All Episodes
July 4, 2016 - The Joe Rogan Experience
02:23:41
Joe Rogan Experience #818 - Mike Schmidt
Participants
Main voices
j
joe rogan
01:01:51
m
mike schmidt
01:12:58
Appearances
j
jamie vernon
04:47
Clips
j
josh olin
00:01
| Copy link to current segment

Speaker Time Text
joe rogan
on that right when we go live.
That is over 10,000 Viking fans with the Viking clap.
They're Icelandic fans.
And that is a coordinated clap that could not be done in the United States of America, ladies and gentlemen.
We've got a little too much independent thinking going on over here.
Can you imagine if we had that kind of organization?
We could do a clap, an America clap.
jamie vernon
It'd be awesome.
Group haka.
joe rogan
Why can't we do that?
How come we've watched the Hakka?
We've watched those awesome Samoan dudes.
Are they Samoan that are doing that?
That is New Zealand?
Right, New Zealand.
That is one of the dopest fucking war dances the world has ever known, and it's going on right now.
It's not some Viking shit that they forgot about, that they probably used to do, but everybody who did it got slaughtered, or died off, or they didn't tell their grandchildren because they didn't want them carrying on the way.
This is some real shit.
They're doing it right now.
At a soccer game.
Soccer's replacing war, right?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's what's going on.
mike schmidt
Yeah, it's a good chance for your country to go fuck up another country.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And nobody has to die.
You still get to do the war cry.
unidentified
Boom, boom, boom.
joe rogan
Mike Schmidt, ladies and gentlemen, pull this right up, man.
So let me tell everybody how this podcast got started and why I wanted to talk to you.
Because Mike works at the Comedy Store.
Seemed like a very cool guy.
And one day we're hanging out in the back patio.
And you know, like all the employees of the Comedy Store, it's kind of a hang.
You know, it's an interesting place to work, right?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's just a hang.
And during the course of this hang, you started telling me about your past.
Before you worked at the Comedy Store, and you started telling me some really disturbing shit that you saw in the criminal justice system while you were working there.
And I was like, this is a fascinating subject, and let's talk about it on a podcast.
So here we are.
mike schmidt
Yep.
I figured, why not?
It's fucked up, so I may as well tell people.
joe rogan
Yeah, well you, tell me what you did for 10 years.
mike schmidt
So I was a criminal defense attorney for about 10 years.
I was for the first year or two in central Wisconsin and then I moved down to Dane County, Wisconsin, which is where Madison is, you know, University of Wisconsin, all that fun stuff.
It's the capital of the state.
joe rogan
Shout out to my friend Doug Duren.
Powerful Doug Duren.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
He lives there.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike schmidt
It's got a great comedy club.
joe rogan
Yes, it does.
Yeah, it really does.
It's an awesome town.
It's a very liberal town.
mike schmidt
Very liberal town, and you would think that because it's very liberal that black people are treated well there, and it is absolutely not the case.
It is the, like, if you're black in America, I mean, you've seen the studies, you've seen the statistics, you've seen riots.
Things are not good.
You're not being treated well.
And you would think that the worst place to be would be where you see riots happening, like Ferguson.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
mike schmidt
But actually, it's Madison, Wisconsin.
No place are black people more poor in relation to the white people around them than Madison, Wisconsin.
Nowhere else do black children get arrested more often in comparison with white children than Madison, Wisconsin.
You would think it's Birmingham, Alabama.
You would think, where are those pictures that I saw people getting hoses turned on them or dogs sent on them?
I bet that's where they treat black folks like shit.
No, it's Madison, Wisconsin.
joe rogan
What do you think is causing that?
I mean, why is this one area in your assessment from working there for 10 years?
Like, why is it like this?
mike schmidt
Well, I mean, there's a ton of different factors.
And all the factors boil down to, eh, racism.
I know it's kind of condescending for me to be a white guy from the Midwest calling racism on everybody, but I'm just going to tell you what I've observed and, you know, what the numbers show.
Because the thing is that you can't argue with the statistics.
If this ever came down to an argument about whether or not these numbers are fair, these people are being treated fairly, we know where they are.
You know, they're in prison.
We can point to the actual people.
They could raise their hands if they wanted to and say...
joe rogan
I'm sorry, I think really what's important, one of the things you pointed out was in specific crimes, where a white guy and a black guy with no record did the exact same thing, the difference in punishment between the white guy and the black guy.
So if you want to count Numbers of people that have been arrested, I think there's a possibility that it runs into that quagmire.
Well, you know, how many black people are there?
How many white people are there?
Are they in bad neighborhoods where these things are taking place?
But what you're talking about is the exact same crime.
So you can really see the obvious contrast there.
mike schmidt
The best example is burglary.
So burglary is a crime that There's multiple stages to burglary.
There's people who are very good at burglary who will, you know, knock on a house and announce themselves, say, hey, Kathy, just to try and avoid being charged with burglary under this statute, just the way it's worded.
But teenagers do burglary a different way.
They wait till somebody's out of town that they know, and they rob their parents' house.
And they'll take their Playstations and they'll take their liquor and everything and they get caught.
They'll usually do a couple of them and they'll get caught in a group.
And if that's your first trip into the justice system, you are probably in Dane County, you're probably going to get a deferred prosecution agreement.
If you keep your nose clean you'll get an expunction which is where the judge says I don't think the community would be harmed and I think you would be helped by Making it like this never happened so the police can keep a report of it, but nobody will ever know so The black kids don't get the offer of expunction right out of the gates the the white kids do and then When they fuck up,
and they do, because they are 19, and a lot of the white kids are stealing for heroin.
I don't want to sensationalize it, but that's what you do.
So they'll steal for that, they'll get popped again, or they'll get popped for curfew.
And now the deferred prosecution agreement is pulled, and so they're technically convicted of a felony.
At that point...
The white kids will still have options of saying, like, let me give this another shot.
I'll plead to more offenses.
I'll plead to more of the bail jumpings.
Let's haggle.
Let's haggle on what we're going to do.
Because they've already entered a plea on the record to the felony for burglary.
So they still have options.
And at the end of it, they're going to get probation.
They might get six months conditional time in jail.
But they're going to get probation.
And the black kids who fuck up the same way, who were charged with the same offense, in my experience, and what everybody else notices, they go to prison.
They just off to prison.
So, white burglars in their early, you know, late teens, early 20s, Conviction, deferred prosecution, possibility of expunction, then still fuck up, and then they get probation.
Black kids, one chance, prison.
And once they go to prison, you don't really get out of that system very long because they just keep catching you up on probation or parole violations.
And so that's just one example where...
Same number of convictions, you know, whether or not it's a kid with no convictions or a bunch of convictions, the determining factor was the race of the kid because they're both poor.
You know, the white burglar defendants and the black burglar defendants are generally both poor because if your parents have money, you just pay the restitution and you kind of walk.
joe rogan
Whoa.
mike schmidt
Not in every case, but when there's money over the barrel, when you can pay the restitution in a criminal case, it's such a rare thing that the prosecution will bend over backwards to help you get that money to the people that you fucked over.
joe rogan
And that's all they would have to do, is pay the equal amount and they could skate?
mike schmidt
No.
No, they don't skate completely.
But since so few people ever get their money back from the prosecution of the crime, Anytime you can put the money up, they will bend over backwards for you.
joe rogan
So for a theft case like that, you could conceivably not be punished for breaking into someone's house and stealing something if you pay them for it back.
The act of breaking in, you won't be penalized for that?
That seems crazy.
mike schmidt
Well, I mean, if you can pay for it.
Put yourself in the shoes of a prosecutor, where day in, day out, you convict people of crimes, and you give them time, but then there's these victims, and all they ever get to do is read a report.
All they ever get to do is sit in a chair and say, you really screwed me on this one day.
And then a lot of times the defendant doesn't even fucking look at them.
And so they never get to come with a win for their victims.
And paying restitution is a win for the victims.
So you can't ignore that.
joe rogan
No, I mean, I totally get it from a rational sense, but it just seems fucked.
I mean, that literally is buying your way out of jail.
mike schmidt
Absolutely.
joe rogan
Yeah, if you look at the difference between someone who figures out a way to come up with the money to pay for it, or they have the money to pay for it, and they were just stealing for a kick or just to be a piece of shit, versus someone who has no money.
The only difference being is that the one person is able to come up with some cash.
That's crazy.
mike schmidt
But of course, if you're...
I mean, the thing is, if the charges are already filed, you're going to have to plead to something or you're going to have to do a deferred prosecution agreement, but they'll make it as easy as possible.
joe rogan
So, when you were working there and you observed this, I mean, you were there for 10 years doing this.
When did it really start to sink in that this was sort of an impossible system and you didn't want to be a part of it?
mike schmidt
So in order to combat, I guess, the view that people were becoming increasingly more violent, Dane County did this thing called the Special Investigations Unit.
And the Special Investigations Unit was supposedly a race-blind selection of the 10 most dangerous individuals in Dane County, most likely to reoffend and hurt somebody else.
And they staffed it with the Department of Justice and Probation and Parole and some other people that we didn't know that they staffed it about.
And so they just discussed these issues in the Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office and the And they made the list of these people that they thought were the most dangerous in Dane County.
And then they summoned them all to a meeting where they threatened them.
And they said, hey, if you step out of line, we're going to fucking max you out on everything.
So if you spit on the sidewalk, tick it.
If you disorderly conduct, we're going to hit you with disorderly conduct as a repeater and try to throw you in prison for it.
So you cock off even a little bit, you're taking the ride.
And also, by the way, we have some services.
So here's a place where you can apply for a job.
And they were all black.
That was when I knew there was no fucking point to this.
Because in Dane County, there are like 4.6% of the population or something is black.
They can't all like the top 10 most dangerous people in Dane County are not all black I know this because some of the most dangerous people in Dane County were my other clients and They're white and I was like I looked at the list.
I'm like I got other guys that belong on this list I had a number of people on the list when it first came out and then when they redid the list I had a couple more and when they redid the list with a new 10 all black So, I know black people are not evil.
I know they're normal.
I know they're just like everybody else.
How are they, you know, it's because it's white or black, the coin flip, white or black, they're telling me it came up 20 times in a row on heads?
Like, random chance doesn't even account for this.
There's no race-blind way to, and they told me afterwards, like, no, we did it in a race-blind way.
There's no way you did.
You might have thought you did.
So the system doesn't even understand how racist it is.
joe rogan
How could they say they're doing it in a race-blind way?
I mean, if you legitimately think there were more dangerous people that were working under you, or that were being represented by you, rather.
I mean, what was their criteria?
What were they judging on?
Was it judging on how many convictions, the violence of the conviction?
What were the criteria?
mike schmidt
Well, it was just, yeah, number of convictions and offense severity.
They try a lot to figure out a good metric to predict new criminality, and it never really works.
It was patterned after a program that they did in the South.
So it's kind of like they took the names and birth dates off a bunch of files and they passed them around.
And miraculously, every single one of them was black.
joe rogan
Now, numbers-wise, is that possible?
Like, is it possible that all the people that were the top 20 had the most amount of violent convictions, the most amount of this, the most amount of that?
And that was just, they just happened to be black.
Is that possible?
mike schmidt
It is not possible because I had other clients who beat them in the criteria.
joe rogan
Right, you knew the criteria.
mike schmidt
Yeah, I have worse people.
Everybody in that courthouse had somebody that was worse than anybody on that fucking list.
joe rogan
That's insane.
So you're saying, like, literally, you could replace the list with white people that were violent, dangerous criminals, and it would be a better choice.
mike schmidt
Absolutely.
joe rogan
So those dangerous people were not even in the top ten.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
If they wanted to know who the biggest fucking maniacs in Dane County were, they could have just asked the defense attorneys.
We wouldn't have told them.
unidentified
Right.
mike schmidt
But we knew the answers.
joe rogan
But you knew the answers.
Isn't that a tricky situation to be in?
I would imagine that it's incredibly stressful.
Being someone who's representing someone who you think is like a real criminal, a bad person, and you have to try to get them off.
mike schmidt
Yeah, it's weird, but the thing is, The system only works if you just come at the other side.
And the other side just comes at you.
Because you've got, you know, they've got the police behind them.
They've got the fact that they've got a badge that impresses, you know, civilians during the jury trial.
They've got prosecutors who have access to state crime labs.
They're gonna come at you.
And if they lose, it's their fault.
So they have to win these ones.
And the guilty guys give you an opportunity to practice.
Because if you only took the cases of people who you thought were innocent, you would suck when it came time to do their trial.
Like, you gotta practice.
You gotta sharpen your claws.
And the best way to do it is...
You know, win with someone where you know that they fucking did it.
And win it clean on technical points.
Because those technical points, like, you know, not getting evidence in, or when a prosecutor is asking questions during voir dire they shouldn't be, that type of little, those little backflips and shit, those will pay off when you actually have a client that you don't think did it.
joe rogan
So, I understand.
I understand what you're saying.
And it's sort of your obligation.
And so in that sense, you almost treat it like it's a game that you're playing, like some sort of a technical game.
mike schmidt
You have to treat it as a technical game or you will lose.
joe rogan
Because is it something, I mean, I know very, very little about the law in terms of defending people, but is it something that you think is like...
Almost like sort of a chess game like you have a bunch of pieces and you have to manipulate them correctly and you have to be aware of the massive massive amounts of Things that have been written on each individual subject whether individual crime what precedents have been set and How to establish whether or not your client was treated fairly, and is that based on precedence too?
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
There's precedent for everything.
You know, 346 million people in the country, like, they've had some court cases.
So...
Yeah, you have to know the general progress of how a trial goes.
You have to know when someone can invoke a right and when they can't invoke a right.
Time limits are kind of important.
joe rogan
Time limits?
mike schmidt
Time limits, yeah.
joe rogan
Like a statute of limitations, time limits?
Is that what you mean?
mike schmidt
Statute of limitations to even if you're in court and you don't object on time, eh.
You're screwed.
Then they have to argue in a different way to try and get it flipped over.
But there's always arguing.
joe rogan
Right.
mike schmidt
But yeah, it is a game, and it is kind of mental.
Here's an example.
I did this to a guy.
He's now...
He's not a prosecutor there anymore, but...
When you go into courtrooms in large areas, they take their inmates from the in custody section.
Sometimes they'll be in a jail next door and they'll bring them from a tunnel or little holding cells in the courthouse.
So they'll bring them in one side of the courtroom and then they'll put the jury box on the opposite side of the courtroom so that the in custody defendant doesn't walk past them on the way in and out.
Because if they were to get sentenced And the jury were sitting there.
On their way out, there may be some choice words.
So they separate the two of them.
And also because, you know, they're worried about them fleeing or whatever.
But the actual effect of that is that the prosecutor sits closer to the jury box, and they always have a case officer who sits next to the prosecutor in their dress uniform or their work uniform.
And they look at the jury, and they monitor the jury, and they keep their notes, and they help them, and they mug, and they listen to the entire trial so they know what's going on.
So it's a great asset to them, but a substantial part of the advantage that they get from having that chair is having the officer being able to look at the jury.
Because think about you sitting in a room, and you're trying to figure out what the fuck is going on.
Maybe it's a knife fight.
Maybe somebody's supposedly shot at somebody.
And a jury, you know, the witness leans forward and says something and you don't know if you should believe them.
So you look to the judge.
Judge is blank.
And then you look to the court reporter and the clerk of courts, blank, blank, because they don't want you to be able to read them, or they're working on other shit, or they're concentrating on writing what everybody's saying.
Then you get to the, you know, you get to the defense table, and there's the, you know, defendant looking guilty as shit, as they always do.
Not really, but...
And then you get to the prosecutor and the cop, and there the cop's looking at you, and he just gives you a...
And there you go.
You got some validation for your suspicion that the person was not telling the truth.
Just a little bit.
And that rolls forward from time to time.
Like, when you tell jokes on stage, sometimes you hold for a second, and you fucking look at people, and then they start to laugh.
It's the same shit.
It's just...
They're working the crowd.
unidentified
Right.
mike schmidt
And they don't even know that they're doing it.
