passage: 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 do n'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 do n'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 .
query_and_answer: Where has Dennis Rodman gone 4 times in one year ? || North Korea
evidences: 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 .