Bruce Dowbiggin
Iran CleanUp In Aisle Three: Obama Says You Caused The Mess

“What Hamas did was horrific, and there is no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation, and what’s happening to Palestinians, is unbearable… You have to admit that all of us are complicit to some degree.”— Barack Obama
It might come as a surprise to you that, as you went about your daily drudge, you were complicit in unspeakable terror in Israel and Gaza. Coming from most people this kind of inane comment might seem absurd. But as it comes from Barack Obama— God’s mouth to his ears— this fiction has gained traction among the fashionably afflicted.
And so heads are bowed at the profundity. The raiment is kissed. Joe Biden has new speaking notes from his boss. Chaos, in the words of Yeats, is loosed upon the land.
The fact that Obama has a shred of credibility left after his eight years of turning America into a struggle session is that the special people have imprinted their most virtuous selves upon him. They bought the nonsense about halting waters and ending warmth. The wine moms and radical dads can no more point out his fatuousness and policy implosions than they can put on a new skin.
None more so than the Canadians cognoscenti who, let down by the failures of Boy King Justin, have doubled down on their worship for America’s first black, sexually ambivalent, crackhead, hipster president. Canadian media’s reverence for this cipher is truly repellent. For instance, their utter incuriosity at the story of his chef drowning on Obama’s property, shortly before he was set to publish a book on the ex-president, was remarkable. But not surprising.
To paraphrase the old Star Kist commercial, Canadians want tunas with good taste, not tunas that taste good.
That this same Barack Obama could somehow parcel out blame for his Iran policy that is fueling the Gaza carnage is absurd. It was he who abandoned America’s long-standing balancing act among the various players in the Middle East, indulging his predilection for third-world kleptocrats and anyone who hates the British and Israelis.
By throwing Iran $6 billion to re-start their nuclear bomb program in return for a packet full of lint, Barry empowered the mullahs, gave hope to the Gaza Mafia and made America’s allies in the region wonder WTF was going to happen next.
While Trump suspended the Obama hare-brained scheme for four years— authoring the Abraham Accords and getting the Saudis to the edge of co-operation— Obama mouthpiece Biden re-started the clock again in 2021. Result: Chaos. Hence where we are today, drowning in gore and poised for nuclear destruction. But, hey, Barry says “All of us are complicit to some degree.”
How did this man achieve Total Consciousness in the middle-class mind? We tracked the ascent of the Manchurian President in May. “how did the radical Left, crushed by Nixon in 1972, re-emerge today to finally achieve its agenda? Enter: Barack Obama, the Manchurian President. For those who missed the 1962 film, The Manchurian Candidate, Laurence Harvey portrayed a former soldier brainwashed by communists in Korea and trained to assassinate a presidential candidate when a specific playing card was shown to him. Allowing the baddies to control the nation.
In this updated real telling a Democratic candidate is the vessel selected by defeated ‘60s radicals to complete their power grab. Hunkered down after their murderous bomb-throwing past, radicals like Bill Ayres and wife Bernadette Dohrn searched for the ideal candidate to get them that power. Like all good Marxists they were willing to play the long game. And if a few bodies hit the floor— well, that was collateral damage.
They first hoped Bill Clinton might get them there, but his sexual peccadilloes and triangulation with GOP left them disappointed. Eventually they saw the prophet in their Chicago living room, the embodiment of their hopes. Glib but not too glib. Black but not too-black. Hip but not too hip, Barry “Call Me Barack” Obama would succeed where Carter, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and Hilary Clinton had failed in transitioning the culture.
Fawned over by the SJWs and elected as a moderate supporter of The Sanctity of Marriage Act, he was bullish on markets, equal opportunity versus equal outcome and other traditional Democratic policies on immigration, education and foreign policy.
Once in the White House, however, the Manchurian President was shown his trigger card in 2009. Faster than you can say Henry Louis Gates, Obama and his coterie of ambitious advisors— Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, Valerie Jarrett, Samantha Power— sent the Department of Justice into police forces, universities, government offices and the military to implement a radical diversity program. (See Heather Mac Donald’s brilliant The Diversity Delusion
Using the template his wife Michelle Obama had used in implanting critical race theory, small-time black gender fluidity, white privilege and cultural appropriation into Chicago’s school and hospital system, they sought to make cultural guilt the most prominent fact of American life. Clever replaced wise.
Inflating isolated sad cases of black petty criminals like Michael Brown, Treyvon Martin and George Floyd, the Obama crowd manufactured a victim culture for dim liberal whites. Obama fed it like red meat to a media voracious for glib psychobabble.
Every story played out through this prism. Including the current rationalization of the most cruel behaviour by Hamas against Israel. Leading Obama, the squire of Martha’s Vineyard, to his suggestion that somehow we are all culpable of this horror. And having vast swaths of America and Canada lick it up.
Sorry, Barry. It was on your watch. You own it. Leave us out of it. You can start by handing back your bogus Nobel Peace Prize.
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Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his new book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via http://brucedowbigginbooks.ca/book-personalaccount.aspx
Bruce Dowbiggin
Are the Jays Signing Or Declining? Only Vladdy & Bo Know For Sure

