Joe Rogan Experience #541 — Mike Baker Transcript

Transcript

0:00 Cue the music, Jamie. You've got to change that thing. It's used by the other agencies in the intel community and primarily by the White House. What is the biggest misconception about the CIA? it attracts this sort of thing, right? It attracts sort of the Byzantine theories and The agency is an incredibly apolitical organization. I suppose the other thing would be that we've got nothing but hot chicks walking around

3:39 I was disappointed, too. Right. Right. And there's a lot of people out there. And he's an interesting cat. That part, yeah, I can confirm that. But we had really good access into that window, that very spot where he took the shots. At that point, he was desperate to join the Cuban Revolution. had provided a great deal of information because Oswald had been living in Russia for all that

7:31 i mean he was a sociopath um but i think it's one of the things that bugs me about people the way They hear things. And I'm like, you got a windowsill. out of a bathroom window, and it was clear given that, yes, common sense tells you and the physical nature of that But what bothers me about it, there's a bunch of things that bother me about it. That seems a little wonky.

10:09 hole in the conspiracy. the rifle the sight was off well this is in person i can tell you i wounded a deer once that i was Right, you don't know, and you're absolutely right. It went from place to place to place. the other thing is this is a pruder film there's a pruder film was weird because he probably could have maneuvered himself out quick enough.

12:58 the emails. That seems to me to be so crazy that agencies investigate other agencies. Is there really competition between, like, the CIA and the FBI? So I remember going in there and looking at our guys, you know, And if you're out on the street, I mean, our natural response was, well, I thought we're working together And so it has gotten a lot better.

14:37 Yeah, you're pissing on each other's turf sometimes. and by the way the coffees and i i shit you're not just we talked about before but this is great I mean, I'd probably be lying if I said there's not an element. So we're not trying to, at the end of the day, you know, bust somebody. And so there's a fundamental difference there sometimes in the way that we view our assets.

16:50 They have control of this crime scene. But we're used to that, frankly. This is going to sound weird, but I don't watch Yeah. We don't have lockers. Is there like any movie or anything that you've ever seen where you're like, that's pretty damn close? was very interesting it kind of dragged on for a while and and honestly who could believe that Really?

19:16 It was actually, I think, probably the most successful show in U.K. television history. But this thing ran for eight seasons. It's so unrealistic. Right. attraction to the most beautiful women on the planet they are have totally pure altruistic from each other like as far apart as you and i are like they're not even hugging yeah like there's Yes. Yeah, Matt Damon.

22:17 I mean, it's like the polar opposite of what we consider. You know what I think they're doing? But the thing is, it's not tweens. I am. It would be. man new york so that cordelaine man that lake up there holy shit that's just up there and it is Right. Walked in the door and said, you know, I don't think I have to be here to do what I do, which is basically just travel for the business.

25:10 We'd been going out there to hunt and fish and raft and climb and ski over the past handful of years. Wyoming, yeah. I've got to be in this epicenter, whether it's Los Angeles or Chicago or New York or wherever. It's clean air and people are nice. york and la is basically everything in between those two yeah yeah it's pretty weird it's weird what, about seven years in the Northeast, in the New York City area. And people in that

27:51 The great thing about that is being able to just go out and travel and see how great this country is and how, like you said, how many places there are to see. What are you going to talk about, Mike? and I left for a pretty simple reason, I've got a daughter who's in college, terrific, terrific kid. And he knew I was getting antsy, and he said, stick around. It's going to get better.

29:37 No, if something went south. It was towards the end of the day, his time. And I said, I got to tell you, I'd feel great. And he And you're doing things that you know. Nobody does it for the money, that's for sure. drugs. The money went straight to the CIA. Of course he's going to say that. people are going to say, well, of course, that must be true because he's protesting.

32:47 i'm sorry what no barry seals is barry seals is dead now but barry seal was he was a fighter it Well, he had photographs with CIA agents and Medellin cartel officers. The more times I say it, people are going to go, well, it's got to be true because he's saying it so often. But the Iran-Contra thing is directly connected to selling drugs in poor neighborhoods in LA.

34:19 Yeah, but I guess that's my point. He didn't know who the connections were that he was getting. going back to the same thing we talked about with the Bureau. Relationships during those early days, misconception is that this agency is out to fuck people over. Yeah. This, this Barry Seale one is Do you know who Michael Rupert is? know untenable then yeah i'd like to think i'm a decent enough person and i don't have a dog in

37:25 confronted him saying that in his experience as an LAPD narcotics officer, No Why was he terminated? Of being Besmirch anybody's character Have you ever seen the video of Rupert confronting him? company. I've got my favorite... I'll play this one thing for you, that the agency has dealt drugs throughout this country for a long time. Now, can you please?

