Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Dennis Rodman

Rodman gets emotional when talking about the abuse he experienced from Americans after his first trips to North Korea. He keeps insisting that he's about sports and knows nothing about North Korea, its history, politics, or international conflicts far less geopolitics.

Apart from his message-clothing, he's hilarious in his MAGA hat, the most interesting parts are Rodman saying he had information from Kim that Rodman considered important but Obama blew him off. Obama was just flatly not interested in anything that Rodman had to say, but then Trump thought, "hey, I can use Rodman to ease communication and tensions." Trump using available tools who are definitely not experts, recognizing what works and not necessarily with credentials. Ambassadors without portfolio. 

The next interesting thing is Rodman recognizing Kim is basically a big grown up boy. That all that we think that we know about him is most likely wrong. He's passive. Our view of him is that he's aggressive. But he was chosen by China to be leader of N. Korea over his two brothers, one of whom said that Kim is not leadership material. Most likely because Kim was seen as the easiest for China to manipulate. Trump sees this too. Most likely by Pompeo backing up what Rodman said. Trump led Kim through the negotiation. 

On YouTube, an idiotic commenter to this video said it was tacky for Trump to show Kim the beast, his protected automobile. But Trump did that not to brag, rather, most likely because he was promising Kim he'd have one. Protect Kim from whom? From his own China-directed military. Protected from China. 

I notice that detractors have absolutely nothing useful to say. But they say it anyway. Pathetic. One said, "Dumb and dumber." Another said, "Two narcissists talking to each other." Similarly, like clockwork PBS runs an old Frontline exposing the "hidden" NoKo and its human rights abuses. To emphasize that Trump is not concentrating on that. No, he's just getting Japanese kidnap victims released. That is, they have nothing useful to say, but they say it anyway.

You must bear with the intolerable Cuomo and the cable channel CNN to get at Rodman's contribution. It's actually a very good video altogether. It changed my attitude about Rodman and about Kim. I learned from it. And Cuomo actually does shut up and listen. For the most part. But he cannot control himself completely, he has anti-Trump gotchya angles to pursue. Asking about Kim speaking English is one of them. Rodman didn't give it to him, and Rodman just speaking extemporaneously is far more interesting than anything that Cuomo asks, he, of superior knowledge.

36 comments:

rcommal said...

Hey, by the way, June 12 marked the day that my son turned 18.

I worked hard, whether you like that notion or not.

He is no socialist.

He's still going to be subsidized by NO sort of government or bullshit crap of whiny people saying that he has been from the start.

Nope, we did it all by ourselves.

Start to finish: We. Paid. More. Than. Our. Fair. Share.

On account of that (which is just a small part of that), I have a very clear conscience. The people with whom I use to deal back in mid-aughts have changed their minds, which would be A-OK if only they'd acknowledge what they did.

Also...

My kid's been accepted into a program the likes of which 15 years ago y'all would've celebrated (no Ivy league about it, not even a liberal-arts school about it, not even a state school about it).



rcommal said...

I did homeschool Most of you did not

rcommal said...

{Now, as it's turned out, he could have been accepted into so many schools.)

rcommal said...

And let's not forget (in addition, a homes-schooling thing, especially when it involves proving all sorts of education) that at the end of his second year in high school, he'd earned a General Maintenance Certificate from our local technical college. Because we no longer lived in Iowa and had to move across from the street from my in-laws in Delaware, the reality changed, yet again.

rcommal said...

Combination of Mike Rowe, cyber-savvy, excellent English skills, rock musician, pro-research + achievement and remember_when.

That's him.

My kid.

rcommal said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cII1jJWDf04

rcommal said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cII1jJWDf04

edutcher said...

Good for you, r.

As for Rodman, just seeing him in the cap will make the Demos shudder.

The Dude said...

I always thought Rodman was peculiar - the wedding dress, the piercings, and so on, but compared to this comment thread he seems well grounded and normal.

