After his last visit to North Korea, former NBA star Dennis Rodman said that he believed that he deserved to win a Nobel Prize, because he was trying to create a discussion between Kim Jong-Un and the United States. However, the Worm was singing a completely different tune this morning, when he was briefly interviewed before his flight from Beijing to Pyongyang, where he is hosting a basketball game with 11 former NBA players for Kim Jong-Un’s birthday.
When asked by Sky News if he felt it was his place to call Kim Jong-Un on his country’s horrific human rights records, Rodman admitted that it’s not, and then he took whatever was remaining of his public perception in the U.S. and fed it to 120 dogs.
“That’s not my job,” he said. “The only thing I am doing right now, I am only doing one thing: this game is for his birthday. It’s for his birthday.
“And I hope that if this opens doors and we can actually talk about certain things, then we can do certain things, but I am not going to sit there and go in and say ‘hey guy, you’re doing the wrong thing’.
“That’s not the right thing to do. He’s my friend first. He’s my friend. I don’t give a ****. I tell the world: he’s my ******* friend, I love him.” (Via Sky News, with video)
My guess is that Kim Jong-Un is using whatever money that his government officials are bringing in from their mandatory crystal meth fundraisers to pay Rodman, and that’s why he’s being so open and passionate about his relationship with the dictator. It might also explain why, when pressed about the human rights stuff, Rodman responded, “Are you aware that lots of people in America is locked up like that too?”
Ultimately, Rodman caved to the questioning and slightly changed his tune.
“When the time comes when I do that I am going to sit down and talk to all the people around the world, when the time comes, I am going to tell you everything that happens.
“But right now I want these guys to go over there and put on a good show for his birthday.
“We will talk about political stuff and anything about refugee camps.”
When Rodman arrived in North Korea, he seemed to be wearing his diplomat’s earrings, because he was a lot more understated and serious for the Associated Press. As was former NBA player Charles Smith, who said that this trip is about guys who “care about humanity.”
