version" pokes fun at "the historic abuse of
governmental powers" by the recently renewed anti-terrorism law, according to
its creator's Web site.
But while it may be fun, creator Michael Kabbash, a
graphic artist and Arab civil rights advocate, is serious about how he feels the
law has curtailed Americans' freedom.
The object of the game is not to amass
the most money or real estate, but to be the last player to retain civil
liberties.
"I've had people complain to me that when they play, nobody wins.
They say `We're all in Guantanamo and nobody has any civil liberties left,'" he
said. "I'm like `Yeah, that's the point.'"
The real Patriot Act, passed
after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and renewed earlier this month, gave
law enforcement new investigative and prosecutorial powers. Critics say it
unacceptably impinges on civil liberties, but the government defends the law as
a vital tool that has helped prevent another terror attack.
Kabbash decided
to keep Ashcroft as the visual focus of the game, even though he stepped down in
January 2005, because "he really is the icon that people associate with the
Patriot Act."
In a nod to President Bush's prewar comments, the "Go" space
in is renamed "Bring It On!" Players roll the dice to determine how many civil
liberties they start out with, accumulating them from a variety of categories:
U.S. citizens get 5; non-citizens 1. Whites and Asians get 5; Arabs 1. Ultra
right-wingers get 6; Democrats 3 or 4.
Instead of landing on, say Oriental
Avenue, players land on a color- coded spaces corresponding to the national
terror alert. A player who lands on a red space loses one civil liberty, as does
anyone else within five spaces. A player who lands on an orange space gets to
designate another player to lose one civil liberty.
"Chance" cards are now
"Homeland Security Cards," with orders such as, "FBI wants you for questioning;
Lose one turn;" and "You provide the local authorities with speculative
information on your next door neighbor; Collect one civil liberty from each
player."
Kabbash, of Green Brook, created a few full board sets but is also
distributing the game free over the Internet, with the game board and playing
cards all printable. More than 2,000 copies have been downloaded since it
debuted in 2004.
"I wanted it to be not only a parody but a teaching tool,"
said Kabbash, 38, who teaches graphics at the College of New Jersey. "This is my
way of putting my political ideas forward, hoping people will wake up. There's a
lot of apathy, and we have to realize that we're in a democracy, that we're all
allowed to say something."
Ashcroft had no comment on the game when asked
about it Saturday during a crime conference in Miami Gardens, Fla., but he
laughed when told "jail" had been replaced with Guantanamo Bay. U.S. Justice
Department public affairs did not immediately return a call Saturday seeking
comment.
Kabbash says his next project will probably have something to do
with the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program. He is
reasonably certain "there's a file on me somewhere."
Asked if the FBI keeps
a file on Kabbash, a bureau spokesman refused to comment.
___
Associated
Press Writer Jessica Gresko in Miami Gardens, Fla., contributed to this report.
___

I want one of these really bad! Granted, it mocks my own political classification of right-winger. But I am more against big government and the Patriot Act rather than one who tows the line. And no, I don't think Gitmo or the war in Iraq is evil. I do think a loss of civil freedoms are.

"Go" is "Bring it On" and "Jail" is "Guantanamo Bay." I love it!