We were watching the Los Angeles Dodgers home opener on Thursday. The defending World Series champs came from behind to beat Detroit 5-4. The big hit was a three-run homer from a player named Teoscar Hernandez off AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal

If that name sounds familiar, Teoscar was a Toronto Blue Jay from 2018-2022. He pounded 121 homers in the span as part of the Jays’ order. But when Toronto decided it needed bullpen help he was traded to Seattle in 2022 for pitchers Erik Swanson and Adam Macko. While Swanson has battled injuries and Macko is no-go, Hernandez keeps pounding the ball.
In his one year in Seattle he had strikeout problems but did hit 26 homers with 93 RBIs. In the winter of 2023-24 he signed as a free agent with the aforementioned Dodgers. Batting behind Shohei Ohtani he launched 33 homers and 99 RBIs. He won the All Star Home Run Derby. His key hit in Game 5 of the World Series propelled L.A. to the title. The stacked Dodgers liked him enough to give him a three-year, $66 million contract.
Why are we telling you this? Because the Blue Jays also started their 2025 season at home, matched against the Baltimore Orioles. And while there are reasons to believe the Jays will not replicate their 74-win disaster of 2024, there remain the old bugaboos of injuries and pitching. In the four games against the division rivals they need to beat, Jays’ pitching gave up 24 runs while scoring 18—nine of them in one game.
The splashy acquisition of 40 year old HOF pitcher Max Scherzer has already gone sideways as a bad thumb has put him on the IL. The new stopper, Jeff Hoffman, was rejected on medical grounds by two other teams before Toronto’s money made him healthy. The rest of the bullpen— a disaster in 2024— got off to a rocky start with Orioles hitters playing BP against them. They’ve already DFA’d one pitcher and called up two more from the minors. The re-made pen performed well in Game 4, but how it holds up in their next 158 games is a mystery.
On offence, while their rivals in Boston and New York added sexy pieces to their rosters the Jays were only able to acquire veteran switch-hitting Baltimore slugger Anthony Santander. More typical of their other signees is ex-Cleveland 2B infielder Andres Giminez who in 2023 had the lowest average exit velocity of all AL batters (84.8 mph), and led the AL in percentage of balls that were softly hit (21.7%). He does play a slick second base.
The winter story line for the Jays offence was what to do about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, the erstwhile star-dust twins who were— along with Cavan Biggio— supposed to guarantee titles when they emerged in 2019. Biggio is gone, so the other two carry the credibility of the management team of Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins. From the outside the Jays seem paralyzed to act.

While the Jays dithered, the price for players like Guerrero and Bichette soared. Using Juan Soto’s Mets $765 M deal as a yardstick Guerrero turned down a Jays offer of just under $600 M, saying he was done talking during the season. If Shapiro/ Atkins had anticipated the market Guerrero would have cost a lot less in 2023-24. If there is no progress by the trading deadline the Jays will be forced to get what they can in a trade.
Shortstop Bichette— a gifted player who battled injuries in 2024—is likewise up for a new deal. He has started strong in 2025 and would command a handsome return in a trade. He says the Jays are waiting to see what happens with Guerrero first. Having sold the pair for years to their loyal fans, having to trade them will be a massive PR blow. And while Jays’ national audience can be an advantage, having a whole country pissed with you is devastating.
The rest of the secret sauce for a Toronto comeback revolves around one of their hitting prospects taking a step forward. Any/ all of Will Wagner, Alan Roden, Addison Barger or Leo Jimenez can have a job if they show their bats are for real. Otherwise Shapiro and Atkins will hope that Dalton Varsho, George Springer and Alejandro Kirk can find a little magic in their aging bats.
A failure to retain talent may prompt fans to recall that Rogers decided that Shapiro and Atkins, who dumped Teoscar, were worthy replacements for the previous GM who’d walked away. The man Schneider and Atkins were hired to improve upon— Canadian Alex Anthopoulos— has made the Atlanta Braves a dominant team. Since AA moved to Atlanta they’ve won 90, 97, 38 (Covid year), 88, 101, 104, 109, 89 games. They’ve won a World Series and two other playoff series. They won six straight NL East titles before injuries sank them last year.
The Braves have developed young everyday superstars like Ronald Acuńa Jr. who don’t get picked off second base. They have built a pitching staff largely from within, not splashy FA signings. They have swagger without cockiness. They are set for years to come.
The Blue Jays? Since AA left they’ve won 73, 67, 32 (Covid), 91, 92, 89, 74 games. They’ve won zero postseason games while missing the playoffs in four seasons. The players they traded are starring for other teams in the postseason. They are again employing an inexperienced company guy as manager.
While it’s true that the sun can’t shine on the same team every day, Jays fans believe it would be nice if the great orb would find their club as it did back in the 1992/93 World Series days. Instead of the reflected glory of past stars winning for other teams. Patience is thin. And time is ticking.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.
Bruce Dowbiggin
From Heel To Hero: George Foreman’s Uniquely American Story

