# Is Dennis Rodman a CIA spy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 8, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251 "2014-01-08T05:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/1 "2014-01-08T05:44:03Z")
Dennis Rodman has gotten lots of heat over his visits to North Korea and high-profile friendship with Kim Jong-un. Rodman has from time to time angrily defended his relationship with KJU, including his recent so-called rant on CNN. Yet, when I see Rodman defending these visits, to me, at least, the lady doth protest too much, methinks. It’s almost not credible to me that he believes what he’s saying about this regime. So I suppose my question is, what’s the likelier scenario: A) Dennis Rodman really considers this horrid and sinister little twerp his “friend for life” and derives God knows what gratification from the relationship–if so, what’s wrong with him? B) He’s a CIA spy C) Some third possibility–if so, what? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/2 "2014-01-08T05:53:00Z")
Holy #$%#, I don’t know but I’m writing up a treatment for a new _I, Spy_ series based on that idea now. If it goes anywhere I’m gonna buy you a steak dinner as big as a toilet seat! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/3 "2014-01-08T05:55:13Z")
Your options are not mutually exclusive. I don’t know how old you are but Dennis Rodman is as genuinely crazy as a March hare by all accounts. It isn’t an act and never has been. The Kim Jong clan is the same so it makes some sense that they decided to band together in a small way. However, there is no way the U.S. government isn’t going to question him about what he knows about North Korea and Kim Jong-un in particular. It is a very closed and dangerous society and they are desperate to get any inside information on the situation that they can so they will try. Nobody knows much about the way the power structure works in North Korea and whatever Rodman knows is valuable information even iif it can just be used for a future diplomacy strategy. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/4 "2014-01-08T06:07:13Z")
I imagine if KJU got so much as a whiff of Rodman being a spy (whether he is or not) he might do something drastic. If he imprisoned or even killed Rodman it would make relations even worse than they are now. I don’t see much good coming from this. I doubt Rodman has the smarts to influence anything positive between the U.S. and N. Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/5 "2014-01-08T06:11:23Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > I imagine if KJU got so much as a whiff of Rodman being a spy (whether he is or not) he might do something drastic. > If he imprisoned or even killed Rodman it would make relations even worse than they are now. I don’t see much good coming from this. > I doubt Rodman has the smarts to influence anything positive between the U.S. and N. Korea. Hell, even just this thread appearing right now may trigger several google alerts on Pyongyang. Well done, guys, you just killed poor Dennis. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/6 "2014-01-08T06:14:46Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Hell, even just this thread appearing right now may trigger several google alerts on Pyongyang. > > Well done, guys, you just killed poor Dennis. DOH!:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/7 "2014-01-08T06:32:32Z")
Sawee! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/8 "2014-01-08T06:59:38Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Hell, even just this thread appearing right now may trigger several google alerts on Pyongyang. > > Well done, guys, you just killed poor Dennis. Because totalitarian regimes need someone to tell them to suspect people of being spies. After all, they’re normally so trusting. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/9 "2014-01-08T07:02:05Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > C) Some third possibility–if so, what? He’s an attention seeking whore who has been starving for it. Maintaining a relationship with another crazy asshole is about all he has left to get the attention he needs. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/10 "2014-01-08T08:18:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Because totalitarian regimes need someone to tell them to suspect people of being spies. After all, they’re normally so trusting. We are talking about Kim Jong Un here. The man is extraordinarily fickle… it requires very little to have him execute somebody. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/11 "2014-01-08T09:31:50Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > … it requires very little to have him execute somebody. if that’s the case, how come his barber is still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/12 "2014-01-08T09:47:45Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > if that’s the case, how come his barber is still alive? That barber does MAGNIFICENT work. No one has ever told Kim Jung Un otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/13 "2014-01-08T11:37:32Z")
Wait, wait, wait. Dennis Rodman was outed as an alien in **Men in Black**. That is the only possible true explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/14 "2014-01-08T12:05:18Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > We are talking about Kim Jong Un here. The man is extraordinarily fickle… it requires very little to have him execute somebody. Wither he’s been listening to his advisers, in which case they’ve already told him that Rodman’s probably a spy, or he isn’t, and a thread on some random message board won’t change that. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/15 "2014-01-09T01:32:30Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > We are talking about Kim Jong Un here. The man is extraordinarily fickle… it requires very little to have him execute somebody. If the person is Korean, yes. If the person is American, however, it takes a tremendous amount. Rodman has probably already gotten away with statements that would at least cause ordinary North Koreans to be questioned by the police. If he talked to the CIA, it would be to tell them how wrong they were, not to spy. The North Koreans might thus be understanding. If not, all he’d get is to be disinvited to return. There is a caste system in North Korea, and Rodman is in the highest one there is. Yes, that uncle was also in a high caste. Perhaps is took not a little, but a lot, for him to be executed. ---
**Author:** ![amorali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@amorali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amorali)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/16 "2014-01-09T01:35:30Z")
Rodman literally has brain damage. He was always eccentric and an attention ho but years of heavy drinking have given him brain damage. He was on Celebrity Rehab and they did tests on him and showed him he had undeniable brain damage from drinking. I don’t think he’s sober so he’s a brain damaged drunk. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/17 "2014-01-09T01:39:28Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > C) Some third possibility–if so, what? For once, John McCain totally nailed it: Rodman is an idiot. (Answers don’t have to be complicated! :D) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/18 "2014-01-09T02:32:35Z")
I thought Jong Un only brought Rodman in because his first choice (Michael Jordan) wasn’t willing to go to North Korea. I doubt Rodman is a spy. He is mentally unstable with a history of addiction and violence. He wouldn’t be trusted with national secrets. However he will be thoroughly debriefed by US intelligence about his visits and what he saw in the NK government. ---
**Author:** ![dugsok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@dugsok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dugsok)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/19 "2014-01-09T03:00:24Z")
Dennis Rodman a spy? look out kibbles and bits there i:p:pscompetition coming 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251/20 "2014-01-09T03:05:48Z")
Wouldn’t the CIA prefer to use spies who aren’t famous? Isn’t that, like, a basic job requirement? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dennis-rodman-a-cia-spy/678251.md?page=2)