Kids Only?
There’s a candidate named Rocco “Robert” Frank who wants to run against Jim Amann to represent Connecticut’s 118th next year. Put politely, he’s eccentric. In fact, it’s probably best to ignore him altogether.
Still, I had to see what he was up to lately and that’s when I decided to peruse the “Kids Only” section of his website. There is a games subsection of “Kids Only,” and being the casual gamer that I am, I clicked.
Oh my! A game called “Cheney’s Revenge” is the first featured game. It’s not something he merely linked to — he actually embedded the game in his site! It’s really not much to bat an eye at compared to some of the more popular video games for computers and consoles, but it is relatively violent. The premise is that you control a shotgun and pick your prey from a list including Osama bin Laden, Jack Abramoff, Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and George W. Bush.
Click the image above for a full screenshot.
I have no issue with the game itself. It may be in poor taste, but it also appears to be protected speech. It’s the fact that someone (a freakin’ candidate for state office!) thinks it’s appropriate for kids is kind of offputting. Also offputting is the fact that a politician is crazy enough to feature a game on his website wherein the object is to shoot and kill other politicians/lobbyists (or Osama bin Laden).
If you view the game in its own window, only then is the “Warning: 13yrs+ Only” visible.
So I ask: Is Rocco “Robert” Frank crazy? Stupid? Insensitive?
Do you live in the 118th? If so, would you vote for him?
I remember reading about instances where the Secret Service would come calling if someone posted something like this with the President as a target. They have absolutely no sense of humor and get really nasty about these games.
oldswede
Please be advised that my company System Analyst has brought this blog to my attention, and an inquiry was done to figure out the reasoning behind this game.
The reasoning was that there were only two embeddable games of a political nature, in either case I do agree that this game is in-appropriate. I have since relieved the designer of that link and replaced him with a more mature volunteer who is now forbidden to embed any game without my approving it first.
While I understand that such violent games are an everyday fact of life. I really did not think beyond the opinion of my young staffer who felt this game was no “big deal.’ I think it is clear that we disagree, the game has been removed and new more and entertaining game has been instituted in its place.
Thank you for sharing your opinion and feelings.
Rocco J. Frank Jr.
Candidate For Milford State Rep. 118th
P.S. I am flattered by by you thinking of me as “eccentric” it is complement. A person who is not “eccentric” is ordinary and common, a label I am happy to avoid.
I am no Einstein, but he once said that “the problems we all face cannot be resolved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
Read my blogs at http://www.rfrank118.com
Support Ron Paul for President.