question: What was Dennis Rodman's response when asked about his trip in regards to US detainee in North Korea? answer: I am concerned, but can't change it paragraph: This week, we've been treated to the increasingly familiar sight of former NBA star and provocateur Dennis Rodman attending events in Pyongyang, North Korea. It's his fourth trip in less than 12 months. On Tuesday, an angry Rodman defended his visit in a CNN interview straight from Pyongyang, at one point saying to "New Day" anchor Chris Cuomo, "I don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think ..." in response to question about Kenneth Bae, an American detained in North Korea. When will we tire of this circus? In case you don't watch cable news, you might miss that the media really loves this kind of thing. No story about North Korea is too weird to go unreported, even if there is no real information to disseminate. Recall the recent rumor that Kim Jong Un's uncle was executed by being fed to hungry dogs, which most likely was started as satire on Chinese social media but was at first reported widely in the media (CNN was unable to confirm and did not report the story). In media discourse, North Korea is the classic enemy. The regime's injustices, quirks and dysfunctions are reassuring to Americans that their own country is just the opposite: Normal, well-functioning, a land of peace and liberty. But add in Rodman to the North Korea story, and it's bound to produce eye-popping headlines: The Weird American Athlete Goes to Weird Country story is just too easy not to cover. Rodman himself seems to be thriving on finding a strange smidgen of relevance through his visits to North Korea (and perhaps a Paddy Power paycheck). Though often described as quite shy, he has always enjoyed challenging the values of Middle America. North Korea is providing him a new avenue to be in the spotlight. The most passive player in this tragicomedy is Rodman's home country, the United States. The U.S. State Department has deployed the rhetorical equivalent of an embarrassed teenager whose dad has shown up to dance at his prom. Something along the lines of "this has nothing to do with us" is what the State Department has said with every one of Rodman's trip. Last winter,the State Department criticized Rodman's timing as it followed a nuclear test and rocket launch. 