“The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don’t know.”— George Foreman
For those who thought Donald Trump’s role progression (in WWE terms) from face to heel to face again was remarkable, George Foreman had already written the media book on going from the Baddest Man in the World to Gentle Giant.
It’s hard for those who saw him as the genial Grill Master or the smiling man with seven sons all named George (he also had seven daughters, each named differently) to conjure up the Foreman of the 1970s. He emerged as a star at the 1968 Olympics, winning the gold medal in heavyweight boxing. His destruction of a veteran Soviet fighter made him a political hero. In an age that already boasted a remarkable heavyweights Foreman was something unique.
Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle and Jimmy Ellis were still bankable household names for boxing fans— but on the downside of famous careers. They each had their niche. Foreman was something altogether different. Violent and pitiless in the ring. Unsmiling as he dismantled the boxers he met on his way to the top. He was the ultimate black hat.
With the inimitable Howard Cosell as his background track , he entered the ring in 1973 against the favoured ex-champ Frazier, coming off his three epic fights with Ali. While everyone gave Foreman a chance it was thought that the indomitable Frazier, possessor of a lethal left hook, would tame the young bull.

Instead, in under two rounds of savagery , Foreman sent Frazier to the canvas six times. Cosell yelled himself horse crying, “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” This was a whole new level of brutality as the poker-faced Foreman returned to his corner as the most feared boxer on the planet. For good measure Foreman destroyed Norton in 1974.
Fans of Ali quaked when they heard that he would face Foreman’s awesome power in Africa in the summer of 1974. They knew how much the trio of Frazier brawls had taken from him. The prospect of seeing the beloved heavyweight champ lifted off his feet by Foreman’s power left them sick to their stomach. Foreman played up his bad-boy image, wearing black leather, snarling at the press and leading a German shepherd on a leash.
Everyone knows what happened next. We were travelling the time in the era before internet/ cell phones. Anticipating the worst we blinked hard at the headline showing the next day that it was a thoroughly exhausted Foreman who crumbled in the seventh round. The brilliant documentary When We Were Kings is the historical record of that night/ morning in Kinshasa. The cultural clash of Ali, the world’s most famous man, and the brute against the background of music and third-world politics made it an Oscar winner.
But it’s largely about Ali. It doesn’t do justice to the enormity of Foreman’s collapse. Of course the humiliation of that night sent Foreman on a spiritual quest to find himself, a quest that took the prime of his career from him. It wasn’t till 1987 that he re-emerged as a Baptist minister/ boxer. With peace in his soul he climbed the ranks again, defiantly trading blows in the centre of the ring with opponents who finally succumbed to his “old-man” power.
Instead of the dour character who was felled by Ali, this Foreman was transformed in the public’s eye when he captured the heavyweight title in 1994, beating Michael Moore, a man 20 years his junior. He smiled. He teased Cosell and other media types. He fought till he was 48, although he tried to comeback when he was 55 (his wife intervened)

And, yes, for anyone who stayed up late watching TV there was the George Foreman Grill, a pitchman’s delight that earned him more money than his boxing career. HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant commented that “There was a transformation from a young, hard character who felt a heavyweight champion should carry himself with menace to a very affectionate personality.”
There was a short-lived TV show called George. There was The Masked Singer as “Venus Fly Trap”. And there were the cameos on Home Improvement, King Of The Hill and Fast ’N Loud, delighting audiences who’d once reviled him. He cracked up Johnny Carson.
Foreman’s rebound story was uniquely American. Where Canadians are enthusiastically damning Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky for political reasons, Foreman never became a captive of angry radicals or corporate America. He went his own way, thumping the bible and the grill. Rest easy, big man.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.
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