But...
When they lean forward to answer a question that the prosecutor asks that they want to answer, or when they lean back because you asked them a question and they're about to burn you, They're working the fucking crowd.
They're just working the crowd.
So what I would do is I would show up early as shit and I would take their table.
I would just put my shit at their table because their name is not on the table.
Most juvenile bullshit ever.
I would take the table and I would put all my stuff there and I would make them ask the judge to move me because That was not an argument that someone who went to Harvard came to the courthouse prepared to make.
Because my opponent that day did go to Harvard.
And fuck Harvard.
You know, like...
This is the streets.
Like, this is fuck-around time.
So I did that just to unhorse him mentally so that when the trial did start, he was uncomfortable.
I didn't care if I won or lost that argument.
I wanted that chair.
I wanted that chair because I knew what we could do looking back and forth at those people and just taking them that much further from the physical proximity of the jury, putting us close.
I wanted it for that reason, but...
More so than that, I just wanted to make him be a fucking six-year-old to the judge.
joe rogan
That's a beautiful move, man.
That's an excellent move.
mike schmidt
And so, it's, you know, like...
It's playing around.
joe rogan
Sure, it's definitely, but it's also, the whole system is kind of juked anyway, right?
I mean, aren't you doing your best to...
mike schmidt
Yeah.
I mean, the thing is, like, if I can play for that advantage, and it's not unethical or illegal, because I can explain why that chair is better and why I want it...
Then I kind of have to play that angle.
Because I would hate for my client that day to be like, well, so you had a chance to really mindfuck them before you started and you didn't and now I'm convicted?
joe rogan
Right.
mike schmidt
Well, thanks.
They're not gonna, you know.
joe rogan
Well, how many guys who are working in your position...
Have such a clear mindset, though.
How many people have sort of punched out after a while because they've been doing it a long time?
Or is that a public misconception that you see in, like, movies where the, you know, the criminal defendant that gets assigned by the state doesn't really give a fuck, does a half-assed job, and the guy gets sent upriver?
Is that common or is it bullshit?
mike schmidt
It's bullshit.
It's bullshit because we all do care.
We're competitive.
Even if we hate you, we're gonna try to win.
Especially if we hate you.
I've pulled some of my best moves all the time for people that I loathed.
Because it was the hardest move to pull and it would be the biggest win.
It doesn't matter how you feel about the person.
Do you like winning?
Keep winning.
Like, when you see somebody and they want seven years, and you go, fuck you, three.
You don't say fuck you, but you just think, you want seven years for this shit?
Seven years of someone's life?
You maniac.
I don't care.
I don't even want this guy out, but seven, no.
So then you work on an argument, so that after work, you can tell everybody that the prosecution asked for seven, and you got them, too.
unidentified
Wow.
mike schmidt
Because, yeah, winning is its own reward.
joe rogan
I've never heard a lawyer put it quite like that, honestly.
We've talked about it before on the podcast where I think that there's a real problem with cops arresting criminals.
And not that they shouldn't, but there's a real problem in that it becomes a game.
Like you're trying to win.
You're trying to catch people for doing things, and you're trying to lock them up.
And when you're trying to win, because that is a win.
You know, if you get someone, you lock them up, you arrest them, you catch them, they get convicted, they go upriver, I send them upriver, I win.
And that is an absolute...
There's a certain amount of...
What we've sort of developed all throughout high school years and junior high school and whatever, kids play sports.
And we develop this winning mentality.
The game is to be won.
You know, whether it's a game of pool or lawn darts or fucking basketball, people are always trying to win.
And when you have people that are raised in some of the most intense moments of their life, especially if you've been involved in competitive sports, like if you've been On a championship baseball team or something like that.
You go from that and your next experiences in life are being a police officer.
You're going to definitely take that sports mindset and apply it to chasing down criminals.
And it could be good and it can be bad, but the problem is when people start justifying certain things like planting evidence and doing things along those lines in order to get a conviction because they want to win.
That's when shit gets really scary.
Because someone has an incredible amount of power.
And if someone is doing something to make you look more guilty just so that they can win.
That's scary.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
When people were upset about the New England Patriots being accused of cheating.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Deflategate.
Jamie, can you explain that?
Because I don't necessarily understand it.
jamie vernon
During the NFL, I think it was the championship game a couple years ago, during the before the game, a trainer supposedly had let some air out of the ball, which would make it easier to grip and throw and catch.
joe rogan
Now that's what I don't understand.
Has that been proven?
jamie vernon
That it happened?
joe rogan
That it's easier to catch a ball when it's deflated.
jamie vernon
There's other NFL quarterbacks I've heard recently that admit to over-inflating a ball for similar reasons.
It's just preference on how to grip a ball.
Same way baseball players do stuff to a baseball, but pitchers aren't allowed to scuff it.
They beat up a ball so that it's not brand new and slippery is all.
joe rogan
This is why I got confused.
But hasn't it been proven or am I wrong that there's no measurable difference?
jamie vernon
I think the amount that it actually was for there was like a.0018 amount of air.
So that's an immeasurable amount of difference.
I really don't think it was...
joe rogan
So it was bullshit.
It was bullshit charges.
jamie vernon
For the most part, yeah, and it still is.
They want to win.
The NFL wants to win in this case.
joe rogan
So that's what it is.
mike schmidt
Because they couldn't get them very much on when they were listening to everybody's plays.
Because they were reviewing everyone else's plays and intercepting their communications.
joe rogan
How are they doing that?
mike schmidt
Radios.
joe rogan
And that's illegal?
mike schmidt
It's not illegal, depending on the state that you're in, but it's...
Frowned upon?
That's unethical.
The teams are not supposed to be eavesdropping on the play calls.
joe rogan
Right.
jamie vernon
They were taping them, too.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
jamie vernon
Videotaping practices and catching hand signals.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
jamie vernon
Yeah.
joe rogan
And deciphering hand signals like fucking enemies?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow, that's like some World War II Japanese code type shit, right?
jamie vernon
Yeah, that's why they hold up those big ass signs now with like five different pictures.
There's decoy guys giving fake hand signals.
There's all kinds of things going on now.
unidentified
What?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Subterfuge.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Danger!
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow, that's crazy.
mike schmidt
So, it's like the cops are kind of like the New England Patriots.
Like, they're gonna win anyway.
Why do you cheat?
You're gonna win.
Because the Patriots were gonna win almost all those games anyway.
But they don't...
The planning of evidence and stuff, like, that's...
It's more sensational.
It's more rare than you would think.
And the cops trying to get a particular person is more rare than you think.
Like, most cops are pretty good.
And don't hold grudges like that.
And when you see a cop who's arrested somebody like four times before, they get along.
Like, there's a little bit of trash talking, a little bit of like, hey, how's it going?
Like, they have relationships with people that they have to arrest a lot that are not always negative.
Like, it's fucking hilarious.
joe rogan
It's like the Sheepdog and the Coyote.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Those cartoons.
Morning, Sam.
unidentified
Morning, Ralph.
mike schmidt
Morning, Ralph.
Yeah, it's just like that.
And so...
Yeah, it's just, they're not as bad as people make them out to be in that angle.
Like, there have been some terrible scandals, like Rampart, but most, you know, like, that's not, that's the shit that's not really happening.
Like, that's the TV shit.
What really happens is, they're just not allowed to lose any interaction.
Like, they can't, like, when they finally decided that they don't have to chase people in California if they're going, like, 120. Less people started dying.
Because the cops actually had the discretion to go, we don't need to win all the time.
But all these other things like domestic violence arrests or shoplifting or tasers, they can't leave.
You can't back off a cop.
You can't be like, no man, I'm not going.
Because they have to get more cops and they have to keep getting more cops with bigger guns until they get you.
They're not allowed to walk away.
And they're not allowed to walk away from personal interaction.
That's the problem, is that we don't let them be themselves.
We make them be kind of these, you know, like, just always challenging people.
They don't want to do that, but that's how they're taught that they have to kind of act around people.
And they drop it whenever they can, like a lot of them.
You know, some guys never drop it because they really get off on that shit.
joe rogan
Sir, put your hands on the hood of the car.
Sir!
Spread your legs.
Sir!
mike schmidt
But a lot of them would not like to talk to people that way.
Right.
They're taught they have to do that.
joe rogan
But they're in a terrifying and dangerous situation a lot of times where they literally have to have complete total control of that person and compliance.
If they don't have compliance, it leaves open the door...
To weird shit.
If a guy's not assuming the position, they can become more threatening.
I kind of get it in violent crime situations, but it's just got to be insanely difficult to figure out when to turn that on and when to turn that off.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
I think some people obviously have problems with that.
joe rogan
It's a fucking difficult job emotionally to manage and psychologically to manage.
You're in this position where you have a gun all the time and a good percentage of the people you talk to all day are full of shit.
They're lying to you.
They're about to commit a crime.
Imagine running into people and almost everyone you see is involved in something they shouldn't be involved in.
mike schmidt
And you took the job because you like people.
You know, like you took the job because you wanted to protect people and have people respect you, and all you get is fucking disrespect and picking up shoplifters and having turds thrown at you.
joe rogan
By some.
mike schmidt
And then teenagers make fun of you.
joe rogan
Do you remember what it was like after 9-11?
How that big shift came about and people were like really appreciative of...
They started calling them first responders.
It was like the first time they had to call them first responders.
It was like a common expression in the news.
Because it used to be, you know, emergency people, 9-11.
It would be cops or firemen.
But when they started calling them first responders, and people were like super happy to see cops and super happy to see firefighters especially.
For like quite a while, they got a lot of respect.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
joe rogan
But it kind of wore off.
mike schmidt
I mean, firefighters, I think, still get the respect.
joe rogan
They get most of what they used to get.
They don't get the full blast that they used to get.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
But now cops, every time one of them fucks up, it's showing up on video and it's reflecting poorly on everybody.
joe rogan
We really do have to take into consideration two factors when you're looking at these videos.
One is the sheer amount of crime you're talking about that takes place on a daily basis.
So, what you're saying is, if you have, I mean, think of the many, many, many, many cities in this country, and the many, many, many, many, many cops having interactions with the many, many, many people who've committed crimes.
It's pretty rare you see a video of a cop doing something really fucked up, in consideration to that.
When you're talking about these millions of interactions, and to have one every couple months, people are like, God damn it!
When are these fucking people gonna stop doing that?
Well, A, it is very good that we have a method now to catch those people and weed those people out.
They don't exist anymore.
That's a beautiful thing.
But B, it certainly had an impact knowing that they're going to be filmed, knowing that it's likely to be filmed.
It's going to eliminate some of the Some of the corruption, some of the evil shit that we've caught cops doing.
It's definitely going to have pressure on them and social pressure that's going to cause people to change their opinions and change the way they conduct business or they conduct the business of law enforcement.
But at the end of the day, the numbers are shockingly small.
If you really stop and think about how much...
I mean, I'm not trying to be like a cop-apologist.
But I'm just saying, we really should take into consideration, whenever we do any of these conversations about it, how many fucking cops there are, how many crimes they're handling on a daily basis, and how insanely brutal that must be on your psychological system, your emotional system.
I've maintained a few times that I don't think it's a job that...
I think it's a job that very few people are qualified for.
I think you have to have a very strong mind to be able to handle that in a very fair way.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Yeah, it's got to be intensely difficult.
joe rogan
Could you imagine just getting shot at?
Well, fucking high-speed chases, catching people in the middle of crimes, domestic violence.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Well, that's, I mean, it's not all excitement.
A lot of it is sad for them.
Because they'll show up four or five times to the same house.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, man.
mike schmidt
You know?
And they don't like that.
A lot of times they'll get all the cases.
They'll get a case nice and ready, and then the lady doesn't show up.
The case is dismissed, and then four months later, there's another call, and she's back at the house.
That shit is kind of great on them, I'm sure.
But, like, the police brutality videos bring to light kind of a way that some officers have been getting away with treating people.
Like, Rodney King was one of the first prime examples of, like...
Cops get away with doing this to people.
Right.
joe rogan
Don't you think in the Rodney King situation, though, it was pretty extreme?
Because you're dealing with a PCP'd up dude that went on a high-speed chase, and there was a lot more to that video than what we saw on television.
Like, I'm not excusing them for beating the shit at him like that.
I mean, they should have definitely handcuffed him, and they should have figured out a way with all those guys to restrain him.
They should have the physical manpower to restrain that guy without beating on him like that.
unidentified
Yeah, yeah.
mike schmidt
My personal belief is if you lead the police on a high-speed chase, they should beat your ass when you get out of the car.
That's what they generally do, because they're jacked up from having to drive at that speed.
And I'm not saying it's morally right.
I'm saying if you're currently in a high-speed chase with the police, pull over slowly and expect a few kisses on the lips.
joe rogan
This is my problem with that.
I don't have a problem with it in terms of dishing out justice, but that's, first of all, it kind of smacks of vigilantism, right?
And second of all, because you're not really supposed to do that.
mike schmidt
No, they're not supposed to, but that I don't think they can control at that point.
joe rogan
It's not vigilantism, it's a cop.
What would you call it?
unidentified
Just...
joe rogan
It's just inappropriate violence.
mike schmidt
Well, I mean, they're trying to take physical control immediately of somebody who just threatened the lives of people.
Like, I don't know, 50 or 60 people.
They're going to do it fast.
joe rogan
But here's my only concern, is that it would encourage people to get away with more on the line.
Because they know if they get pulled over, they're going to get the fuck beat out of them.
And it could cause the loss of other people's lives if they were involved in a car accident by someone who's frantic to not get the shit beat out of them by cops.
I just don't think you're supposed to greenlight when someone can beat the fuck out of someone.
mike schmidt
No, no, no.
joe rogan
Shooting them, killing them, it's not so hypocritical and stupid, but that almost makes more sense.
mike schmidt
I'm not, I'm not saying, like, I greenlight it.
I'm saying, like, we are dealing with people.
It's probably gonna happen.
joe rogan
It's probably gonna happen.
Yeah, it's gonna happen.
mike schmidt
We need to figure out how to handle that if we don't want it to happen, but it's, you know, that's...
I mean, we're not using robots, we're using people.
joe rogan
Exactly, and I think that's what's most important that we're talking about here.
When we can take people and categorize them and say, well, this guy has X amount of melanin in his skin and his family's from this part of the world, so we'll apply rule A. Yeah.
Versus if this guy is a Norwegian, white-looking motherfucker like yourself, you apply rule B. What do you got some Sweden in you?
What do you got there?
mike schmidt
Norwegian.
joe rogan
I knew it.
Look at that.
Yeah.
How about that?
I'm not even good at that.
mike schmidt
You're really good at racism.
joe rogan
You're a very good white guy.
Well, it's okay if you do it with white people.
Is that racism?
No, that's not racism.
What would that be?
mike schmidt
It used to be racism.
joe rogan
It's only if it's a black person.
If I call you, if I say that you look Norwegian and I nail it, that is definitely not racism.
But if I see a black person from Haiti and I'm like, the Congo!
mike schmidt
Well, that would be right.
joe rogan
Yeah, you can't get away with that.
Especially if it's like a really bad place like the Congo.
mike schmidt
Well, I think also it was that you sounded really excited when you did it.
Like, Congo!
joe rogan
Yeah, well that was for the punchline.
mike schmidt
Okay, alright, I didn't know.
joe rogan
Trying to make some jokes.
Yeah, man, I think it's just real disturbing.
It was very disturbing when you were telling me this because it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense that some place that people would think of as such a liberal open-minded place like Madison, Wisconsin would be so fucking backwards like that and that no one's bringing this up.
mike schmidt
People have tried to bring it up.
They first started bringing it up in 2012. Since then it's gotten worse.
A couple of places have come out with studies on it.
Basically, in Wisconsin, adult black men are 12 times more likely to be sent to prison than white guys.
Black kids are 16 times more likely to be put into foster care than white kids.
And of course, if you're in foster care, then you're more likely to be prescribed, you know, pills and all that fun stuff.
And even for that, like in L.A. County, black foster kids are eight times more likely to be put on behavior-altering medication than white kids also in foster care.
