Imagine if Zach Mettenberger started taking trips to play football for Barack Obama at the White House. They become friends and Mettenberger even sings “Happy Birthday” to the president. All the while, Obama is holding a University student hostage.
But Mettenberger, not wanting to involve himself in political affairs, ignores the reality of the situation and continues their friendship, enraging the entire state of Louisiana.
A similar situation is transpiring with former NBA player Dennis Rodman and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. I’m not saying that Obama is equivalent to a North Korean dictator who recently executed his own uncle, but the same social responsibility applies for both sports icons.
After returning from his second visit to North Korean, Rodman said, “I’m not God. I’m not [an] ambassador. I’m no one.”
Rodman has a point. I don’t believe he anticipated this much social buzz when he and the Harlem Globetrotters departed for their first North Korean trip back in February 2013.
And, no doubt, this visit has stirred up some extra controversy because of the lack of support Rodman expressed for Kenneth Bae, an American tourist sentenced to 15 years hard labor for supposedly plotting to bring down the North Korean government through religious activities.
On Monday, Bae spoke in front of a camera for the first time since his arrest. He said he admits to committing the crimes North Korea is holding him for, even though these crimes haven’t been clearly communicated to the U.S. He hopes the American press will stop worsening his situation by exaggerating rumors, which are not based on facts.
Although North Korea is known for its brutality and lack of human rights, Bae also stated that he had experienced no abuse from the regime.
In a country known for having some of the harshest prison camps, that is a little hard to believe. As a CNN article pointed out, the country has a reputation for generating false confessions, so taking Bae’s words as the truth should be done cautiously.
Here is where Rodman comes in handy. The only known attempt Rodman has made to generate the release of Bae was on May 7, 2013 when he tweeted at the North Korean leader, “do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose.”
Well done, Rodman, displaying your budding friendship with the world’s most oppressive leader on Twitter. Just fantastic.
Rodman, however incompetent, owes it to his country to defend and support our political and moral endeavors overseas.
This is true for all public figures. Sen. David Vitter, who recently announced he will run for Louisiana governor, also has a social responsibility to his people.
Vitter was caught in a prostitution scandal in 2007 and has been working his way back up the political ladder ever since. Louisianans will obviously take his actions into account during the election.
This is because people in power, people who represent our cities or states, should be the best versions of what they represent. Unfortunately, this rarely happens, especially in American politics.
But Rodman is an especially horrific circumstance.
And again, America is not trying to be friends with North Korea. We want to halt their nuclear program and welcome Bae home. Rodman is making a joke out of us.
Yes, it is ironic that after struggling to find a way into this country for so long, we want to forbid the one person who is actually welcome there from going.
But come on, who would’ve thought out of all the decent Americans, all ten of them, Rodman would be the one liked most by Kim Jong Un.
I am secretly hoping Rodman is fooling us all and will end up going down in history as one of the best undercover spies of all time. But considering he checked into rehab Monday, I don’t think that will turn out to be true.