And while I don't understand the crying at least he is not the perpetual victim. whining and attacking everyone else. He did what he was supposed to do and never once blamed everyone else in the world for, well, it's not clear, but there sure seems to be a huge helping of victimhood being talked about. Huge serving of victimhood, with nuts sprinkled on top. Emphasis on nuts.


AllenS said...

Strange times.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Kim is a butcher and a tyrant. I hate that the media are gushing over him.

Leland said...

Kim is a butcher and tyrant of The Lord of the Flies variety. A little adult leadership and healing of Mazlos needs, and I think Trump can bring things around. There will be no peace that begins with, Kim will pay with his life for crimes. Bring himin the fold peacefully, and then let his people (once free) try him.

Or wait for alarm to wake us from the dream.

edutcher said...

The media really isn't gushing. Suddenly, they've discovered their (and I use the word loosely) conscience only because Donald Trump forced his surrender.

If it had been Zippy or Willie or Lurch or the Beast, then it would all be sweetness and light.

Trooper York said...

Well done reader. You did a good job.

Trooper York said...

Dennis Rodman had an interesting life. He was a poignant figure on the Celebrity Apprentice. He obviously was troubled but had a big heart. I think many people exploited him in his life. For fame. For celebrity. For money.

He had some experience dealing with monsters. After all he used to fuck Madonna so Little Rocket Man is only a junior league psycho in comparison.

Wo Fat was entranced by him because he was a star on his favorite basketball team of all time the Chicago Bulls. Where Rodman had to sublimate his ego to another monster. Michael Jordan.

Rodman has an essential humanity, humility and grace that was apparent to all of these monsters. They feed off of it. Like a succubus.

I have no doubt that he approached Obama who refused to credit him with a brain in his head. Rodman offered to be a bridge. He went to Mr. Trump and found someone who was receptive. I tell you again watch their interactions on the Celebrity Apprentice. Trump has an affinity with troubled African American athletes. I mean he has Don King to the White House several times in intimate dinners He knows the dealio. That is what the elitists in the media don't get. That is why he is going to get 30% of the African American vote as he wins over 40 states next time around.

Trumpslide. It's coming.

MamaM said...

On Children by
Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.


To Rcommal: Whether I like the notion of you working hard or not matters not a whit. As a fellow homeschooler, however, I honor your faithfulness and commitment to the educational path you and your family chose to take and celebrate your experience of a measurable milestone in the form of your son's 18th birthday and his acceptance into a program that is a fit for him.

That said, this would not have been the thread I'd have chosen to fill with off topic comments of a personal nature, delivered in a "Hey, by the way..." manner that comes across as peculiar at best, a combination of careless and defensive in addition to proud and possessive. From the tone and words you chose to use, it is difficult for me to determine your motive in commenting. Is it to celebrate? To skewer? To garner approval? To present yourself as someone who triumphed with little help or encouragement from others? To own your son's success as if it was yours, rather than see yourself and your efforts as vital and significant part of a much larger ongoing process which is still unfolding?

Your son's life is now his to figure out and live to the best of his ability with the tools, support and encouragement you helped provide. Congratulations on seeing him through to this point.

MamaM said...

To ChipA, this is another of your posts that I really appreciate--as it captures essence all around.

Amartel said...

Suddenly American Flag reverence from the media. So sacrosanct that cannot even symbolically be seen in the same visual frame as the NORK flag or epic symbolic loss!
The Horror!!
From the same people actively fanboi-ing NORK presence/flag at Winter Olympics.

Amartel said...

For media, Kim is now bad, not because of insane human rights abuses or constant cheating and wheedling and lying, but because ostensibly working with Trump.
When he was fucking about launching test nukes and making threats against USA, that was fine.

Rabel said...

The media have been driven to the point of insanity by their hate for Trump.

Other people have different reasons.

rcommal said...

Hey, MamaM:

I don't care about you any more.

I haven't cared about what you have to say for years now.