So, it's, they noticed that the numbers were really getting bad then, and then they tried some shit to fix it, and it just gotten worse, I guess.
The funniest one was, I think it was in 2014, when there was another study that says, well, it's still getting worse.
They proposed a $250,000 gardening initiative, where they would teach children to garden.
You're locking up 50% of all African American men from 18 to 25. They're in jail or on probation.
And your idea is to spend a quarter of a million dollars on gardening.
No fucking wonder shit's fucked up.
joe rogan
So what was the argument about the gardening?
That it was going to give them a sense of purpose?
Because they would see these...
Flowers and...
mike schmidt
Fuck if I know.
But that's...
Yeah, like, it's one of the, like, it's hippy-dippy bullshit is what it is.
It's so hippy.
It's fucking, like, I don't, like...
Like, holy fucking yellow brick road.
What the fuck are you talking about?
Like, are we all grown-ups in this room?
unidentified
No, no, no.
joe rogan
We've noticed some studies that came out of Norway where they took prisoners and they showed them how to make tomato sandwiches.
And they could grow their own tomatoes.
They felt so much more comfortable about being a person.
mike schmidt
Like, let's keep stealing fathers from their children.
And then also, but you know how we took your dad...
unidentified
This is the magic of begonias.
mike schmidt
You know?
Like, you know, sorry we fucking shattered your family, but aren't lilacs beautiful?
And you have to ride the bus to come see your lilacs.
It's just horseshit.
It's just...
If that's what they think will make a difference, then we're fucked.
joe rogan
Yeah, I mean, that's probably a good idea for, like, maybe a community center that wants to help kids out and give them some sense of purpose, but to sort of subscribe that to criminals or to people that you've convicted of crimes or...
People that you put in jail?
mike schmidt
Or just anybody.
You can't make people garden.
Like, we actually had a war about that.
There was a war about 150 years ago about making people garden based on the color of their skin.
It was the Civil War.
jamie vernon
I found an article about it.
mike schmidt
What I'm saying, yeah.
jamie vernon
The anecdotes from this are kind of funny, if you want to read it.
joe rogan
I've been locked up my whole life, so doing programs like this are like planting a seed.
He said, you have to nurture a plant almost like a kid.
It's kind of weird to think about it that way, but I think it's going to show me how to become an adult.
Wow.
And he said that after he brained the social worker and raped her dead body.
mike schmidt
Can I do it NPR style?
joe rogan
Yes.
mike schmidt
And after everyone had a chance to talk, it was time for some hands-on gardening.
One table was covered with dried lupin and Larkspur plants that the inmates stripped of seeds.
After the gardening work was done, the inmates gathered again in a circle to talk about how to connect what they've learned from life after they're released.
John is currently serving time for his sixth drunk driving conviction.
joe rogan
A little too sexy.
It's pretty good, but you're a little too sultry.
You burn.
You burn, son.
You burn at a low...
mike schmidt
I'm sorry.
joe rogan
But you do burn.
You gotta be a little more dry.
mike schmidt
To me, it's the self-satisfaction.
joe rogan
There's almost like a hipstery quality that you have to acquire of your sound as well.
mike schmidt
Okay, I'll work on that.
joe rogan
It's pretty good though.
What is going on with that voice that they do?
That one thing where men...
Okay, here's a perfect example.
That dude who was in Canada who got in trouble with all the ladies because they said that he liked to throttle them.
Remember that dude?
John Gomeschi.
Do you know who he is?
mike schmidt
Okay.
joe rogan
He was the guy that was on trial in Canada because a bunch of girls that he hooked up with said he beat the shit out of him.
mike schmidt
Oh, the fucking, like the Canadian MTV Much Music guy?
unidentified
He was a male feminist.
mike schmidt
Oh, it's always them.
joe rogan
He was a male feminist who talks like this and has a very...
Very subdued way of speaking.
So, tell us about your band and where did you guys start out?
Like in this, you know, that weird, not a real person sort of a thing going on?
He was the king of that shit.
But what is that?
What is that gender neutral sort of strange?
mike schmidt
When you talk like this?
joe rogan
I don't know.
What is that?
Why are they doing that?
They're trying to relax you, almost hypnotize you into just going with it.
There's no emotion to it.
mike schmidt
It's like a soft rock DJ. But yeah, a little creepier.
joe rogan
You know what, though?
Honestly, I have to say, I prefer it when I'm listening to very intelligent things.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
unidentified
Oh.
joe rogan
Like, if I'm listening to, like, um...
mike schmidt
Yeah, because you don't want to hear somebody be like, Yeah, the fucking Tampa Portia ablation is how the modern nuclear weapon operates.
joe rogan
Yeah, exactly.
Or even when someone's discussing, like, when they're talking about, like, a very intense subject.
That's hotly under debate.
I almost prefer it.
Like this non-judgmental, weird, sort of not-really-a-person way of communicating.
mike schmidt
The pan-determined.
unidentified
What do you think?
jamie vernon
Like a classical music voice.
joe rogan
Almost, yeah.
jamie vernon
Study the classical music, you can...
Retain the knowledge better.
Yeah speak that way.
joe rogan
Well, I'm fascinating as as a comic I'm fascinated by all those different There's like predetermined patterns that people can plug into like you can become a top 40 DJ and everybody knows how to do it top 40 DJ style.
All right There's just a way of talking where it just say oh well this guy's gonna play me some top 40 songs I know his voice he's on the ball and He's doing it perfect.
Strip Club DJ is another one.
It's like a similar one.
Politician voice.
There's a bunch of different voices that people are allowed to plug into.
I guess cop voice too.
You could add cop voice to that too.
mike schmidt
Yeah, cop voice.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Hillary Clinton is so bad at public speaking.
joe rogan
She's terrible at it, right?
mike schmidt
Like, how do you do it that long and suck that bad?
Oh my god.
joe rogan
Well, you know what, man?
I think she's tired, for one.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I bet if you caught her when she was 40, she's probably a firecracker.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, she's a lady that's dealing with a failing older body.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's a real problem for people, because...
They don't really get wise enough for us to consider them running the nation until they're older.
You know, like if Katy Perry wanted to be president tomorrow, I'd be like, bitch, you're not old enough.
mike schmidt
She's not.
She's not 35. But I would vote for her when she's 35. Okay, Jennifer Aniston.
joe rogan
She's 35. She's like 42 or something like that.
mike schmidt
She's not a good judge of character.
joe rogan
She's hot as fuck.
mike schmidt
She's really hot, but...
joe rogan
And she never did anything to her chin, so strong chins still work.
mike schmidt
Yeah, strong chin is good work.
joe rogan
Don't sell yourself short.
But if she wanted to become president, we'd be like, get the fuck out of here.
You're too vibrant.
You're too young.
You have too much going on.
It's a real catch-22 for a woman.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because the only way you would accept a woman in office is a woman, like an old, withered politician like Hillary, who's been in the trenches our whole career!
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Yeah, I think you kind of have to be a little close to death for people to vote for you for president.
unidentified
It's true.
mike schmidt
You've got to look a little bit like shit.
joe rogan
Well, we tried it with Obama with a really vibrant guy, and he came out looking like death.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Came out looking 20 years older.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Poor bastard.
mike schmidt
Yeah, I think we bothered him way more than he thought we would bother.
joe rogan
Oh, 100%.
I mean, just the job itself.
I don't think any...
I think it's the same thing we were talking about, like, that's really difficult to be a cop.
Magnetime, not time...
What, a million?
Magnify that, probably more than a million.
And you got what the president is.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, the sheer volume of information that that guy must have to process on a daily basis about international affairs between Putin and Syria and Saudi Arabia's doing what and what's going on in Turkey and the fucking terror attack in France and...
unidentified
Oh!
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Jesus Christ!
mike schmidt
Just has to decide bullshit over and over and over again.
Everybody keeps fucking shit up for him, and now he's got to deal with it.
joe rogan
Just internationally.
He's supposed to take care of national stuff, too.
So stop and think about that.
It's like he's got a hundred really fucking...
Strong, opinionated neighbors who like to fight with each other.
And you've got to somehow or another negotiate peace settlements and even send some of your thugs to watch over certain areas to protect them from shit getting crazy.
And he's constantly supposed to be communicating with all these generals and processing all that stuff.
God!
And then on top of it, he's supposed to be fixing the economy.
And then on top of it, he's supposed to be straightening out the problem with people having student loans that are worth vastly more than their actual education.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Fuck that job.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Yeah, he's a dumbass for trying to get that job.
That's too much work for too little money.
joe rogan
But he's a lawyer.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he wanted to win.
mike schmidt
Yep.
Competitive.
joe rogan
That's probably it, right?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
You get on that track.
Maybe he was like, ah, I'm a senator from Illinois, so I guess my choices are get the fuck out of here or go to prison like every other elected official from Illinois.
joe rogan
Yeah, was it Detroit?
Which city was it where...
What was the big arrest recently?
mike schmidt
Oh, yeah.
Somebody in Detroit did some shit.
joe rogan
Was it the mayor of Detroit?
I believe it was the mayor.
It was like, I don't want to say that.
I should be real clear.
I don't know if it was really the mayor, so don't sue me.
But someone got popped for something almost hilarious.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
Whenever a mayor gets popped for something sexual, it's a fucking riot.
joe rogan
My favorite mayor stuff of all time was Marion Barry when he got caught smoking crack, went to jail, got out of jail, and won again.
mike schmidt
Oh, that was beautiful.
joe rogan
And won again.
jamie vernon
Former mayor of Detroit a couple years ago got sentenced to prison.
joe rogan
What was it for?
jamie vernon
For corruption?
28 years?
joe rogan
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah, he was the former mayor when he got arrested?
Yeah, that's the dude.
Ex-Detroit mayor sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption.
Whose name is, is that Kwame?
Kwame?
Kwame.
Oh, Kwame.
28 years for corruption following series of scandals that showed that he had unchecked power while in office.
Bam!
Unchecked, motherfucker.
Like Empire.
I haven't seen Empire.
But that's what it looks like.
Unchecked power.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Damn.
Why else would he be mayor?
He wants to get his freak on.
mike schmidt
I know.
Mayor.
joe rogan
This is the thing is, imagine if you went on a path to being president 20 years ago, which Obama most likely did, right?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
So think about it.
What is he now?
He's like 50?
So back then he was 30?
mike schmidt
The 50s, yeah.
joe rogan
You think about when he was 30, and he's thinking to himself, you know, I'm going to be the president of the United States, I'm on this path, and I'm seeing all the pussy that...
John F. Kennedy got, and I'm seeing all the power that all these other presidents had, and I'm seeing all the respect they got when they got out of office, and then Az obviously definitely didn't think that he would get all the pussy that JFK, I'm sure he's a faithful man.
It's just in the vein of humor.
mike schmidt
But it's nice to be offered.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's nice to know that you could possibly have the kind of power to shut the lights out on people.
Make them disappear.
mike schmidt
He does that.
joe rogan
He does.
He could, right?
And then in those 20 years, you see the world change so drastically.
You see Clinton get popped with Monica Lewinsky.
josh olin
That was step one.
joe rogan
Like, oh shit, I still want to do this?
Look at this.
But Bush manages to go through, and then social media comes around.
And in the midst of the social media world, that's when Obama steps in.
So the amount of scrutiny and insults and the amount of data that's directed his way, as opposed to every other president before him, is like unprecedented.
There's never been a guy that's been subject to so many different signals of negativity coming his way.
Because before that, people were sort of voiceless.
They couldn't really do anything.
But in Obama's time, blogs became way more prominent.
Online news sources in many people's world replaced the regular newsprint.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
So it's not just, what are they saying about me in the New York Times?
joe rogan
Right.
Thousands of different blogs.
It's amazing, man.
Amazing change of events that have rendered the position incredibly unattractive.
So then, eight years later, this is what you get.
You get crazy old Bernie Sanders with his fucking wacky hairdo.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Who hates money.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
You get crazy old Hillary Clinton who's shrieking and she's built like a fucking Converse All-Star box.
The whole thing is...
I mean, she looks like her body's failing.
Like it makes me uncomfortable when I see her.
mike schmidt
I think she's probably fine.
I think she's probably in good health.
joe rogan
I don't know, man.
mike schmidt
I just think she's not...
I know how bad she wants it, but she doesn't have charisma.
joe rogan
But even if she got it, look at the amount of fucking stress that's involved in that job.
How can that possibly be healthy for someone who's really older?
mike schmidt
She'll handle it.
joe rogan
You think so?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
If she were to get the job, she would handle that better than Obama probably handled the stress.
joe rogan
Because she's been in the trenches her whole life, right?
mike schmidt
Yeah, well, she's fucking...
You got no question that she knows how to play the game.
That it's a game to her and that she's trying to win.
She's trying to do some nice shit for people.
You know, she's trying to help people out, but completely cynical.
You know, 100%.
I mean, she was the Secretary of State.
She's had people killed.
You know?
She's ordered drone strikes.
joe rogan
Oh, 100%.
mike schmidt
So, she's fine.
joe rogan
You saw her reaction to Gaddafi.
You saw that news piece where these people were talking to her and she sits down.
She goes, we came, we saw, he died!
unidentified
Ha ha ha!
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
You've seen that, right?
mike schmidt
No, no.
joe rogan
You've never seen it?
mike schmidt
No.
joe rogan
You must watch it because there's a Thug Life version of it, too.
That's the one to put up.
Pull up the Thug Life version of it.
But it just shows you, again, what was she?
She was a lawyer.
mike schmidt
Yep, she was a lawyer.
joe rogan
And these lawyers, who eventually become politicians, they like to win.
People are like, why do you worry about her physically?
Maybe I didn't explain, or maybe you haven't heard.
It is alleged, and I think it's sort of been reported on, that she had blacked out and fallen and hit in her head recently in the last few years.
mike schmidt
She's 70. It's going to happen.
joe rogan
But that she had had a fairly traumatic brain injury from that.
That was something...
Pull that up, Jamie.
See if you can find that story.
Because that might be Republican bullshit.
That might be proliferating Republican propaganda.
mike schmidt
Also, Ronald Reagan had some brain damage, and he was amazing.
You know?
Maybe we don't get a president with a 100% thinker.
joe rogan
It doesn't matter.
I mean, it definitely matters, but at this point in time, I wonder.
The Ronald Reagan thing was interesting, because he deteriorated as he was in office.
He started off very fresh.
If you go back and listen to some of his early speeches, Ronald Reagan gave a hell of a speech.
mike schmidt
Like, tear down that wall?
Yeah.
joe rogan
He had that one super bizarre speech.
Do you remember this one?
Where he was standing in front of the United Nations, I believe, He gave a speech about how quickly we would all put our differences aside if we were attacked by aliens from another planet.
mike schmidt
He's 100% right.
He's 100% right.
joe rogan
He is 100% right, but it was one of the strangest fucking speeches ever.
Like, it is one that the UFO lovers have clung to, like a life raft.
He knew!
Ronald was gonna tell us he knew!
mike schmidt
Yeah, he's like, yeah, remember that Cold War that we just all of a sudden stopped in 1989?
jamie vernon
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
Work on lasers.
joe rogan
Have you seen that one?
That speech?
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
It's really interesting.
Did you find the Hillary one?
The Thug Life one?
jamie vernon
I found a Thug Life one, but I'm not sure that it's about Gaddafi.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
We came, we saw, he died.
That's the speech.
She's like sitting, getting interviewed.
jamie vernon
The only thing I find about brain cancer is like National Enquirer.
joe rogan
No, not brain cancer.
No, no, no.
She fell and hit her head.
jamie vernon
Yeah, I was going to say, I found anything about that concussion she had.
She might be suffering from post-concussion.
Syndrome.
joe rogan
Is this from the Inquirer?
jamie vernon
This is not from that.
It's from Breitbart.
joe rogan
Okay.
Might as well be.
jamie vernon
From earlier this year.
I know.
I didn't find anything from much other regarding that.
joe rogan
So I did repeat Republican propaganda.
