Does Alex Trebek owe Republicans equal time on his Jeopardy! game show? Answer: Yes, the show has become overrun by Democratic politicians and is only going to get even more politically imbalanced in the days to come.
Last week and this week, the popular game show, in which contestants are given clues and must provide the answer in the form of a question, has been presenting its annual "Teen Tournament" shows with young Americans as contestants -- and First Lady Michelle Obama presenting some of the clues. The show is being broadcast from Washington DC during the Teen Tournament.
On Monday last week, the show had an entire category of questions, entitled "American Grown" and focusing on healthy eating, with Michelle Obama giving the clues via pre-recorded video. Some of the clues were about legislation her husband had signed into law. Show producers also gave the First Lady time between rounds to promote her book.
Wednesday, the show featured pre-recorded clues by Vice President Joe Biden in the category "Cars in American History," which included a question about the car company bailouts. Between rounds, the show presented a video of Biden promoting President Obama's policy to raise the fuel efficiency standards for new cars to an average of 54 miles per gallon.
Will the show's producers give a prominent Republican or two equal time? Could we see Mitt Romney presenting clues via video on a future show, for the category, "The Economy," with clues related to Obama's failed economic record?
All joking aside, the producers of the show should clarify how they allowed Jeopardy to be used to spread the administration's propaganda. If the show's producers are intentionally making the show a mouthpiece for the Obama administration, they owe it to viewers to be up-front about it. And if they aren't trying to take sides in the campaign, they really ought to invite some prominent Republicans to participate in the show as they already invited the First Lady and the Vice President.
Sure, one can argue that Michelle Obama was primary talking about eating healthy but during an election year, such non-political messages delivered by the very political wife of the president deserve to be counterbalanced by allowing Ann Romney to do the same. To do otherwise is to give a free pass to Barack Obama's reelection campaign.
To make matters worse, the show announced recently that it will be featuring several political personalities as competitors in the next few weeks. Unfortunately for political fairness, the contestants will be overwhelmingly liberal with only one person from the right side of the political spectrum, former Bush Administration spokesman Dana Perino.
Here's the full list:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
NBA's All-Time Leading Scorer and Global Cultural Ambassador
Skyhook Foundation
Lewis Black
Stand-up comedian
52nd St. Project and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Anderson Cooper
CNN "Anderson Cooper 360°" and syndicated talk show "Anderson"
The Trevor Project
David Faber
NBC "The Faber Report" and "Squak on the Street"
New Visions for Public Schools
Thomas L. Friedman
The New York Times
Conservation International
Robert Gibbs
Former White House Press Secretary
Pine Hills Literacy Project
Katty Kay
"BBC World News America"
International Women's Media Foundation
Chris Matthews
MSNBC "Hardball" and NBC "The Chris Matthews Show"
La Salle College High School
Kelly O'Donnell
NBC News
Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation
Lizzie O'Leary
CNN
826DC
Mehmet Oz
"The Dr. Oz Show"
HealthCorps
Clarence Page
Chicago Tribune
American Institute for Stuttering
Dana Perino
Fox News Channel "The Five"
Pets2Vets
Chuck Todd
NBC News
Samaritan Inns
Chris Wallace
"Fox News Sunday"
Hope For The Warriors
Photo Illustration: NewsBusters
