Patriot Act: The Board Game

In this send-up of”Monopoly,” players don’t pass “Go” and they don’t godirectly to jail — they go to Guantanamo Bay.

Instead of losing cash forlanding on certain squares, they lose civil liberties. And the “Mr.Monopoly” character at the center of the board is replaced by a scowlingformer Attorney General John Ashcroft.

“Patriot Act: The HomeVersion” pokes fun at “the historic abuse of governmentalpowers” by the recently renewed anti-terrorism law.

But while it may be fun,creator Michael Kabbash, a graphic artist and Arab civil rights advocate, isserious about how he feels the law has curtailed Americans’ freedom.

The object of the game isnot to amass the most money or real estate, but to be the last player to retaincivil liberties.

“I’ve had peoplecomplain to me that when they play, nobody wins. They say `We’re all inGuantanamo and nobody has any civil liberties left,'” he said. “I’mlike `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 itunacceptably impinges on civil liberties, but the government defends the law asa vital tool that has helped prevent another terror attack.

Kabbash decided to keepAshcroft as the visual focus of the game, even though he stepped down inJanuary 2005, because “he really is the icon that people associate withthe Patriot Act.”

In a nod to PresidentBush’s prewar comments, the “Go” space in is renamed “Bring ItOn!” Players roll the dice to determine how many civil liberties theystart out with, accumulating them from a variety of categories: U.S. citizensget 5; non-citizens 1. Whites and Asians get 5; Arabs 1. Ultra right-wingersget 6; Democrats 3 or 4.

Instead of landing on, sayOriental Avenue, players land on a color-coded spaces corresponding to thenational 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 spacegets to designate another player to lose one civil liberty.

“Chance” cardsare now “Homeland Security Cards,” with orders such as, “FBIwants you for questioning; Lose one turn;” and “You provide the localauthorities with speculative information on your next door neighbor; Collectone civil liberty from each player.”

Kabbash, of Green Brook,created a few full board sets but is also distributing the game free over theInternet, with the game board and playing cards all printable. More than 2,000copies have been downloaded since it debuted in 2004.

Source: AP, Mar. 18, 2006

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