Ladies and gentlemen, at least I caught myself out on it.
mike schmidt
That's how they get you.
joe rogan
Find out if that is in any way substantiated.
jamie vernon
She did have a concussion, but I don't know the effects that she's suffering from it.
joe rogan
Okay, well, when you're that old and you had a concussion, you're going to have some fucking issues.
What those issues are and whether or not they're treatable, that's something only she would know.
mike schmidt
George Bush fucking puked his guts out all over the Prime Minister of Japan.
joe rogan
We also fell and blacked out and hit his head because he choked on a pretzel.
mike schmidt
No, earlier George Bush.
joe rogan
Oh, old school.
mike schmidt
George Bush.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Old school.
Herbert Walker.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Remember when there was like, that was the big conspiracy because Bush had like bruises and a black eye and shit and somebody beat the fuck out of the president.
But then he said he choked with a pretzel in his mouth and fell and hit his face.
Like if I was the Illuminati and I was going to beat up the president...
That's what I'd make him say.
I want you to tell them that you choked on a pretzel.
Okay, I choked on a pretzel.
You choked on a pretzel and what happened?
unidentified
What happened?
joe rogan
You blacked out, stupid.
You fell and you hit your fucking head, okay?
mike schmidt
And then you got this black eye.
What black guy?
joe rogan
Psh!
Oh!
unidentified
Oh! - Oh!
joe rogan
Yeah, do you think the Illuminati beat up George Bush?
Tell me.
mike schmidt
No, I think probably Dick Cheney hit him in the face.
joe rogan
Dick Cheney just beat the fuck out of him?
Yeah.
Probably fucked him, too.
mike schmidt
I mean, but that was probably tender.
Like, they got a history together.
joe rogan
I just have a bit about Dick Cheney because Dick Cheney shot his friend in the face and he made his friend apologize.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Yeah, no shit.
Dick Cheney's a hard fucking cork.
joe rogan
I mean, come on, man.
That guy was on TV apologizing for Dick Cheney after Dick shot him in the face.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he was like 70. Yeah.
He shot him in the face at 70 with a shotgun.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
I put Hillary Clinton and Dick Cheney kind of in the same boat as, like, the Henry Kiss, and you're like, oh yeah, they'll just do whatever.
Like, if they decide someone needs to go, they'll just, you know, that's just that.
joe rogan
Dick Cheney, who's a scary guy, and his...
He's also still involved.
He absolutely believes in voicing his opinion on what should and shouldn't be done internationally, even now and today.
He scares me.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Well, he has to be.
He has to stay kind of involved because you know that he committed war crimes.
Everybody knows that.
I mean, shit, he fucking engineered war profiteering against Against our own, you know, like so you think that he stays He stays active so that he avoids prosecution by constantly staying in the mix Yep, and George Bush did the opposite.
So they both ran in separate directions Dick Cheney shows up and says well, we had to torture him because we needed intelligence good.
It's good impression I try and then George Bush stays the fuck out of it because if you notice those guys don't travel internationally so much and Yeah, that's probably a bad move.
They don't travel internationally because the jurisdiction for human rights violations is worldwide.
It makes them technically hosti humani generis, meaning enemies of mankind at large.
So, just like Spain did with Pinochet, any court can try them.
They just need to be able to say that the courts in their home jurisdiction or where it happened are not able to do it, and then they can do it.
So, they stay here.
joe rogan
They go to So do they have treaties with any countries?
Is there any country that they know for sure won't prosecute them if they travel internationally?
mike schmidt
Yeah, there's jurisdictions where they know won't prosecute them.
Like they can go to the UK? Well, but the thing is, the ability to prosecute Someone for war crimes under the Hague and you know because these trend these human rights violation rules trump all the treaties they trump fucking everything except for a couple small technical points so a County prosecutor in Nebraska could file the charges against Dick Cheney whoa and Although
that might violate United States law and they might say you have to do it here or here or here No.
So, any enterprising prosecutor in Spain, if they could lay their hands on them, they can do them.
So, depending on the way that the country organizes its prosecution system, the lowest level person competent to make the decision could potentially try to jack them up.
Wow.
I'm saying his level of travel has to be so well coordinated because a fucking county sheriff could take him in for this shit.
unidentified
Wow.
mike schmidt
The wrong county sheriff could pick him up on this.
joe rogan
Has anybody ever tried to do that?
mike schmidt
No.
No.
And that's, you know...
Why they don't travel.
Because the fact that nobody's ever even tried to do that and the evidence is overwhelming and clear that Dick Cheney, you know, for instance, remember the guy who authored the report saying that torture was okay?
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
That itself is a violation of international law for which you can be prosecuted.
So, and that's just, that's the tip of the iceberg.
So that guy can't, because when, if he, I mean, they can travel a little bit, but there's countries they can't go to because they'll snap them up and prosecute them.
Because, yeah, these just, I forget exactly what I'm talking, like, it's hard to explain...
Anyone can prosecute him for any of the shit Everybody has the proof and when he goes to other countries They will use the fact that we have not prosecuted him here as proof that we're not going to which will allow them to go forward So all it would take would be like say if he decides to make a trip to you know, whatever some European country Yeah, all would take is one ambitious person.
Yep.
That's what happened to Pinochet Oh And that was, I think, a decade-long fight.
That's why...
joe rogan
That's so fascinating.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike schmidt
That's why Pol Pot never left Cambodia.
joe rogan
It's also so fascinating that we have these weird rules that the presidents have.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, where presidents can get away with certain things, like they can admonish people, or they could, rather, release people from jail.
They can suspend their sentences.
mike schmidt
For federal offenses.
And governors can do it for state offenses.
It's just one of those, you gotta have a release valve on some shit.
And they use it, like Bill Clinton did it for a lot of political fenders.
joe rogan
How many pardons do they get?
mike schmidt
As many as you want.
joe rogan
What?
mike schmidt
Yeah, as many as you want.
joe rogan
And you can get someone out for a violent crime?
mike schmidt
Depending on the jurisdiction, for instance, in Wisconsin, there is no functional limit on the power of the governor to let you out.
unidentified
What?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Or pardon you.
unidentified
That's insane.
mike schmidt
There's no limit.
That governor and other governors before him have instituted sort of parole.
Boards that will review requests for clemencies and pardons and shit like that.
And they have ad hoc rules where they're like, well, it's got to be at least five years ago.
You got to show us this and this and this.
But in reality, he could do whatever the fuck he wants.
joe rogan
That's insane.
mike schmidt
Because he's the executive.
County sheriffs also have the ability to release people from jail.
Because they run the jail.
A sentence only says that you should be confined for X amount of time, and the governor is in charge of the Department of Corrections, so he can let you out early if he feels like it.
And county sheriff is in charge of the jail, and if county sheriff needs a room, he can kick you out.
That's what he did with Paris Hilton.
He said, I need the bed for somebody else.
Get up.
And they can do that.
There are some minor checks on it, and prosecutors get really mad, but...
No.
They have almost free reign in the area of pardons.
joe rogan
That's like some king shit.
mike schmidt
It is king shit.
That is what kings can do.
It is the power of life and death.
joe rogan
But that's a strange thing to give someone.
It's so weird that that still exists.
mike schmidt
It has to exist because you cannot trust the courts to do fairness.
unidentified
Really?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
But you can trust the governor?
mike schmidt
Courts are good for technical points, but every now and again there's a guy and he's in and the courts won't listen.
So the governor's got to be able to let him out.
joe rogan
Wow, man.
That seems like it opens the door for a lot of fuckery.
mike schmidt
No, because everybody's looking.
Like, you can't pardon someone without everybody knowing.
joe rogan
Right, but on a fence case, you know, when you're sitting on the fence on it?
You can influence someone one way or another, no?
mike schmidt
I mean, Nixon got a pardon?
joe rogan
Did he really?
Who pardoned Nixon?
jamie vernon
I don't know, but Clinton pardoned his own brother, I'm pretty sure.
unidentified
Oh!
joe rogan
How dare you?
mike schmidt
Yeah, you can just do that.
joe rogan
His drug-offending brother.
In his final executive act.
mike schmidt
And Susan McDougall, his whitewater business partner.
unidentified
And a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
joe rogan
Jesus Christ.
jamie vernon
I also want to add, though, I was just looking up that George Bush-Cheney thing.
Supposedly it's false that they don't actually have outstanding warrants right now.
mike schmidt
No, they don't have warrants.
jamie vernon
Or any...
They're not necessarily...
mike schmidt
No, they're not wanted.
Anyone can file the charges.
jamie vernon
Oh, no charges have been filed.
mike schmidt
Yeah, there's no...
jamie vernon
I got you.
mike schmidt
No, no one has to file charges.
But basically, tens of thousands of different prosecutors across the globe could.
They can do it.
But they're not going to do it...
Unless they can get their hands on him.
joe rogan
Look at all the other people on the list that Clinton pardoned.
He pardoned that Michael Milken, junk bond king.
mike schmidt
Oh, Milken's got an office in Santa Monica now.
joe rogan
That guy was a terrible person.
He fucked people over, man, right?
unidentified
I mean, did a lot of people get fucked over by that guy?
mike schmidt
Tons of people got fucked over by that guy.
joe rogan
The Whitewater business partner, too.
That's crazy.
mike schmidt
But no, Michael Milken has a nice little foundation where he teaches kids music.
joe rogan
Look at this.
A Clinton friend from Arkansas spent 18 months in prison after refusing to give evidence that might implicate the president and first lady in a bank fraud while he was the state's governor.
That's so gangster.
How much do you think she got paid?
After he pardoned her, how much did she get paid?
Shushing!
mike schmidt
Yeah, I mean, they roll deep.
I'm sure she's doing fine.
joe rogan
Yeah, how does that work, though?
How do you pay someone off like that?
jamie vernon
Clinton Foundation.
mike schmidt
Oh, yeah, you give them a job.
joe rogan
What a great idea.
Clinton Foundation.
Because the Clinton Foundation, like one of those charities that you go and look at exactly how much goes to the actual cause.
Is it one of those things?
jamie vernon
Yeah, it's just money that pays themselves and they can take trips and whatnot.
joe rogan
Isn't that adorable?
jamie vernon
Did you see she got her FBI meeting this weekend?
joe rogan
Who did?
jamie vernon
She had a three-and-a-half-hour meeting with the FBI. Yeah, Hillary did.
I was seeing some other reports that Bill Clinton had a special in-air meeting with one of the people that were going to talk to her before it.
joe rogan
Yeah, someone from Arizona or something like that.
Is that where it was?
He said he made an impromptu trip to visit her.
Who impromptu is on a jet?
Anybody?
Anybody out there?
Anybody impromptu?
mike schmidt
I'd love to be impromptu on a jet.
joe rogan
How baller is he?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
I was just in the air.
unidentified
I decided to go by and say hello and offer a piece of pie.
jamie vernon
Yeah.
unidentified
I was just coming over to be neighborly in my fucking private jet.
joe rogan
He's super concerned about the environment, but yet, flying around a private jet.
mike schmidt
Well, no, that was his little brother, Al Gore.
joe rogan
This whole thing is so rigged, man.
It's such a strange, strange world we're living in.
mike schmidt
We're going to have, what is this, 20 years of supposedly democracy and there's only two different last names?
Three different last names.
Thanks, Obama.
joe rogan
Yeah, Obama snuck in there.
They almost turned it around again.
They wanted it to be Bush Clinton, but Bush is just not very good at it.
This Jeb guy is just not very good at it.
I feel like he threw in the towel.
Yeah, I feel like he was like, fuck you guys.
I don't want this job.
And he, like, stumbled his way through some shit.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Well, I betcha he was a little hurt that he didn't get picked for $2,000.
And then there was a day where he was like, whew!
Thank God I'm not that guy, you know?
joe rogan
I'm waiting for someone to get up there and just go, this job can't be done.
Don't elect me, because this job can't be done.
No one can do this job.
I'm voting for you because if you vote, or I'm asking you to vote for me, because if you vote for me, I'm going to get rid of this job.
The first thing I'm going to do as president is get rid of the president.
mike schmidt
Yeah, we maybe need two presidents.
joe rogan
You probably need like a hundred.
You need a council of elders.
mike schmidt
I can't preside over this much shit.
jamie vernon
Nixon pardoned Jimmy Hoffa.
joe rogan
But he was dead.
jamie vernon
And then Nixon was pardoned by Ford, and that's what led to him not getting re-elected.
joe rogan
Oh, that's hilarious.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
So, yeah.
joe rogan
That's what led to Ford not being re-elected?
jamie vernon
He may have contributed to his defeat.
It's not the only thing.
joe rogan
I'm not a crook!
mike schmidt
Also, I think Ford's obsession with combating inflation did him in.
joe rogan
Did you ever see the thing that Hunter S. Thompson did with Bill Murray?
They were mock trying to bring Dick back and see how many people would go for it.
They were just trying to show how easy it is to manipulate people and how dumb they are politically.
He was trying to bring back...
See if you can find that man.
It was like, bring Nixon back, you know, bring Nixon back.
They had like Nixon masks and stuff, and they were trying to, you got a bad deal, you got a bum deal.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
And they were talking to people on the street and trying to convince them.
But it was Bill Murray and Hunter S. Thompson.
It was from...
Something gonzo in Hollywood or something like that.
It was like a documentary that they did.
There should probably be a clip of it somewhere.
mike schmidt
My family hated Richard Nixon growing up because when Richard Nixon came to Wisconsin Rapids, my grandfather arranged for a Cadillac for him as he got off the plane.
And to address the people, he stood on the Cadillac, scratched the hood with his shoes, and refused to pay for it.
joe rogan
Whoa.
mike schmidt
That was...
So not anything about the spying.
That was not my family's problem with Richard Nixon.
It was that he scratched the hood of a Cadillac.
joe rogan
Well, that was a piece of shit move.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
And that shows man's character.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, here's an example.
My friend Brian Callan.
Do you know Brian Callan?
mike schmidt
Yeah, met him.
joe rogan
Hilarious stand-up comedian.
Awesome human being.
His mom told him once that she caught a guy cheating at golf.
And she told her husband, don't ever trust that guy.
Don't do business with him.
Because he cheats at golf, he'll cheat at everything else, too.
Just a casual game of golf amongst friends, and she caught him cheating.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
Like, man, you gonna win that bad?
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
Learn to golf.
joe rogan
That transfer's over.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
It really does.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
So, in that sense...
What are you looking up again?
You still haven't found it?
jamie vernon
I got a picture of Bill Murray with Thompson and the Nixon thing, but nothing...
joe rogan
I wish I could remember the actual name of the documentary, but it was a BBC documentary.
They did on him.
It was really interesting stuff.
And part of it, he talked to one of the guys who testified against Nixon.
And...
This guy was, like, in deep, deep trouble before the tapes came out.
And then the tapes came out and exonerated him and proved that what he was saying was true.
But Hunter was talking to him and interviewing this guy.
Just shows you the times then, like, were so much more sinister than what the government was capable of doing.
Like, in many ways, they've been sort of defanged.
mike schmidt
Hmm.
I mean, yeah, they can't break, they can't get away with as much easy shit.
joe rogan
Right.
mike schmidt
Like, maybe they don't have fangs, but now they have tentacles.
joe rogan
Right.
mike schmidt
So it's like a Japanese monster situation.
joe rogan
Like drones.
Things along those lines.
mike schmidt
Right.
They have drones and, I mean, you know, they have Facebook.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
So they can create 11,000 fake profiles on Facebook and send out friend requests and now they know where everybody is who's got their shit marked public.
You know?
They know when you're in the valley.
They know when you're at Burger King.
joe rogan
Are they really looking out for you, though?
Are they really following you?
mike schmidt
No, no.
I mean, most of this data is bullshit that they can never use.
joe rogan
But they're accumulating it.
mike schmidt
Because they're, I mean, they're like marmosets.
Like, if you ever see marmosets at the zoo, put something colorful up against the glass and you got their attention.
And our personal details, although completely fucking worthless and useless and boring, it's interesting to somebody.
And so they want that shit.
They want to know who we're calling.
They're obsessed with that stuff because they're curious because they're people.
