Before I begin with this short note, two important issues should be mentioned. Firstly, i completely reject the current political system in North Korea based on many reasons, which is out of the scope of this short note. Secondly, as an individual, even if I get an opportunity, I will not accept any invitation from a high ranking politicians from some undemocratic country like North Korea, based on many reasons including my moral and ethical principles. This simply means, I don't defend the act of Dennis Rodman as an individual in this matter by this short note. My intention, however, in this short note is about the reaction of mainstream media, which are running massive propaganda against Dennis Rodman with regards to his trips to North Korea.
Regarding this issue two main reactions have been demonstrated by media personnel and individuals. The first reaction claims that Dennis Rodman is the US secret agent, who would try to perform a so-called "Basketball Diplomacy" with regards to North Korea and the US relations; a plan equivalent to "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" between the US and China in 1970s. If this claim is true, we cannot blame Dennis Rodman. Simply, because Rodman is an agent and he follows the exact order of the US authority, whether this order is playing a basketball game or singing the "happy birthday song" to the North Korean leader. In this respect, if we would like to blame anyone, we should blame the US authority, which has designed such a plan and not Dennis Rodman.
The second reaction blames Dennis Rodman for his close relationship with the leader of North Korea based on many reasons. Among these reasons, the severe violation of human rights, monolithic political system, developing nuclear weapon by North Korea and consequently causing a serious threat to some other countries in South East Asia could be mentioned. If this is the case, why media don't criticize almost all the leaders, politicians and monarchs in the Western countries because of their close relationships with all the dictators around the world? For example, Why the Media didn't criticize Prime Minister David Cameroon, when he visited China? Is the human rights situation in China better than North Korea? Doesn't China cause instability in South East Asia? Why the media didn't criticize the Queen Elisabeth of England, when she visited Saudi Arabia, where the state behead prisoners? Why media don't criticize Jack Straw for his current trip to Iran, where the Islamic Regime has executed more than 100,000 innocent people so far? Doesn't Iran cause instability in the whole Middle East?
These are just some examples, which can also be extended to almost all the leaders and monarchs in the Western countries. This type of behavior, however, is not a new pattern. If we review the history up until this moment, we see that almost all the leaders, politicians and monarchs in the Western countries have been supporting different dictators around the world to some degree. In this respect, the media and those individuals, who criticize Dennis Rodman should honestly answer to the following questions.
Should we expect more responsibility from our leaders, politicians, and monarchs or should we expect more responsibility from an individual basketball player like Dennis Rodman? Should we expect that our leaders and monarchs follow the basic moral and ethical principles or should we expect that someone like Dennis Rodman as an individual follows these humanitarian principles? Which one is the most important issue for us, the act of our leaders and monarchs or the behavior of an individual like Dennis Rodman?
In addition, we should consider some issues as follows. Firstly, Dennis Rodman is not a politician (as far as I know). Secondly, as far as I know, Dennis Rodman has never said that he wants to save the world, as most of the politicians, leaders and monarchs in all the Western countries always claim. Thus, instead of blaming Dennis Rodman and wasting the precious time, it would be wise to blame and criticize those leaders, politicians and monarchs in our own countries, who because of economic and geopolitical interests are supporting every undemocratic political system around the world. Should this happen, we might be able to change the world for good.
M. Sirani 09.01.2014
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