Rodman's American Freedom vs the Gulag of the North Korean People

Americans are used to the bizarre antics of Dennis Rodman, the NBA Hall of Famer who once showed up at a book signing wearing a wedding dress, and who has had more hair color changes than Lady Gaga. That Rodman was playing basketball in North Korea last year with the Globetrotters is not unusual. That he made friends with another psychologically marginal person, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, is also not exceptional. BUT - that he convinced former NBA star Charles D. Smith and six other retired NBA All-Stars to go to Pyongyang to play basketball to celebrate the birthday of his "friend for life" is more than puzzling. Smith, who played for the Knicks and two other NBA teams, says he feels remorse for coming to Pyongyang for the game because the event has been dwarfed by politics and tainted by Rodman's own comments and frequent boasts about his close friendship with Kim. "What we are doing is positive, but it is getting dwarfed by the other circumstances around it," Smith told The Associated Press. "Apparently our message is not being conveyed properly due to the circumstances that are much bigger than us, and I think that has to do with politics and government. I feel bad for our players and I feel bad for Dennis," Smith said. Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with seven former NBA players and four streetballers for the Wesnesday game, believed to be Kim's 31st birthday. Along with Smith, the squad includes ex-All Stars Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson and Vin Baker. Rodman has cultivated his relationship with basketball fan Kim, who rarely meets with outsiders and is considered to be the world's most mysterious leader, even using Kim as an offhand endorsement for Rodman's new vodka sales venture. Rodman has called the game a "birthday present" for Kim but says he has received death threats for his repeated visits to the country and for calling Kim a "friend for life." NBA Commissioner David Stern distanced the NBA from Rodman's squad and the North Korea trip : "Although sports in many instances can be helpful in bridging cultural divides, this is not one of them," he said, adding the NBA would not participate or support such a venture without the approval of the US State Department, which has also denied participation in or support for Rodman's venture, saying it wants to focus on the country's negative record. The White House said in a statement that it does not endorse Rodman's trip and is working for the release of Kenneth Bae, an American missionary with health problems who has been held in North Korea for a year on charges of "anti-state" crimes. Rodman is the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power when his father, Kim Jong Il, died in late 2011. Rodman first traveled to the North last February and went back before Christmas to hold tryouts for the North Korean basketball team, although he did not meet with Kim. The decision to play the game is being heavily criticized because of North Korea's human rights record, its development of nuclear weapons and its threats to use them if a conflict breaks out with Washington or Seoul. Rodman has been severely criticized for not trying to use his influence with Kim to seek Kenneth Bae's release. When asked about whether he would speak up for Bae if the opportunity presented itself while he is in North Korea, Rodman yelled at CNN's Chris Cuomo : "I don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think. One day this door is going to open because these 10 guys here." Smith put his arm around Rodman's shoulder and a hand on his arm to try to calm Rodman. But Rodman shouted, as he waved a cigar at the camera : "Kenneth Bae did one thing, If you understand what Kenneth Bae did. Do you understand what he did in this country? No, no, no, you tell me, you tell me. Why is he held captive here in this country, why? ... I would love to speak on this." Other NBA players traveling with Rodman also reportedly expressed second thoughts about participating in what was initially billed as a diplomatic mission but has drawn scorn in the US. Most former NBA players seemed to want no part of the trip. The National Basketball Retired Players Association denounced the basketball exhibition. "Under the right circumstances, basketball can serve as a bridge to bring communities together, but these are not those circumstances," said NBRPA chairman Otis Birdsong, a four-time NBA All-Star. "Standing alongside our partners at the NBA, we do not condone the basketball activities to be conducted in North Korea this week." Smith, who played on the 1988 US Olympic team and later represented the US in the World Games in 1998, told AP that he knew then what it was to stand proudly on the world stage : "I felt huge, I felt on top of the world,....But I feel the reverse now. I feel a lot of remorse for the guys because we are doing something positive, but it's a lot bigger than us. We are not naive, we understand why things are being portrayed the way they are. We can't do anything about that, if we could we would. We are not skilled in those particular areas. Dennis is definitely not skilled in those particular areas." ~~~~~ Dear readers, anyone who has followed Dennis Rodman's career and life cannot be surprised by this sad episode. Rodman, once an unequaled rebounder, NBA champion, outrageous public personality and party boy extraordinaire, escaped jail time in 2012 by presenting the defense that he suffered so severely from alcoholism that he couldn’t work. A year later, in May, 2013, a New York newspaper reported that he was booted out of a New York hotel for drunken disorderliness. And that’s the tip of the iceberg. In 2012, he owed ex-wife Michelle Rodman back child and spousal support in excess of a million dollars, and in a separate issue, he owed $350,000 in back taxes to the state of California. At that time, the LA Times quoted his financial advisor, Peggy Williams, as saying : “In all honesty, Dennis, although a very sweet person, is an alcoholic. His sickness impacts his ability to get work. This case, especially his wife filing for divorce, has put him on a binge that I have never seen before. He is extremely hurt and extremely sick. He is often unable to obtain work because of this sickness. And his sickness is getting increasingly worse.” So, Rodman has joined a long list of former athletes who had no idea how to spend or save their money wisely, and end up in trouble because of it. BUT, at least the others had the good sense to stay out of North Korea and not demand a Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. Does Dennis Rodman really know or understand the first thing about the vicious North Korea regime? Does he know that the UN reports that 200,000 people are being held in North Korean prison camps, poorly fed to the point of starvation, poorly clothed, without medical care, and subject to torture and execution for minor offenses at the whim of authorities, often with their entire extended family rounded up to suffer for their "crime" with them. Two hundred thousand people! And this month a South Korean newspaper reported that North Korea publicly executed 80 people about three weeks ago. Their crimes included such misdeeds as viewing South Korean movies, distributing porn and possessing Bibles. According to the paper, North Koreans were herded into stadiums to watch people get machine-gunned to death. All of which is why, when Dennis Rodman claims he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, one reporter has commented that they all should have the decency to nod solemnly and turn off their tape recorders, because it would be better to say the story fell through than to launder the delusions of a sad fameseeker who is using people who are tortured along with their families. AND, it would be wise to remember that Dennis Rodman can go where he pleases and say what he likes - even to his "friend for life" the butcher of Pyongyang - because he is blessed to be a citizen of a country that is founded on the God-given right of every human being to be free to pursue his life as he pleases, but without hurting others or curtailing their freedom. It seems that Charles Smith and his NBA friends may have learned this truth the hard way. It may also be that Dennis Rodman will never learn it. But that will not cut off his freedom - that is his great good fortune as an American. We all would give the same freedom to the people of North Korea if we could.