And so they collect it thinking we might get a use for this or we might figure out that somebody's a terrorist and then we'll get everybody that they call.
And then they hang on to all this other stuff because that might be useful too.
They're just hoarders.
Like they're creepy hoarders.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
And it's under the guise that one day you might commit a crime.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
One day we might need this so we're gonna keep this.
That's what a hoarder thinks.
joe rogan
Well, it's not really just hoarding, because you're hoarding other people's stuff.
mike schmidt
Right.
joe rogan
I mean, it really is other people's personal data, which we haven't really made the concession that if I use email, or if I make phone calls, or if I send texts, the government has all this.
We haven't made that concession yet.
mike schmidt
Right, no.
joe rogan
But it seems to be a reality.
mike schmidt
It is a reality.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
But no one has agreed to that yet.
It's like, ah, freedom.
We need it for freedom.
mike schmidt
And every time something like that goes to court, in an actual court, as opposed to their FISA courts, where we're not even allowed to know what they're asking for, when they go in regular court, they lose.
But then they just go and do it in the secret court that lets them do whatever the fuck they want.
joe rogan
Well, also, do you know how many times terrorist attacks have been stopped by tapping into people's phones and reviewing people's emails?
mike schmidt
I'm gonna guess zero.
joe rogan
I would say zero.
mike schmidt
Yeah, I'm gonna go with zero.
joe rogan
I mean, maybe one or two, but you know what they like to do that's adorable?
They like to create terror scenarios.
Have you paid attention to those?
Where they talk a guy into blowing something up, give him a bomb, and then arrest him when he tries to detonate the bomb because the bomb wasn't real in the first place?
mike schmidt
Yeah, they used to do that to Black Panthers and everybody in the 60s and 70s.
They used to love that shit.
joe rogan
Yeah, and that was another thing that we learned about the Nixon administration with terms of the Civil rights movement and in terms of the anti-war movement.
Yeah, this is it.
This is the actual video itself.
unidentified
He calls in two friends, both actors, to help stage the inaugural rally.
This man got a raw deal.
joe rogan
So it's Bill Murray and his brother, who's also an actor.
I forget his brother's name.
unidentified
Tonight we're going to ask him to hide in us.
joe rogan
Ask Nixon to pardon us.
unidentified
Ask Nixon to pardon us.
mike schmidt
Now more than ever.
unidentified
The meeting in Beverly Hills isn't a runaway success.
There's a total attendance of three.
mike schmidt
That's the voice.
unidentified
When I came here, I'll be honest, I didn't forgive him.
And why have you changed your mind?
joe rogan
Your speech, the excitement tonight.
I think I'm wearing that shirt.
unidentified
Everything surrounding my mind is being changed tonight.
joe rogan
That dude's serious.
That dude's serious.
The Scientologists, they're watching that.
They're going, fuck, we could have got that guy.
We could have got that guy.
Now Nixon's got him.
unidentified
Shit.
joe rogan
So that was what?
1978?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's hilarious.
That's many years after Watergate.
Yeah.
Hilarious.
Yeah.
Well, they can't do that anymore, but this whole email thing, the Clinton email thing, that's bizarre.
That's a bizarre one.
mike schmidt
You know what their problem is?
unidentified
What?
mike schmidt
They did Whitewater and, like, the Clintons beat him at Whitewater.
unidentified
Right.
mike schmidt
Even though he fucking pardoned people that worked for him who did time.
unidentified
Right.
mike schmidt
They beat Whitewater.
joe rogan
Explain what Whitewater was.
Because a lot of people think it's Watergate.
mike schmidt
Okay.
When you're in government, you're privy to some things about where roads might go or where electricity might be routed.
You just get information.
And if you do that stuff, you could make real estate investments.
You can't profit from stuff like that.
That would be wrong.
But what if your wife was a consultant?
unidentified
Oh.
mike schmidt
That's not exactly how Whitewater went down, but that is how most of the corrupt politicians that you see operate.
Their wives have bullshit jobs, and the bribes are funneled through that in substantial part.
And so it could be greenlighting something, or it could be...
But yeah, it was just a real estate scandal.
And it was probably just real estate investments that went bad.
And their books probably were not in order, so then they had to keep their mouths shut.
They probably weren't really fucking around that much.
joe rogan
What's really fascinating is there's one that's more obvious and more blatant that no one bats an eye on, and that's the Dick Cheney-Halliburton connection.
I mean, it's not family and it's not marriage, but when you look at the fact that this guy was a CEO of Halliburton and Halliburton gets these no-bid contracts for...
Billions of dollars.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
And elected officials are supposed to kind of sequester their assets in trusts, blind trusts, so that they don't really know if they're benefiting their ownership interest in Halliburton or Kellogg Brown and Root.
joe rogan
Whatever.
mike schmidt
Yeah, no, it's bullshit.
Yeah, it's bullshit.
You're supposed to just pretend like you don't own it.
And if you put it on paper in a blind trust meant to benefit you and your assigns, you technically no longer own it.
joe rogan
Well, let's just be, like, the most optimistic possible.
Let's say Dick Cheney didn't profit from Hal Burton having all these no-bid contracts.
Then he's a fool.
But he still hooked up a buddy.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, either way, he used to work there, man.
mike schmidt
He used to be the CEO. Yeah, and then he hooked him up with selling $48 cases of soda.
$48.
joe rogan
Well, it would cost a lot of money to get soda to Iraq, in his defense.
mike schmidt
Yeah, it doesn't.
It does not.
joe rogan
You could have put it on a plane.
You could have hired someone to carry it.
mike schmidt
I know.
And for that, they could have built a fucking Coca-Cola plant.
joe rogan
Yeah, but you don't want cultural appropriation.
You know, go over there.
mike schmidt
Cultural appropriation is terrible.
joe rogan
It's super bad.
mike schmidt
Go over there with Coca-Cola.
That's colonialism, I think that is.
It's technically colonialism.
joe rogan
It's amazing that they pulled that off, and that's not under investigation.
But Whitewater...
Which is, you know, a fucked up real estate venture.
mike schmidt
Yeah, like four million bucks worth of real estate versus, I don't know, a trillion dollars?
joe rogan
No, that may be incentive to go to war.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
May be incentive to do certain actions that caused massive loss of life.
mike schmidt
Well, I mean, they thought they were going to win and make a nice chunk of change.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's crazy.
mike schmidt
Shit spun out of control, and they ended up making a lot of money.
joe rogan
And that's real.
What is the movie going to be like that we're going to eventually watch?
There's going to be a movie in maybe 10 or 15 years where it shows the madness that was the original Iraq War.
And the call to all these people that there was weapons of mass destruction and people testifying to them and realizing it was bullshit.
All the chaos involved and all the behind-the-scenes shit.
Like, someone's gonna do a badass movie, like a platoon, Oliver Stone-style movie about that war.
It's coming, right?
mike schmidt
Yeah, probably.
I mean, they've done The Hurt Locker, they've done Zero Dark Thirty, they did the Tina Fey one in Afghanistan.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Tina Fey?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Is it a comedy?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Is this a comedy in Afghanistan?
jamie vernon
It's called WTF, I think, or something like that.
joe rogan
Is this real?
mike schmidt
Yeah, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
joe rogan
Has it been out yet?
There's too many movies.
You know what the problem is?
There are literally too many movies to watch because they don't stop making movies and you can never watch all the movies that have already been made.
So it's like being in debt but still buying shit.
There's no way you're gonna catch up on the great movies.
mike schmidt
I can't watch all the superhero movies that come out.
There's too many of them.
joe rogan
I'm done, I think.
I'm done.
They're too obvious.
I want more Watchmen.
You know?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That was a real fucking superhero movie.
Like, that was a great movie.
I want more of those.
Come on, people.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
I haven't...
That's like the last time I saw a superhero movie that felt like it grew up with me.
Do you know what I'm saying?
jamie vernon
Did you read it before?
Did you know anything about it before the movie?
Nothing.
joe rogan
Knew nothing.
jamie vernon
That helps that.
joe rogan
Yeah, because maybe I would be disappointed if I had read this stuff.
jamie vernon
Yeah, they think they're fucking up your vision.
joe rogan
Yeah, that is a problem.
That's a problem if you're a hardcore fan.
jamie vernon
Suicide Squad looks interesting, because I've never seen...
I didn't read that shit, but it's cool to see a bunch of villains get together and do something I've never seen them do.
joe rogan
Yeah, that'd be cool.
It looks really fascinating.
It looks like it's going to be really dark and creepy and shit.
Maybe it'd be fun.
It's totally possible that could be something like Watchmen.
But Watchmen's my favorite superhero movie, I think.
What's yours?
jamie vernon
I was just trying to remember, like, I remember when I saw the Avengers, the first one, a couple years ago, when it first came out, and they fucked up New York, and everyone loved it.
Like, that was awesome, but it also could have been, it was the first time we saw the conglomeration of all the superheroes together.
I could go back and watch it now and probably have different thoughts on it.
joe rogan
Right, and if you do another one, well, we already know they get together.
Like, the whole charm of them getting together for the first time has been worn off.
And how are you going to get the Hulk to listen to you?
Get the fuck out of here, bitch.
I didn't buy any of that.
I'm like, he's not going to listen.
jamie vernon
That's why he left.
unidentified
He's sad.
jamie vernon
He's gone.
You can't find him now.
joe rogan
He was the best Hulk, though.
That dude.
unidentified
What's his name?
mike schmidt
Ruffalo.
jamie vernon
That was the best Hulk movie, I think.
joe rogan
Yeah, for sure.
mike schmidt
He was full-on Bill Bixby.
joe rogan
Yeah, Mark Ruffalo's a badass actor.
I believe that he was smart enough to create the kind of conditions that would lead to him being the Hulk.
mike schmidt
And he plays it so...
unidentified
Like a guy...
mike schmidt
When Eric Bana and Ed Norton did it, they kind of missed the point of like, no, you're a guy who turns into the Hulk like a lot.
You're fucking sick of it.
Like, it's not cool anymore.
You're just like, God fucking damn it.
I'm the fucking Hulk again.
Like, it's, you know, it's like being an alcoholic.
Like, blacking out and waking up in Tijuana.
That's the Hulk's life.
And then he has to move on.
Like, it's frustrating.
And like, he played that frustration really well.
joe rogan
You know what the number one problem with all the Hulk movies and all the Hulk comic books are?
Number one problem.
His pants.
What the fuck is going on?
mike schmidt
Yeah, those pants would not survive.
joe rogan
He's so much bigger than Mark Ruffalo.
And those pants stretch to fit his gigantic ass, huge thighs.
mike schmidt
But the shirt's off.
jamie vernon
This is a related story to today.
I just typed in the Hulk on Google.
There's a guy.
He's going to fight ISIS. He looks like the Hulk.
joe rogan
This guy's going to fight ISIS. He looks like a gorilla.
He's like, that's the hairiest guy.
Persian Hulk.
Man, that guy's huge.
He wants to fight ISIS. Does he know they have guns?
jamie vernon
Giant 24 stone bodybuilder.
I don't know how much that is.
joe rogan
I think a stone is 13 pounds.
Is that right?
Google it.
24?
How the fuck did he get that big at 24?
How long has that guy been doing steroids?
A giant man with a fierce expression is a cult following on Instagram where he posts what he does best.
Weightlifting.
This is just a guy that wants attention, and they're giving him attention.
This is so silly.
He's gonna stick his head back and flex his traps, and that's how he's gonna fight ISIS? I don't think that's gonna work.
mike schmidt
I mean, he could probably throw tennis balls hard enough to kill someone.
joe rogan
Probably throw, like, five pound weights.
I don't think he'd kill anybody with a tennis ball.
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
I mean, maybe, like, choke them.
jamie vernon
Put something in it.
mike schmidt
I mean, if you get it right in their mouth.
joe rogan
Even if you get it right in their mouth, you'd have to hold it in there.
jamie vernon
Yeah, you're right.
mike schmidt
They can breathe through their nose.
joe rogan
Yeah, and then you have to, like, cover their nose, and that would be what kills them.
mike schmidt
I have to rework my plan to kill a bunch of people, because it involved tennis balls, and I realized it's not going to work.
joe rogan
It's not going to work.
mike schmidt
It's not going to work.
joe rogan
You could get fucked up by a tennis ball.
You'd probably get some nice CTE from a headshot to the temple.
Like one of those tennis machines that serves.
mike schmidt
Oh, yeah, American Gladiators.
joe rogan
Ka-plop, ka-plop, ka-plop.
If you see how fast one of those...
Who's like the best male?
Federer?
Is that the guy?
Is that the guy's name?
jamie vernon
I think they're getting 180. 180?
joe rogan
180 miles an hour with a tennis ball?
jamie vernon
I'll check right now.
joe rogan
Yeah, imagine catching that on the nose.
Yeah, you're going to get some CTE. You're going to get some sparks that will fly.
You're going to lose some memories.
mike schmidt
You're going to get a black eye like George Bush.
jamie vernon
163 is the fastest.
unidentified
Woo!
joe rogan
That's fast.
God damn, that's fast.
Tennis ball.
Hitting you in the temple at 163 miles an hour.
And what is a golf ball then?
Golf ball is probably even faster, right?
Does that make sense?
jamie vernon
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
joe rogan
Because it cuts the air better too, right?
jamie vernon
It's also getting hit off of a solid piece of metal instead of just some strings.
joe rogan
Right, right, right.
And it's also getting hit today with these crazy flexi poles that have a certain amount of carbon fiber in them and they know exactly how to...
jamie vernon
211. Yeah.
Whoa.
joe rogan
Yeah, because the arm is 11. My friend Ryan got hit in the head.
Ryan Parsons.
Shout out to Ryan Parsons.
He got hit in the head with a golf ball, a line drive, fucking teed him in the head, and he said he was fucked up for like six months.
jamie vernon
This is unofficial, 237. Jesus Christ!
joe rogan
What's his name?
Ryan Winther?
jamie vernon
Yep.
joe rogan
Jesus Christ.
That guy had some ass in that shot.
Show that again.
Look at all the ass that guy got in that shot.
mike schmidt
Maybe that's his secret.
Like, everybody else works out the shoulders, and he's just like, nah, man, it's all in the ass.
joe rogan
Well, he's a big dude, too.
Like, look at his thighs and all that shit, but watch this.
Watch this.
Wham!
Wham!
Put that ass in there.
That spin?
jamie vernon
Tiger's back is all fucked up.
He can't even play now because of all the torque he's put on his back over the years.
unidentified
Really?
jamie vernon
That's where all his powers come from.
joe rogan
They said that his stance and his stroke were unconventional.
So in the unconventional stance and stroke, I don't know if this is true or not, but did that put any pressure whatsoever on his spine in some weird way too?
jamie vernon
Sure.
Yeah, the amount of twists...
He was killing the ball.
I mean, he also may or may not have been enhancing anything.
joe rogan
What are you saying?
jamie vernon
I don't know him.
I don't know his doctors, but...
joe rogan
Why does he just get back on the shit?
Are they testing him?
jamie vernon
I would have to be now.
joe rogan
Really?
They test people?
For golf?
jamie vernon
For golf?
There's so much money.
When we pulled up the top ten earners the other day, I think we were doing the Fight Companion, I'd switched the amount of money they make from their sport to the amount of money they make from endorsements.
Three of the top four are golfers.
All of them make over $50 million a year in endorsements.
mike schmidt
Yeah, because those are expensive products they're endorsing.
joe rogan
Yeah, well it's not just that.
It's the people that are endorsing them usually are run by golfers.
Like big time business investors, they fucking love making meetings on golf courses.
It's a point of focus and it's also a point of recreation because they gamble.
You know, and they'll, you know, make deals with each other on golf courses.
So if they have, like, Tiger Woods representing them, or Roger Federer, or whatever his name is, one of those dudes, one of those badass golfers do it, they, you know, they feel like they're cool.
Like, it makes their company cooler.
It's probably good for business.
mike schmidt
They'll do a couple ads, and then they'll make them come out a couple times, play golf with their friends.
joe rogan
What's that?
jamie vernon
Two of them are, not three.
