Rodman, Jesse James, and Trump

A poignant moment on the Apprentice the other night...

Tonia and I watched the series for a few seasons a few years back, but lost interest.

While playing Ticket to Ride the other night, we found Celebrity Apprentice and decided to keep an eye on it during our game. There were a few moments about Dennis throughout the episode-- in particular, Clint Black trying to reach out to him, but a variety of responses to the difficulties that Dennis presents.

At the end, in the boardroom, it reduced to an "intervention". It was tough but riveting and moving to watch.

Here's Hunter Baker with Acton on the episode with an application to the natural law:

Last night I watched the latest episode of The Apprentice: Celebrity Edition. I have been pulled into the series this year largely because of the compelling finishes where The Donald lectures celebrities about their work habits and managerial ineptness. Dennis Rodman has been a draw because of his incredibly bad behavior.

This was Dennis’ week. His teammates chose him to be the project manager because they hoped he would rise to the challenge if he was running things. It worked, for a short while, then he drank enough to go past caring...

The men’s team lost, which gave rise to the beautiful moment. Motorcycle entrepeneur and reality star Jesse James confronted Dennis Rodman with his drinking problem....Rodman said in frustration, “I . . . I could kick all y’all’s a**es. Everyone one here.”

Now, I’m not sure that is actually true. Jesse James, for example, was a professional bodyguard at one point. But James didn’t respond to Rodman’s provocation with a physical challenge. His actual reply was devastating:

“Then why don’t you kick our a**es at being a good person?”

Rodman sat silent.

I called this a beautiful moment for the natural law because Jesse James put the idea out there for millions of people whether he or they realized it. We know what a good person is. We expect people to aspire to that AND to achieve it.

At a minimum, we expect people to be honest, to keep their promises, to be reliable, and to moderate their own behavior out of respect for others. These are things Thomas Aquinas would say we can reason to from the premise of the social nature of man....