A bizarre update to my item from yesterday. As it happens, Dennis Rodman is in North Korea preparing to play an exhibition basketball game on Wednesday in honor of Kim Jong Un’s birthday. However, when asked on CNN on Tuesday to speak out and help secure the release of one Kenneth Bae -- an American held in the DPRK against his will on unnamed charges -- the former NBA star lost his cool. Badly:
No doubt Rodman envisions himself performing a great public service by schmoozing it up with Kim Jong Un and spreading his “basketball diplomacy” throughout the land. But he does himself no favors by cursing out anchors and mumbling incoherently on national television. People are already questioning his motives for being in “love” with a man almost everyone finds utterly vile and grotesque. Plus, his inability to answer a perfectly legitimate question about Kenneth Bae shows just how naïve he is about a country he seems to enjoy visiting.
Speaking of which, this is interesting:
NBA's David Stern on Rodman trip: "Although sports in many instances can be helpful in bridging cultural divides, this is not one of them.”
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 7, 2014
No. How many innocent people have been maimed, tortured and murdered by the Kim dynasty over the last, say, half century? Impossible to know. Part of being an adult, then, is recognizing that evil exists in the world, and Rodman’s “friend” is undoubtedly evil. How anyone could -- or would -- want to associate with him is impossible to understand.
The sooner he goes home the better.