But Roger Federer is making 60. He's a tennis player.
joe rogan
Good Lord.
jamie vernon
And then LeBron is 54. Tiger's still up there, though, and he has barely played in the last couple years.
He made $45 million in endorsements last year.
joe rogan
That's incredible.
And what's really incredible about it, too, is that he went crashing to the ground, and then still, by the weight of his name, more than his accomplishments post-scandal, he's bounced back up to $45 million a year.
unidentified
Whoa!
joe rogan
And look at what he made from actual playing.
jamie vernon
Yeah, he made like 300,000, it says.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's incredible.
mike schmidt
Look at Mickelson.
joe rogan
That's incredible.
I mean, that really is incredible that he's made that much money.
What a...
It's amazing how much money those fucking golfers make.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's amazing.
mike schmidt
I mean, he...
Yeah.
Even though he made almost nothing dollars playing golf last year.
And then $45 million.
joe rogan
Phil Mickelson, look at that guy.
Number three with $52.9 million.
And $50 million of it in endorsements.
That is insane.
So he's a super successful golfer.
$2.9 million in winnings.
jamie vernon
It's not even winning tournaments either.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
jamie vernon
He might have won a couple, if not at all, last year.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
jamie vernon
Second, third, fourth, fifth place.
joe rogan
So is he just a super famous guy?
jamie vernon
Yeah, he's got money for showing up, too.
mike schmidt
Yeah, he's been good.
He's been a great golfer for a long time.
joe rogan
Wow, and how about this Northern Ireland guy?
Rory McIlroy?
jamie vernon
McIlroy, yeah.
joe rogan
McIlroy?
He's the new young guy.
McIlroy, homeboy.
I mean, I've never heard of him.
Have you heard of him?
mike schmidt
Homeboy McIlroy?
No, I have not.
joe rogan
Okay, homeboy made $35 million.
mike schmidt
So, yeah.
joe rogan
In endorsements.
Golf is nuts.
What a nutty game.
It's interesting how many rich people have attached themselves to that game.
mike schmidt
What's the dumbest sport that somebody made a lot of money in an endorsement?
joe rogan
How much do you think they make curling?
Curling?
mike schmidt
Yeah, look for the top curler.
joe rogan
Curler's getting mad when you bring this up, by the way.
A bunch of people in Canada got really pissed at me for talking shit about curling.
They actually got pissed.
Non-ironically.
jamie vernon
Auto racing.
joe rogan
Well, auto racing is pretty badass, though.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Well, Earnhardt, you'd think Earnhardt would be cleaning up way more than everybody else.
joe rogan
Formula One.
Auto racing is amazing.
I mean, that, to me, is one of the craziest things to dedicate your life to.
Those Formula One guys?
My God.
It's interesting how that doesn't really fly over here, but yet we do like fast cars.
Why do we like NASCAR, but we don't like Formula One?
mike schmidt
I think NASCAR... Well, didn't NASCAR start from bootlegging races?
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
So that's pretty fucking real.
joe rogan
It's pretty dope, actually.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
So it's like, Formula One doesn't have that kind of fucking backstory.
It's like...
joe rogan
They used to have to have a trunk, whereas Formula One is just like really a race car.
NASCAR vehicles, they had to be able to store whiskey in them while they were avoiding the fuzz.
mike schmidt
Well, yeah, like, I think the beauty of that is kind of like, for NASCAR, it sort of has to be a car that you could get.
You know, like, it's got to be based on a car that the rest of us could get.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
You know, like, when somebody's just fucking crushing it in a Chevy, yeah!
unidentified
Yeah.
mike schmidt
Whereas opposed to when somebody's, like, it's a goddamn 14-foot needle with, like, wings on it.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And then there's the guy sitting in the cockpit, which is in the center, and he's exposed.
Those Ayrton Sina videos of him when he was at the top of the heap in racing and watching from his perspective...
Like, have you ever seen some of those videos?
mike schmidt
No.
joe rogan
Dude, like, when you see the video from a perspective of a person actually driving the car, it's phenomenal.
I mean, it's amazing what a fast, insane experience it is to be in a Formula One car and make those turns.
Like, that to me is...
One of the most exciting things to watch in all of sports, because they're just, especially if you could look at it from their point of view, I mean, you're grabbing the cushions of the couch going, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because they're making these split-second decisions.
They have to take these tight turns.
They're avoiding people around them.
They're trying to cut corners.
Like, look at this guy.
Look at this fucking car.
Listen to this.
Now, we're watching this video.
Jamie, what's the name of this video?
It says, first time ever eye-level camera Formula One.
This is probably what I've seen online.
Like...
This looks like so much goddamn fun.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
This guy is fucking flying in this thing.
And he doesn't have a windshield.
He has this little tiny windshield that's about six inches long.
Or six inches high, rather.
And he's got just goggles on and a face mask and the whole deal.
And a helmet.
But he's essentially exposed in this super rocket ship that's got a controlled explosion going on.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Flying around this track with amazing sounds.
mike schmidt
Yeah, it's just...
jamie vernon
It says they do up to 5Gs, and NASCAR gets up to only two.
joe rogan
Oh, I can imagine.
mike schmidt
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
5Gs is insane.
mike schmidt
You probably have to have an insanely strong neck.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, I think your head's stuck in place by some gadget now.
I mean, it definitely is in NASCAR, because a lot of people got really fucked up.
mike schmidt
Oh, really?
joe rogan
Ooh, a little correction there.
See that?
See that quick move of the hand?
unidentified
Woo-hoo!
joe rogan
Ass end kicked out a little bit on him.
mike schmidt
Dude, the fucking knobs on that car.
joe rogan
Insane.
jamie vernon
Joe, do you know what those buttons do at all?
unidentified
Yeah, what does the green number two knob do?
joe rogan
Well, all those lights that go across, those are indicating the RPMs because they have those in some cars.
So when you see his light go and it goes from green, you can see it in better images.
But he has, like, see there?
Those lights?
That's, like, to let him know most likely what his RPMs are at and when he's in danger of blowing his engine.
mike schmidt
Nice.
joe rogan
I don't know if these guys have regulators on their engine.
Like, this is probably a stupid question.
Car people are going crazy.
Because, like, if you buy a new car today, they have rev limiters.
So you'll get to certain RPMs where you could fucking torch your engine and it'll back you off.
mike schmidt
Okay.
joe rogan
Okay.
Goddamn, that looks fun though.
I get excited just watching that.
Adrenaline.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
The thrill of the chase.
And what else?
What else, Mike Schmidt?
Victory.
mike schmidt
Victory.
joe rogan
Yeah.
So you did this for 10 years, man.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
And then decided, fuck this, I'm going to be a comic?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Well, I was doing that on the side, but at one point I was like, hmm, they're never going to listen to this, so I guess I'm just going to go tell jokes.
joe rogan
Wow.
So you tried to enact some sort of reform, or you tried to at least say what the fuck's going on?
mike schmidt
Yeah, but, you know, they don't listen, so...
joe rogan
And do you bring any of this up in your act?
mike schmidt
No, no, because it's really depressing.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah, right?
mike schmidt
Like it's, you know.
joe rogan
To figure out a way to make that funny?
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
Because it's happening right now.
Like right now, somebody, since we started talking, is getting something onto a computer record.
Because we used to not have computer records.
And so now somebody's getting a computer record that they shoplifted.
So there goes all their entry-level employment fucking for, I don't know, three, four years?
Good luck with that.
Have fun filing for disability.
That just happened to somebody else.
And it's going to happen again in a couple more minutes.
It's not the sensational cases that get you.
It's the grinding.
It's the every single guy gets a little more than some...
It's just a gradual creep.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving keeps bringing the legal limit for alcohol down and down and down.
But they don't change the study that they have the cops point to to say why the field sobriety tests work.
So like in the 70s, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test would say that horizontal gaze nystagmus sets in prior to 45 degrees only if you're above a 0.2 or 0.2.
But then they redid the study, and now it's.15.
joe rogan
Explain what that means?
mike schmidt
So, if you've ever seen somebody get pulled over by an officer, and then the officer has a bright light, and they're on the side of the road as a bunch of cars go past like fucking strobe lights, so they'll have you look at a pen, and then they'll trace it like this.
And so, prior to 45 degrees, your eyes should track very smoothly if I move it quickly.
If I move it slowly, there might be a little bit of stutter, but I'm supposed to do the test quickly.
And then, if I put it there and hold it, I look for a little bit of aggravated nystagmus.
And so, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Authority, or National Highway Traffic and Safety Board, put together this one, and then the one-leg stand, and the walk and turn test.
And they say that You can tell if somebody's drunk if they fail these tests.
The tests aren't accurate at all.
And they were originally picked in the 70s when the limit was higher.
And they would say that these tests will only detect somebody above.20.
And then when they changed the legal limit, they didn't change the test.
So, remember in the 70s, your eyes weren't going to quiver over here unless you're above.20.
But now in the 80s, they're telling cops that the eyes will quiver above.10.
And now here in the 2000s, they're telling cops that the eyes will quiver at that point above.08.
joe rogan
So they've changed the data to correspond with the new laws.
mike schmidt
They didn't change the data even.
They just said that it still works, even though the point of that test was to pick people up above a much higher limit.
They're looking for people at.15.
joe rogan
So not the data, but the number that they use to determine whether or not you're drunk or sober.
How did they make that?
unidentified
No, the method.
mike schmidt
No, what I'm saying is it's not a real test.
joe rogan
Right, but they lowered the limit, right?
Like the limit used to be 2.0.
mike schmidt
Yep.
joe rogan
And now what is it now?
1.6?
mike schmidt
Now it's 0.08.
joe rogan
0.08, sorry.
What did they use to determine, I mean, if that was what was originally established, that you had to do this, the field sobriety test would indicate that someone was about, how, once the limit got lowered, how do they keep that same test?
Like, what do they use to...
mike schmidt
They just didn't care.
joe rogan
But what do they say in the booklet?
mike schmidt
They just changed the booklet.
joe rogan
So they just changed the number?
You could see it at.08 with no data to back it up at all?
mike schmidt
My dad's got the fucking manual from the 70s, he's got the manual from the 80s, he's got the manual from the 90s, he's got the manual from today.
joe rogan
That seems so weird.
mike schmidt
No, they don't even care.
joe rogan
But you assume though, right, wouldn't you, that if someone fails that test, that test would indicate they're 2.0.
Well, they'll definitely 0.8 then, so really they don't have to change it.
But scientifically, they probably should establish when...
mike schmidt
But they're using it for proof that somebody is a 0.08, when it's only effective to prove that they're 0.15 or above.
joe rogan
Right.
Yeah.
mike schmidt
So this test is designed for people at 0.15 to fail, and they're saying people at 0.08 are failing it.
The thing is, though, so they...
joe rogan
Just 0.08?
I mean, when they test them with a breathalyzer, so they just barely make it illegal, but they still fail the field sobriety test?
Is that what you're saying?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Yeah.
joe rogan
So it's subjective.
mike schmidt
Yeah, the tests are subjective, and we pretend that one leg stand with seven potential cues is somehow an effective way of looking at somebody and telling if they're drunk.
It's fucking eyeballing it.
Just look at them.
joe rogan
What if somebody passes a test?
Like, what if you pull them over, they pass a test, but then they don't want to take any further test?
Like, look, I passed your test.
I did all your shit.
I don't want to take any breathalyzer.
mike schmidt
In most of the states of the Union, you're required to give a sample of your blood, breath, or urine.
And if you don't, then they'll charge you with refusal.
That's a Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment violation, if ever there was one.
But because the police win most of their arguments...
It's mostly okay.
joe rogan
Why is it a violation?
mike schmidt
Well, because you can't be forced to give evidence against yourself.
And they want you to give evidence from you that they'll use to convict you.
joe rogan
And they want to do that at the scene of the crime with no legal representation.
It's not like you have your lawyer there, you say, hey, Mr. Lawyer.
mike schmidt
Yeah, they're saying, we could only prove that you drove drunk if you give us your fucking blood, so now give us your blood.
So they used to be forcing blood draws and doing that stuff without warrants.
And a couple years ago, the Supreme Court was like, you guys need to get warrants for this stuff.
But the thing is, now they get warrants.
joe rogan
But isn't it problematic that it takes a long time to get a warrant?
I mean, how long does it take to get a warrant?
Like, say if a guy gets pulled over, you say, oh, this dude's drunk.
Hey, man, give me some blood.
No, I'm not going to give you any blood.
All right, we've got to call the cops.
mike schmidt
Ten minutes.
joe rogan
Ten minutes?
mike schmidt
It can be faster.
joe rogan
Really?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, see, I was always...
mike schmidt
No, telephonic warrants are fine.
joe rogan
Rockford Files.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
No, like, some jurisdictions' warrants do take time, but other places you can be issued a warrant over the telephone.
joe rogan
But what if he gets to make a phone call and he calls Governor Clinton and Governor Clinton says, uh...
mike schmidt
Oh, yeah, you don't have to let him call.
joe rogan
Hey, listen.
unidentified
You don't need help.
joe rogan
I know a guy who knows a guy.
mike schmidt
Why don't you just let him drive home?
joe rogan
We could take the test in a little while.
He's not prepared.
We need to go over this paperwork first.
mike schmidt
But yeah, so those tests are bullshit.
And they use them because really it's just the officer needs to be able to sit up there and say that you did some shit wrong.
joe rogan
Okay, so let me say this.
So if you are a criminal defense attorney, you get a guy who's on a drunk driving case.
The cops busted him, but they busted him by forcing him to give blood.
How do you defend that?
mike schmidt
First, you look at the stop.
So you find out how long they were following him, and how much good driving and how much bad driving they viewed.
So for that, you would, I mean, if you want to do a good job, let's say you're defending a very, very rich person who has the money to pay for this.
joe rogan
Right.
Bill Gates.
You're defending Bill Gates.
mike schmidt
So you're going to order the squad video and then you're going to open records request the radio communications and the teletypes from the squad car to everyone else because they might be saying something racist or they might be saying something...
So you pull the teletypes, and then you're going to want the conduct records of all the officers, and then you're going to want to find out if you can pursue any administrative appeals of a temporary suspension of the license.
So you're going to do that because two reasons.
One, you don't want your client's license suspended, and two, you might also find some things because you might be able to get a couple of records and force the cops to show up and drop some paperwork off for you that you have in advance.
Then you're going to look at the stop and you're going to file a motion saying that the stop was illegal because of X, Y, and Z. Then you'll argue about the bail conditions.
Then you'll wait about six to eight weeks for the blood test results to come back as soon as they come back or even before You file a motion that you've been working on saying that the blood test results are problematic because they were illegally drawn or the facility is not accredited or the person who administered the test is not accredited or the machine has not been maintained properly.
At the same time, you order the reports for the machine maintenance because you'll find that when they do the blanks, sometimes they're not...
when they run them through a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer or whatever system they're going to use, When they do these samples, I mean, these are guys with technical college degrees or bachelor's degrees that have taken a six to eight week course.
And they might be pretty good at it, but there are still fuck ups.
And so sometimes things come in and they're not sealed.
Sometimes there's a problem with the vacutainer that they use for the blood draw.
And sometimes the stuff that they put in the vacutainer in advance Wow.
check that out.
So if you have an extremely rich defendant, everything from your fucking eye color is in question.
Basically, every step of the way where anything happens, you have a question about it.
So, was the machine properly?
And who programmed these fucking machines?
Can I see the code?
Because if I can't see the code to the machine, We can't say at all if this machine works, if we don't know the code.
And for a lot of these devices, the code is proprietary and they won't give you the code.
So they won't allow you to know how some of the machines they use to watch you work.
So you can't, as an attorney or as a defendant, you can't actually point to a problem and say, see, you didn't carry the one and you doubled my fucking result.
You know, like, this shows that it was...
I'm patient 4863. This is for this.
Sometimes they won't give you those records.
And so then you have a problem.
You hope, actually, that they don't give you shit.
Because when they do give you shit, it's proof that it's generally in working order.
But when shit comes late, it means there's a fucking problem.
