Back in the day, John Kennedy had Marilyn Monroe sing him “Happy Birthday.”
JFK, of course, was then the charismatic leader of the free world. Apparently, if you are a pudge-faced North Korean thug, the pickings are slimmer. Maybe that’s why the best Kim Jong Un could do by way of a birthday serenade is . . . Dennis Rodman.
On Wednesday, the retired basketball Hall-of-Famer will oversee a game between a North Korean team and seven former American pros Rodman persuaded to go with him to Pyongyang. The game is to celebrate what we think is Kim’s 31st birthday, and the players accompanying Rodman include Kenny Anderson, Vin Baker, Cliff Robinson, Charles Smith, Doug Christie, Sleepy Floyd and Craig Hodges.
“I like the guy, and he’s an awesome guy to me,” says Rodman of Kim. “One thing is about showing people we can actually get along. Let’s get along as human beings, not politicians.”
Certainly, getting along as humans is an area where Kim could use pointers. Recently he had his uncle executed. Before that he sent a former girlfriend to the firing squad. Not to mention that Rodman and his fellow players will be cutting up Kim’s birthday cake as the latter keeps another American — pastor Kenneth Bae — rotting away in his Korean gulag.
Some professed to be shocked by all Kim’s crimes and outrages. The truth is, none of this is really news. In fact, it’s business as usual — the bloody reality of how the Kim family has ruled for decades.
The only difference is, our birthday boy is more brazen in his crimes. How appropriate he’s found a friend in an American nicknamed “The Worm.”