What I know about YOU is that you just want to destroy the likes of me and mine.

THAT I care about.

rcommal said...

My real name is Lori Elizabeth Hill. I own everything posted by both reader_iam and rcommal.

Hey, MamaM: How gutsy can you bothered to be?

rcommal said...

Who ARE you?

rcommal said...


Blogger Trooper York said...

Well done reader. You did a good job.

June 13, 2018 at 12:54 PM



Thanks, Troop, my online friend back when my son was a pre-schooler. I get that things have changed, as do you. I get that.

Thank you, Trooper York (stand in for your real name, which I've know since those times as so you have known mine).



Troop: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The Dude said...

And as she crested the hill the crazy really kicked in. Bats - there were bats everywhere.

MamaM said...

Who ARE you?

Someone who has consistently responded to you with Truth and Grace rcommal, along with compassion for the trauma, health issues and victimization you've experienced and expressed in comments here and elsewhere.

At this point my inquiring mind would like to know how having my name would fortify you? What would you like to do with it? Would you behave more rationally and respond more sanely and clearly if I were to take the "gutsy" challenge and foolishly give my name to someone who mistakenly holds the paranoid perception I am somehow out to destroy them, despite written evidence to the contrary?

And who might the "the likes of me and mine" be? Fellow Americans? Other homeschoolers? People who don't know how to process their own story and feel driven to lash out and accost others with lies and mistruth?

If not for yourself, then for the sake of your son whom you appear to care about, I implore you to find someone skilled in listening and enter into the curious work of discovering where the need to expose yourself, accuse others and hold paranoid delusions might be coming from, as all behavior has meaning.

The Dude said...

Well, your response contains a lot more compassion than mine, MamaM, but that is usually the case.

MamaM said...

As usual, Sixty, you have your own unique skills and approach when it comes to the discernment and revelation of patterns.

There was something Trooper said that I like as well, about Rodman: Rodman has an essential humanity, humility and grace that was apparent to all of these monsters. They feed off of it. Like a succubus.

rcommal said...

Thanks for the information and POV. I do appreciate it

rcommal said...

Well done reader. You did a good job.

June 13, 2018 at 12:54 PM


Thanks, Troop, my online friend back when my son was a pre-schooler. I get that things have changed, as do you. I get that.

Thank you, Trooper York (stand in for your real name, which I've know since those times as so you have known mine).


Troop, one week from now, my son will be flying to Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, for 10 days of leadership training, into entry of which he had to earn.


rcommal said...

Someone who has consistently responded to you with Truth and Grace rcommal, along with compassion for the trauma, health issues and victimization you've experienced and expressed in comments here and elsewhere.

Complete crap.

At this point my inquiring mind would like to know how having my name would fortify you? What would you like to do with it? Would you behave more rationally and respond more sanely and clearly if I were to take the "gutsy" challenge and foolishly give my name to someone who mistakenly holds the paranoid perception I am somehow out to destroy them, despite written evidence to the contrary?

And who might the "the likes of me and mine" be? Fellow Americans? Other homeschoolers? People who don't know how to process their own story and feel driven to lash out and accost others with lies and mistruth?

If not for yourself, then for the sake of your son whom you appear to care about, I implore you to find someone skilled in listening and enter into the curious work of discovering where the need to expose yourself, accuse others and hold paranoid delusions might be coming from, as all behavior has meaning.


Complete bullshit.

rcommal said...

I truly do hope that MamaM is neither Ruthie nor Althouse.

rcommal said...

And also neither DBQ or Victoria.

rcommal said...

This one is for all of you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8q82QjISBY

MamaM said...

I truly do hope that MamaM is neither Ruthie nor Althouse...And also neither DBQ or Victoria.

No need to waste hope on that rcommal. The differences in tone, style and content between the five mentioned above is obvious to anyone with a listening ear and enough cognition and mental balance to process what's been shared over time without their own inner dissonance, anger and paranoia getting in the way.

rcommal said...

Thank goodness!