And that's when you know you smell blood and you start to chase that down.
joe rogan
Right?
mike schmidt
You know?
So, like, and then the next point you do is you go and you try and settle the case, and you think, here are the guidelines, because most OWIs guideline offenses, most places, because people get a first one, and then they get a second, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth.
And even though the penalties go up, it's crazy, because the more OWIs people have, the less dangerous they tend to be during those OWIs.
Like, sevens will hit parked cars all fucking day, but they don't kill people.
Twos kill people.
First defense drunk drivers, they fucking kill people.
joe rogan
So people just get better at drunk driving?
Is that what you're saying?
mike schmidt
Absolutely.
They do.
It's horrifying.
But yeah, they do.
joe rogan
Makes sense.
mike schmidt
Practice makes perfect.
joe rogan
Yeah, with everything in life.
mike schmidt
And they take certain roads and they drive slower.
They compensate for it.
They're not...
I mean, they're used to being drunk.
They're alcoholics.
You know?
joe rogan
Dude, that was terrifying.
The surgical preciseness to the way you broke down the process of...
And what is the difference between a rich person and someone who gets an attorney assigned to them by the state?
mike schmidt
Okay.
You want to get...
I mean, you want to get...
Like, pick a crime.
joe rogan
Well, let's use the same crime.
mike schmidt
Okay.
joe rogan
Someone who's drunk driving who is a poor guy who gets pulled over and you're handling him.
mike schmidt
Okay.
joe rogan
And you can't do all those things you wanted to do.
mike schmidt
No, you can't do those things.
So what you have to do is you've got to do everything that you can do on that list.
Because in 90% of those times, or maybe even 99% of the time...
Those avenues will be completely fruitless.
Those won't get you shit.
Because, you know, stops are routinely rubber stamped, warrants rubber stamped, and the machines are generally agreed to be in working order.
And in a lot of places, there are statutes meant to protect you from even being able to get this information.
So, eh.
But...
Things that really do work are like, bring their family to sentencing.
Because most people who are convicted of crimes have been convicted of a couple of crimes, and nobody shows up for them anymore, and nobody gives a shit about them.
And what's going to happen is they're going to go in, and they're going to do their time, and they're going to get out, and nobody's going to give shit about them, and then they're going to do something else, and then they're going to go back in.
But if you've got a family there, the judge can see...
Well, somebody still cares about this asshole.
Somebody still thinks there's some good in him.
I bet there's some good in him.
And I got a couple people who are willing to show up and watch him take his medicine.
Watch him see that...
Watch him admit he fucked up and promise to try to be better.
So these guys are kind of on our side.
These guys are going to try and help this guy not come back here.
And that will shorten your sentence.
If you have supportive people in your side of the room, that will shorten your sentence.
Um...
Things that are open to rich people.
Almost all expert witnesses are whores.
People would ask me, how do you choose an expert?
And I'd be like, I just ask everybody else what kind of expert they use.
And I'm like, what if the expert says something you don't want them to say?
I'm like, that does not happen.
And they're like, do you tell the expert what to say?
No.
The expert knows if a prosecution or defense or plaintiff or defendant calls them.
They know which side you're on.
And miraculously, every fucking expert I've ever offered money to, to give me their honest and completely unbiased opinion, has said I was right.
What are the odds?
Every single fucking one.
joe rogan
You must really know how to pick quality attorneys.
mike schmidt
I guess.
joe rogan
Or quality professionals.
mike schmidt
Quality experts.
joe rogan
Quality experts.
mike schmidt
But, yeah, what I'm saying is like, they're just...
joe rogan
They're whores.
mike schmidt
They're whores, and they will say anything.
joe rogan
And there's a business in being a whore, so like...
Like, if you're looking for a guy who's a DNA expert, or you're looking for a guy who's a chemical expert, like, you know the guy to call because other friends have used him on similar cases.
mike schmidt
Yep.
And there are guys, I mean, they're all whores.
There are some guys who are solid, because whores do tell the truth.
You know, like, whores do important work, but...
They are whores.
And you should never forget that.
That's something I think Republicans get when they argue about climate change.
That's why they don't listen to the fucking billion scientists on one side.
Because they know, like, oh, you can just buy a study.
They don't realize that these are the studies that weren't bought.
And that you should actually believe these, but they know how it is.
Because they've seen that happen over and over and over again.
Like Monsanto buys studies, and they bury studies.
And attorneys do the same thing.
They hire an expert, and miraculously the expert just agrees with them.
Every fucking time.
I don't know how it works.
I would expect that I would hire an expert sometime and they would say, you know, Schmidt, you're wrong.
These fingerprints are a match, but...
joe rogan
Never?
mike schmidt
No.
joe rogan
Now, do you think that this is because...
I mean, are you communicating with these guys beforehand?
Like, when you hire an expert, do you have any...
mike schmidt
I never, ever said anything to any of them about how I wanted them to say anything.
joe rogan
And how much do you pay in these guys?
Like, say if you bring a guy who's a fingerprints guy.
mike schmidt
If you, okay, if you're a public defender's office, you can pay no more than a grand, or $1,500 I think it is, and you gotta pay it out of your own pocket, and then they'll reimburse you in like six months after the trial's done.
So, you don't have experts, functionally.
If you got money, an expert can run you $15,000.
But it depends on the type of case, if it's medical or if it's...
And the state will fly...
This is a beautiful thing.
If you throw piss on a guard, do you know it's hard for them to tell that it's piss?
But it's a felony in most jurisdictions to throw urine on security personnel at a prison.
It's called gassing.
But it costs extra money because there are actually very few experts who can say that this is urine that this person threw on him.
Like the test for urine versus...
It's just it costs money to fly someone to say that this guy did throw piss on this guard and here's a scientist who can say beyond a reasonable doubt that was piss.
They really have to fly someone from Philadelphia sometimes to Wisconsin to say that was piss.
That's how fucked up our system is.
That to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was piss in a felony trial, we need a scientist.
So no wonder they're fucking whores, because that's the shit we put up.
Like, we make them privy or part of our little stupid disputes like that continuously, and it warps them just the same way it warps everyone else.
joe rogan
Oof.
God, God.
What a bleak picture.
mike schmidt
Well, but the important thing to remember is most people are outside and having fun most of the time.
joe rogan
Right, most of the time.
But not important, because what if something happens, and you happen to be driving while black, and all of a sudden you're in the same situation that you described.
mike schmidt
Right.
joe rogan
Where you wind up getting extracted from this beautiful outside world.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
And stuck in it.
mike schmidt
That's something that we all have to do something about, and...
If anybody's got ideas.
joe rogan
Well, I think talking about it is huge.
I wasn't aware of it to the extent, obviously I have zero knowledge of what it's like in Madison, Wisconsin, other than the few times I've visited.
So hearing you describe it, and especially zero knowledge of what it's like inside the criminal justice system, but hearing you describe it, It's pretty disheartening.
It's atrocious.
It's scary, and it seems inexcusable.
It seems like if you're looking at the raw data, as far as what happens to people if they're black and what happens to people if they're white, if they're first offenders.
mike schmidt
It's garbage.
joe rogan
It's scary.
mike schmidt
And our best idea was teaching some children to garden.
I mean, yeah.
joe rogan
You know, I was in Yellowstone recently, and it was really beautiful.
But one of the things that was freaking me out was that it was created by an act of Congress in 1872. And I was thinking, good Lord, like 1872, you know, I was alive in 1972. That's not that long ago.
That's like fairly recently.
And then I was thinking, that's only seven years after slavery was abolished.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
Then I looked it up, and it's 14 years before the creation of the gasoline-powered automobile.
I'm like, this is amazing.
It's amazing how recent all this is.
I was talking...
With someone...
Oh, Byron Bowers.
Do you know Byron?
Hilarious stand-up comedian?
And Byron was talking about...
Byron's black, and he was talking about his grandmother remembering his great-grandmother telling her about the invention of the cotton gin.
mike schmidt
With Eli Whitney?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Like, she was around for that.
mike schmidt
That's fucked up.
joe rogan
And...
You know, he was talking about different relatives that he had, you know, great grandmothers and what have you, that were slaves.
And, you know, it really hits home.
We go, that is so, like, for us, we grow up, and when you're a little kid, and you hear 1865, you go, wow, that was fucking forever ago.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
But as life goes on, the perspective sort of comes clearer and clearer into focus when you realize, oh my god, like, that was a blink ago.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
1865 was essentially a cultural blink ago, and when you look at, like, the history of China, or the history of England, even.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, this massive, long history, and then the United States, you know, 1865 is fucking nothing.
mike schmidt
Yeah, we're a really young country.
There's countries that are seven times as old as we are.
I want to say one more thing about that criminal justice system.
It's weird because, yeah, gas-powered automobile, electricity, telecommunications, space travel, end of slavery, and we still have fundamentally the same criminal justice system.
We didn't improve on it one bit.
We added a couple things, but it's not fundamentally different.
It's the Dana Law.
Vikings used to use it, and then it became the English Common Law.
joe rogan
What should it be?
What do you think?
Is there an ideal system that someone has proposed?
mike schmidt
No.
No, I don't think there's an ideal system, but I do think that right now a country of 346 million people...
joe rogan
Is it that many?
mike schmidt
Yeah, there's more than 300 million people.
joe rogan
Are you counting Mexicans?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
They're people.
346 million?
mike schmidt
I think so, yeah.
joe rogan
But is that, like, is that the official?
It's a shitload.
Goddammit.
But how many illegal aliens are supposed to be here?
mike schmidt
Well, none are supposed to be here.
joe rogan
I mean, allegedly.
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
How many are allegedly here?
How many have been counted?
How many are supposed to be here?
By God's law, they can go wherever they want, Mike.
mike schmidt
You know, I think they...
I don't have a problem with immigration.
joe rogan
Sounds like you do.
mike schmidt
No.
joe rogan
Putting you on your back heels.
mike schmidt
I mean, I think we should let everybody in that wants to come.
It's kind of the idea of the country.
joe rogan
Obviously, you don't live in Orange County.
Yeah.
You'd want to fucking die if more people moved there.
mike schmidt
Oh, yeah.
Well, I mean, Nebraska's got room.
joe rogan
It does.
If you fly over the country, you realize there's a lot of spots.
mike schmidt
Yeah, there's a lot of spots, and we're kind of being dicks.
Like, there's some people who are like, I don't want to live in Libya.
joe rogan
Yeah, no shit.
mike schmidt
Come on, fucking come over here.
joe rogan
Well, President Trump's going to build a nice wall and stop everything.
mike schmidt
See, what I think we should do is, I think we should fucking put the feelers out, put the vibes out, and then if we see, like, a population that gets treated like shit, we should fucking just steal them.
Just like, you know, there's countries where it's illegal to be homosexual, but...
You know, like, we got room.
We should just be like, hey, we'll take all of them.
Every single one.
joe rogan
Usually they make a lot of money, they got a lot of discretionary income, because most of the time they don't have kids, they go for the economy.
mike schmidt
Why the fuck not?
You know, come on over.
joe rogan
What do you think is going to happen if Trump becomes president and we have this social justice warrior president of Canada, their prime minister is like, they're going to explore the idea of gender neutral identity cards.
Like, okay, folks.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
You can't just, like, what do you tell the cops?
Mr. or Mrs. I'm Z. Z-H-E-E. Yeah.
What jail do we put in you?
Do we put you in the gender-neutral jail?
Or do you go in the men's...
Do you have a dick, dude?
Can I say...
Okay, you're a guy.
mike schmidt
I mean, it's kind of juvenile that we...
Like, oh, you murdered somebody, but you have a penis.
You murdered somebody, but you have a vagina.
You have to go to separate facilities, murderers.
joe rogan
Well, they should, because otherwise they'll fuck, and they'll create murderer babies.
unidentified
Well...
mike schmidt
I mean, they're not all gonna fuck, and some of them, it's kind of like, why do we even care?
Because they're gonna fuck each other.
joe rogan
Yeah, but dudes are gonna fuck dudes, and that's the punishment for being in jail.
If you lock people up with hot criminal girls, then you get a porno movie.
mike schmidt
I mean, yeah, that is.
Cage cheat, you're right.
joe rogan
We can't have cage cheat.
That's what it is.
They're just gonna bang each other.
mike schmidt
Alright, I agree with the policy, then.
If it results in women in prison films.
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
Can't argue with that.
joe rogan
It's always the guard.
It's always the female guard that gets seduced, like that Tupac song.
mike schmidt
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Remember?
When I get free.
He was seducing the guard.
I mean, you know, there was a guard.
There was like some movie about a guard that had a relationship with some guy who was a prisoner.
This dude could apparently lie on his back without touching his penis.
He could make his dick erect and he could ejaculate.
mike schmidt
But he had time to practice.
joe rogan
Yeah, but I mean, that is amazing.
But see, these are urban myths, man.
It's hard to tell.
There's no camera on this dude's dick.
mike schmidt
Right.
I mean, yeah, if he could really do it, did he die in prison?
joe rogan
I don't know.
It's a good question.
mike schmidt
Because if you could do that and you didn't die in prison, somebody probably paid you money to film it.
joe rogan
Alright, let me ask you this.
It's the subject of restitution.
Do you think a guy should get off with time served plus restitution if you can make...
Dick porn in jail, like say if that guy didn't do anything like too terrible, maybe just robbed a bunch of liquor stores or something like that, and all of a sudden he's in jail, and he realizes that he's practiced by himself in his zen room so long that he could get his dick hard and come all over himself.
People would pay money to see that.
So if he starts like his own, I jizz on myself, website from jail, webcam service, makes a lot of money, he gives it to the victims.
mike schmidt
Yeah, no, I mean, I think it's constructive.
I think it's helpful.
I think he should start by, I think anyone who's interested in doing that, whatever correctional facility they're in, perhaps write to the judge that sentenced you and request that you do the same, or just an opportunity.
joe rogan
I have no doubt that people can do that because if someone can have a wet dream, that means their fantasy is allowing them to ejaculate.
So I think there's some people that have done some really amazing things with their mind, right?
Like there's people that practice kundalini yoga and they get to some place where they can have some trance and they have psychedelic states.
I'm not...
I believe it.
I'm not skeptical.
mike schmidt
I mean, I bet you could do it.
Like, I bet that sounds like something where if you practiced, if you just waited...
Because there's dudes who jizz in their pants when women walk up to them.
unidentified
Ooh.
mike schmidt
Like, this is just, like, a little bit more removed.
joe rogan
Right.
The fact that that dude did it for the guard...
unidentified
Kapow!
Yeah.
joe rogan
Better know what's up.
Yeah.
This is the kind of power I'm dealing with.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Like on command?
At salad bar?
joe rogan
But it must happen because that's what also happened up in upstate New York when those guys got free and those murders, they tracked them to Canada.
The woman was supposed to let them out.
They escaped and the woman was supposed to meet them outside.
Remember that?
mike schmidt
Yep.
joe rogan
That was the same situation.
Homely lady.
mike schmidt
Oh, yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
Fairly handsome dude.
Thought they were going to have a relationship.
unidentified
Yep.
mike schmidt
When I first started visiting prisons for clients, this guy who was a former...
I think it was former secretary of the Department of Corrections.
He was our criminal law professor.
Ran us through a whole bunch of shit we have to watch out for when we go into prison.
And one of them was inmates trying to seduce you.
joe rogan
Oh, shit.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Even dudes?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Well, they got nothing going on.
joe rogan
Right.
Just try it.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
No judgment.
Yeah.
And I mean...
The way he ran it through us, to us, was a little crazy.
He's like, yep, they're going to try to sexually importune you.
They're going to try to unzip their flies.
joe rogan
Sexually importune?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Ooh, I've never heard that word before.
I've never heard anybody use that in a verb.
mike schmidt
Yeah, because he was saying that they would unzip their flies, potentially, and then take advantage of the fact that we didn't say anything about it the next time.
Mm-hmm.
Basically, to get us to commit a minor offense, or break a little rule, or lead us a little bit down the path, and then next time they would try to take their dicks out.
joe rogan
Okay, so if you don't call him out on having his fly down, it's an offense?
mike schmidt
No.
