Dennis Rodman has been widely criticized for his recent trip to North Korea, but I can’t see what all the fuss is about. It wasn’t as if he was discovered conspiring with a group of suicide bombers. This was obviously a paid stunt and I’m sure he was paid very well. Rodman is a strange man who many would consider nuttier than a fruitcake, but targeting him as being unpatriotic and reckless for going to North Korea is just silly and bordering on irresponsible journalism.
Unfortunately, the ridiculous coverage this event has received in the United States doesn’t surprise me. Does anyone in their right mind actually think Rodman was sent there as a peacekeeper? He went there to chew the fat with another lover of basketball, which could only improve US relations with the new leader of North Korea.
Dennis might have got a bit carried away with his own importance while talking up his little dabble in diplomacy, however, did anyone really take what he said seriously? He suggested that President Obama should get on the phone and have a chat with Kim Jong-un about basketball, a passion they apparently both share.
Unfortunately, relations between the two countries are slightly more complex than a Hall of Fame basketballer with a questionable grasp of reality might be able to perceive, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could all see things as simply as Dennis.