Is he drunk? Over his head? Does he really believe this shit, or is he just in it for the money?
An elaborate scheme by the U.S. Government to make North Korea look even sillier?
So many questions, and so few answers.
There’s one very simple answer, in two words:
Attention. Whore.
An even more salient question is: why is anyone bothering to listen to Rodman in the first place?
Because he is a famous professional athlete.
Part of me wonders if Rodman is actually aware of how dangerous NK is, and is filibustering out of fear of what will happen, or if he is really this dumb. I have no idea which. If NK gets mad at him, nobody is going to come get him.
I assume its a mix of money (I’m sure NK is paying him well) and his ego.
Let’s not forget that Rodman is also insane. Am I the only person who remembers how he needed a minder early in his career because he was so irrational management was afraid of what he’d do to himself or others?
I truly hate to take Rodman’s side on this one but I think I understand his point. Rodman is really very simple - he loves basketball and he loves attention. He has a leader of a country who worships him and all Rodman has to do in return is be Dennis Rodman and play basketball. He doesn’t care about politics. He doesn’t care about global issues. He frankly doesn’t care about Kenneth Bae. Rodman wants to believe that he’s somehow opening doors to North Korea by having a relationship with Kim Jong Un and he wants global praise for what he considers his accomplishments. But every time he gets in front of the camera the news keeps asking him about issues that Rodman isn’t qualified to do anything about. He’s a basketball player, not a diplomat. He is in way over his head and the more people press him on this side of the world, the more he digs his heels in. I honestly would not be surprised to see him move permanently to NK in the near future.
Oh god, we should be so lucky!
The thing is, you don’t have to be a diplomat to understand what a hellhole NK is, or the human rights issues, or, well, any of it. I’m not a diplomat, but I’ve got a pretty decent handle on it. It’s cloud cuckooland and/or willful, deliberate ignorance.
Is???
Well, it’s a guy who wants to be Madonna when he grows up…
I think you hit it spot on. If Rodman were to even discuss Bae’s captivity, Rodman would soon find himself out of the country. He wouldn’t be executed or even imprisoned because the Dear General (or whatever insane title he’s using today) personally invited him in.
Rodman started out irrelevant and is trying to not remain irrelevant. What better way than to hobnob with the most infamous leader in the world?
I caught a little snippet of that “interview” and figured he must have had, or was having at the time a massive stroke. Subtitles were needed.
The looks on the faces of the guys behind him was classic!
Here’s a more detailed article from CNN:
This one is short but I like the title:
Plus it includes this awesomely absurd quote:
I absolutely agree. I’m fascinated by North Korea and read a lot about it. It’s so bizarre there that I wouldn’t even know where to start discussing the present situation over there, but there are plenty of articles that give the basic facts and flavor. It has to be willful ignorance on Rodman’s part. You can’t have learned anything about the place and not concluded that there is something seriously wrong there.
Let me see if I can dig up a good article.
By the way, Frontline has a new program on North Korea coming out next week.
Dennis has now apologized and said he was drunk at the time of the interview. Now he needs to apologize for those big, fat liverlips he’s put spikes into.
They have booze in North Korea? Or did he just bring in his own stash?
Well, it was his homeboy Ill Jung-Killa Jr’s birthday. I’m sure the crazy dictator has a little sumthin sumthin on the side.
For this reason, I actually feel bad for Rodman. I think he truly believes he was doing good in his heart (which actually he was) and he’s bitter now because he thought everyone would give him high praise as the “Basketball Ambassador” but instead he has been given a ration of shit.
I understand the ire towards Rodman, but at the same time I also understand he isn’t exactly playing with a full deck. And even if he was, he’s not a diplomat. So when he says things like “You got a friend for life.” I’m sure he had no idea of that saying such things would have negative repercussions.
I think trying getting foreign visitors drunk is pretty much par for the course.
They have everything in NK. At least Dear Leader does. I’m sure the #1 reason Rodman likes to go to NK in the first place is to party it up like he can nowhere else.
Would it be funny, ironic or just desserts if Dear Leader fed Rodman to a pack of dogs- “just because”? I mean Rodman clearly has no governor on his mouth, one short joke, and it’s dog food time.*
*yes, I know the “fed to a pack of dogs” thing is a UL, but Kim has shown he is perfectly Ok with the idea of executing someone “just because”.