No.
But...
It's not like a crime.
It's not like a rule violation.
joe rogan
Okay.
mike schmidt
But if he's got...
joe rogan
Social.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
For social effects.
unidentified
If it's...
mike schmidt
And they'll sit differently.
Oh.
Like if someone sits there with their fly open, you know, and it's like this, and their crotch is on display, they're...
joe rogan
Letting you know they've got some dick for sale.
mike schmidt
Yeah, they're like, by the way, there's some dick in here.
And then next time, there'll be more...
Because there's a lot of sociopaths in prison.
A lot.
Because for a lot of people, what it comes down to is the sentencing.
Because they're guilty as shit.
There's a lot of witnesses, you know?
And they don't have...
They're not made of money, so they can't pay some expert to write a report saying that jail would hurt their feelings, which they fucking do if you have money.
It comes down to a lot of being able to take ownership of what happened and what you did.
And a lot of sociopaths are in prison because they're too stupid to listen to how everybody else apologizes.
So sociopaths will say something like, you know, I'm sorry that I played a part in all of this.
Or, you know, I'm not going to put myself in situations like this anymore, Your Honor.
When they're being convicted of beating the shit out of somebody, they'll say, I'm not going to put myself in situations like this.
Sounds like they're taking ownership.
But putting a situation just means you're one small part of...
This fucking situation, which could include multiple aggressors and loud noises and drinking.
And to somebody that is making the apology, it sounds like it works.
But to a room full of people that hear nothing but apologies all day, we go, oh, he's gonna be back.
And the judges listen for that shit very intently.
There's ways to fuck up an apology.
And the only people who fuck up the apologies in that specific way are almost completely incapable of putting themselves in anybody else's shoes.
And those types of people tend to do certain types of things.
Where they're always out for themselves, me, me, me.
Why does he get to do that?
Why can't I do that?
Like that shit.
Like that childish bullshit, self-centered, selfish, but they're an adult.
That's just what a sociopath is.
It's not that impressive.
It's not like, you know, fucking Silence of the Lambs or some shit.
joe rogan
It's just super selfish, super inconsiderate of the ramifications of their actions.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
And they're just...
And they...
They don't even know how to relate to the rest of us because they don't care.
They don't care to.
Like, we're just robots, you know.
joe rogan
In your experience dealing with so many of these different people and so many different criminals, do you think it's a nature thing or a nurture thing?
mike schmidt
Nurture.
Yeah, it's nurture.
joe rogan
100%.
mike schmidt
There are some...
I mean...
joe rogan
Some broken folks.
mike schmidt
There are some...
Some people are born evil.
Just like some people are born with bad kidneys.
joe rogan
Right.
So some people are born...
Like, didn't they say that Jeffrey Dahmer, wasn't he a good example of a guy who allegedly had a pretty stable childhood with loving parents and became a serial killer?
mike schmidt
Yeah, but...
joe rogan
But you don't know, right?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Like, they're gonna say they beat the shit out of him.
joe rogan
They fucked him.
Right.
mike schmidt
Like, they're going to be like, no, no, we did them the same way Charles Manson and Ted Bundy's moms did them.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
No, they're not going to say that.
But, yeah, I mean, people who do that generally have kind of similar histories.
joe rogan
Well, if you think about the way a human being could vary, the way we behave, you could be, like, the most beautiful, generous, kind, caring person, or you could be a brutal dictator in the Congo and chopping people's arms off.
You could be either one of those and still be a human being.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
So if you think about that, and you think about the conditions that you have to sort of adapt to, and if you're growing up in some hellacious condition, and you adapted to that hellacious condition, and you are literally a product of society.
Now, when you come across people like that, because you're in the criminal defense attorney world, and you have to represent these people, Do you try to think, like, is there a way to fix this guy?
I mean, do you put that in your head, or do you just go and try to win?
mike schmidt
I try...
Well, when I would get them to do the apologies, because one of...
I mean, the thing is, like...
For a lot of these guys, too many witnesses, too much of a record, it's coming down to this fucking apology.
It's coming down to our plan for what we're gonna do next, and talking with them and coming up with a reasonable plan about what they're gonna do after jail, or what they could do instead of jail.
And addressing why they did something wrong.
Why was it wrong?
I would go through with my clients a lot of times if I wasn't sure that they were getting it, and I would be like, okay, so you're going to have to give an apology to the judge.
You're going to have to tell them that what you did is wrong.
You're going to have to tell them that you know that it was wrong.
And you're going to have to tell them you know why it was wrong.
So, why is it wrong to hit your girlfriend?
She doesn't want me to?
Well, okay.
Alright.
There's one.
When you hit your girlfriend, what do the police have to do?
They have to show up and they have to arrest me.
Were you nice to them?
No.
Do you think they liked that?
No.
Do you think now would be the time to apologize for being a dick to them when they were just doing their jobs?
Yeah, okay, but now say it in a different way.
Say it in a nice way.
joe rogan
Oh, Jesus.
mike schmidt
And then I made them say it in a nice...
joe rogan
And you have to really coach them through this.
And do you let them know, like, listen, your freedom may ride on whether or not you're believable.
mike schmidt
Yep, yep.
joe rogan
This is your most important performance.
mike schmidt
I would tell them, like, you're not going to lie up there.
Everything you say is going to be true.
We just need to make...
You fucking recognize.
For just a couple minutes, you gotta recognize this situation.
Because you can't lie out there.
They hear too many lies.
They don't like lies.
It's like George Michael in Freedom.
Take a lie and make it true.
Did you just quote George Michael?
Yeah, I did.
joe rogan
That song, Freedom?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
unidentified
It's a good song.
joe rogan
It is a good song, right?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Good on you for admitting that.
A lot of people, they shy away from giving George Michael the props he deserves.
mike schmidt
But I would use, like, take these lies and make them true.
I would use that on my clients.
joe rogan
Can you sing that?
mike schmidt
No, I'm terrible at singing.
joe rogan
You can sing it.
mike schmidt
No, I can't.
unidentified
Take these lies and make them true.
joe rogan
Somehow we have to do.
mike schmidt
There we go.
joe rogan
That's a great goddamn song.
You know, it's the best...
You can't hear it on YouTube, right?
We'll get pulled, right?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Only we can hear it?
Well, listen.
If you see the video, that's the best part about that song.
That was one of those songs that was made by the video.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
Because, like, the song's great, but goddamn these girls are hot.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
There's so much hotness.
mike schmidt
Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington.
joe rogan
Some of those girls are still hanging in there.
unidentified
Yeah.
jamie vernon
Whatever.
joe rogan
In my world.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, this is a tremendous video.
Amazing what symmetry and bone structure does for the emotions.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Beautiful full lips and...
mike schmidt
Looking at pretty people is fucking great.
joe rogan
It is.
It's amazing.
mike schmidt
But what I'd do is, I'd be like, so, they're not going to let you out because you don't have a job.
joe rogan
Right.
mike schmidt
You've never been in the community with more than this for more than this length of time without doing this and I'd be like well We can't lie to them and tell them like I would make a list of shit that I wish was true and I'd be like one of these things can I fucking just make true like Can I get this person to do these job applications?
Yeah Yeah, I could totally do that.
Like, if I could bail him out for, like, if I can get him to make his bail, if I can get his bail low enough, and then I can get him to submit job applications every single week, it was a lie when I came up with it a couple minutes ago, but in six months, when this case finally goes in front of the judge...
He'll probably have a job.
And they would.
Like, you just think about some shit you want to be true.
Figure out how to make it true.
And, you know, like, maybe he's got to have his kids back.
Or maybe he's got to have a better relationship with his kids.
Which means you start writing the fucking letters now.
Because in six months, have him show up.
Like, just...
Because the thing is, like, yeah, it's a lie if you have no intention of making it true.
And we wouldn't say it in advance.
I would just be like, well, you know.
joe rogan
So do you feel like you're coaching these guys not just through their trial, but maybe through their understanding of the implications of their crime as well?
Like, are you in some way sort of educating them into, you know, because they have to be honest about it.
They have to kind of be...
Maybe educated about the impact of their choices.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah, I would I mean to the extent that I thought it was appropriate like because I'm in a position of power you know Emotional abuse is not proper.
You know, like...
joe rogan
Like abusing them, like insulting them or something like that?
mike schmidt
Yeah, like insulting them.
And there's people where you would completely want to insult them.
It's just not appropriate because they're such terrible monsters.
unidentified
But...
joe rogan
What do you do if you're in one of those situations?
mike schmidt
Yeah.
I've had...
I've had some guys that make my skin crawl.
And, like, I've sat next to people who've, you know...
Done horrible things to people where they don't make my skin crawl and yet these other people are just so far beyond them in terms of like we don't like we should probably lock you up forever like and you can't do anything because you you you sort of have a mandate right you have to win oh yeah I have to make them beat me oh Do you drink after work?
No, no.
unidentified
You didn't?
mike schmidt
Nope, because if you do, then you don't stop.
There's a bunch of bars right by that courthouse.
joe rogan
I can only imagine.
You just want to escape.
You just want to booze it up.
mike schmidt
Well, because the thing is, as a defense attorney, you're going to get your ass handed to you so many fucking times that if I drank one time for every time I didn't like what a judge decided, I would have been dead seven years ago.
joe rogan
Did you get high?
mike schmidt
No.
joe rogan
You didn't do nothing?
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
Just went home and ate pot pies and dealt with it?
mike schmidt
Yep.
joe rogan
Fuck, man.
mike schmidt
I went out on the weekends.
joe rogan
And you did stand-up?
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
And you started doing stand-up while you were an attorney?
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
Well, I've never seen you do stand-up, dude, but you're a smart guy, so I can't imagine you would suck.
mike schmidt
I'm terrible.
joe rogan
Are you?
mike schmidt
No.
joe rogan
Okay, yeah, I didn't think you would.
And talking at the Comedy Store was very fun, so I'm glad we did this, man.
We just did two and a half hours of a breakdown of the criminal justice system here.
mike schmidt
Fun.
joe rogan
And especially the criminal justice system there and outside of Madison, Wisconsin.
So, how long have you been doing stand-up now?
mike schmidt
Seven years, I think.
joe rogan
You enjoying it?
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
It's super fun.
joe rogan
And what brought you to the store?
mike schmidt
Well, I was in Wisconsin, but I moved here in January of last year, and honestly, I really like Pauly Shore.
No, like, I was a kid in the 80s, so when I would see Sam Kinison on TV, and Pauly Shore on TV, and everybody on TV, like, it always wound its way back to the store.
Like, Pauly Shore's first album is, I think, recorded at the Comedy Store, and you can hear Ron Jeremy and Gary Coleman in the background.
Like, it's nuts.
And, like, Laugh Factory doesn't hire comics, you know, and improv is it.
Like, the store is kind of an icon, and I worked in comedy clubs before, so I was like, hey.
Also, the reality of it is, like, the potluck is so hard to get on.
That Monday night potluck and I had signed up every single Monday for six months and I hadn't gotten on once and then They they put out a list saying they're gonna do auditions for the new door guys.
So I signed up for it So that I could get on the potluck But then it just went really well Wow Six months.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
mike schmidt
I just wanted to get up on the potluck and signing up for the audition for the job was the only way to do it.
joe rogan
Yeah, you definitely seem overqualified to be a door guy.
mike schmidt
I like the door guys.
joe rogan
It's a great gig.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
But I'm saying, how old are you?
36. Yeah, see, most door guys are like 21, 22. They're getting older now.
mike schmidt
Are they?
Yep.
Guam is in his 40s.
Hormuz is 56 by the look of him.
unidentified
Pfft.
joe rogan
He fucking looks 56. It is a special place, though, isn't it?
I mean, you've been an employee there during the Golden Age.
I think this is the Golden Age.
The other night, it was Joey Diaz, Bill Burr, Dom Herrera, Chris D'Elia, me...
And someone else on the show, someone else, oh, was it Ali Wong?
She was on another one.
It was a different show, but it was just, it was insanity.
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I was like sitting back watching all these people and I was like, this is the crazy, I've never seen a lineup.
Oh, Ron White was the other one.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I'm like, I've never seen a lineup like this.
This isn't, this lineup is, it's insane.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
Just murderers row.
joe rogan
Oh, well, Joey D, I don't want to say what the bit is about, but he's got this new bit he's doing now.
It's just, it's just, Like, in all the years that I've been seeing stand-up comedy and doing it, I just never have seen a club like this.
Where it's on fire right now.
Every night is sold out.
The crowds are insane.
It's really weird, man.
It's really weird.
Here's another one.
This is from Thursday, yeah.
Bobby Lee, Tom Papa, Bobby Lee, Eliza, Crystalia, me, Jeselnik, Ron White, Andrew Santino, Joey Diaz, Donnell Rawlings, Jesus Christ, and on and on and on.
Fuck, man.
Jimmy Schubert's gonna go, why didn't you say me?
Nick Youssef is gonna go, why didn't you say me?
Dave Taylor.
mike schmidt
I know you wouldn't say me.
joe rogan
I could read the whole list, but it's an amazing lineup of known and unknown.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
I mean, the guy in the second to last spot created one of the shows on NBC that's going into its third season, and the guy who's going dead last had a movie on Comedy Central.
Like...
joe rogan
That's Don Barris, though.
He's an icon.
It's a different situation.
He belongs in that late spot.
mike schmidt
Well, what I'm saying is that's how fucking packed the lineup is.
joe rogan
It's insane.
Yeah, but it's not just that.
It's also the vibe because of the fact that the store hires all comedians like yourself and like all these other ones that work there.
It's like everybody is one of us.
And many guys have gone from being in the position of being a doorman or working the cover booth or what have you to being like Ari Shafir, perfect example.
Duncan Trussell, perfect example.
They've gone on during the time that I've known them.
Went from starting out to being like super headliners on the road.
It's fascinating.
There's no clubs like that where the employees become the star attraction.
mike schmidt
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's the only club that has a true farm system.
joe rogan
Right.
Yeah, especially in the fact that that farm system exists in Hollywood.
And granted, it's not that easy to get into, as you can attest.
It took six months of no's.
The lineup is just...
There's just too many people that want to become comics now.
It was not like that before, by the way.
mike schmidt
No, I know.
joe rogan
You can get up every week before.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
Or close to it.
mike schmidt
When I started in Madison in 2000-whenever, There was like eight people, eight comics.
And then when I left, there's 60 that would sign up for the funniest comedian in Madison every single year.
unidentified
Whoa.
mike schmidt
So, yeah, it's booming.
And, I mean...
Thunderdome.
joe rogan
It's booming in quality as well.
mike schmidt
Yeah, because there's an aspect of shtorm and drang.
Like, there's only so many spots.
So these people have to be better.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike schmidt
Like, these 60, like, you start now, you have no hope.
unidentified
Right.
mike schmidt
Unless you are the best.
And why not try to be the best?
Why not try to fucking smoke that shit?
Like, crush it for three minutes.
Like, why half-ass it?
Yeah.
Like, you used to be able to.
joe rogan
Well, even if they didn't want to half-ass it, it's like, it's not that they were half-assing it.
It's like their standards got raised.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like you see, like Roast Battle's a perfect example of that.
I mean, how many people crush at Roast Battle that you've never heard of before, and they're writing ridiculously funny jokes and crushing each other.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And they're coming up, and they're hungry.
There's a lot of them.
mike schmidt
Competition.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's a fun time, man.
mike schmidt
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's a really fun time.
So, listen, man.
Thanks for doing this.
I appreciate you coming down on a beautiful Fourth of July.
Happy Independence Day, you fucks.
And you can catch Mike Schmidt on Twitter.
Your Twitter handle is...
mike schmidt
TheShinola.
joe rogan
TheShinola.
It's linked on my Twitter page as well with Mike's name.
And if you see Mike at the Comedy Store, come by and say hi, motherfucker.
Yeah.
unidentified
All right.
joe rogan
Thanks, everybody.
Be back tomorrow.
Brennan Schaub is going to be here.
We're going to break down UFC 200, which is this weekend.
unidentified
Holla.
Export Selection