39:32 No. Oh, that's a good way to handle it. back across to the center section. operations and recruited by CIA or will you tell the American people the truth? Yeah. I look at it, and I see the same thing I see in a lot of other cases. to take a shot at because it's so intriguing. But it doesn't matter. gave me an understanding as to how they operate and the ethics with which they have even though

43:40 notion that somehow we're just out there fucking over the world and acting like a bunch of cowboys. they go, It is ridiculous to me. They go undercover. Yeah, of course. a lot of operational environments I don't believe it's possible. discuss certain things. So when that the United States was trying to recover. It was a nuclear what kind of documents were on board. it was right after watergate so because there was so

46:56 It required them to do so. I mean, look, that's a perfect example. It fucks up everything, right? With the Internet, the idea that the government, half the time the front page to talk about it. Well, then don't fucking talk about it. If you've signed an agreement, if you've can't be identified because they're not supposed to talk about it. Is that funny?

49:00 because they watch a lot of movies and beach books and shit and down a lot of rabbit holes. disappeared into the PRC, and then now is over in Russia. So we're never going to meet in the middle on this one. like this comes out and it's politically expedient for them to do so, they express outrage and angst I think that there is that, and I don't disagree with that.

51:50 that we dealt with And so – but yeah, the idea that the government is collecting metadata. And we dealt with NSA a fair amount and on the technical collection side. But I don't disagree with the fact that it's an important conversation. Oh, my God. then winged monkeys on unicorns are going Meaning not just what's been released, the concerns about the American people, about

54:29 like the NSA, the facility that they're building in Utah where they're going to store all the data. But no one even knew about this until this guy came up. So at a certain point, it became clear through the course of that process that Senate staffers had acquired documentation that they weren't supposed to have. It happens every day. I don't know. And what the Senate interpreted it as was that, I guess, the agency was pushing back in an attempt to, what, I don't know, stop the reporting.

57:39 Well, they haven't released it to the public because now they're waiting from the White neighborhoods, or fucking over everybody else, or working against the interests, as opposed to White House delivers tasking There's huge political grandstanding. can't believe this interrogation program was doing this well fuck that we've got briefers that like listening to what was going on.

1:00:09 So that's what I took away from it. that every single soldier is involved in. or whether it's President Bush Do you feel like that what's going on, like the WikiLeaks thing and the artist formerly known as Bradley Manning, now Chelsea Manning. That's a really good question. stick with it and uh and if you if you decide at some point that you can't because you're just so

1:02:38 and try to claim that you're doing it for the good of all mankind. Kids, if you find yourself in this position at home... Well, it weird thing is a guy like julian assange because he's not even I wouldn't want to spend two years in there. And if you can't? I'm sure there's people out there right now screaming, oh, my God, well, you've got to bring it up.

1:04:29 That's a thriller movie concept. Yeah, then fine. by all these people and it's a cabal. Bring it to light immediately. You know, again, people aren't going to buy it. being taken seriously so she went public with all that information because no one was listening You've got compliance officers, to protect and It's very important that you keep that oath.

1:08:04 And that filters down to write a book. So it's – yeah, I think there's a slide there in sort of the cultural understanding of what is and isn't acceptable. but now it's an accepted fact. And I guess the point being is that people just feel The Supreme Court's saying, look, you've got to give up that information. That's like one of those meet the press sort of issues that no one's ever going to call me on.

1:10:32 fabricated information, it is testimony up on the Hill, Capitol Hill. I mean, it's not, it's never the first time any of that i wouldn't put a lot i mean yeah i mean not to get in the weeds but yeah the polygraph is not to publish something and not disclose the source? So you have to be careful about it. When people say that we shouldn't have military, in your utopian world and the world would be beautiful and charming and everybody would be growing flowers out of their ass, yeah, that would be nice.

1:13:18 There's no, and it's not a place people want to be. what's going on with israel and gaza right now. Anybody who thinks you shouldn't have But don't you think we have from the time we were apes? Look at this. I feel like this this is probably at least in america this is fucked up as it is this is probably the safest time ever for people Yeah, not in our lifetime,

1:15:22 And so I think that I'm not as optimistic that, you know, that human nature will change. Yeah, it wouldn't be fun. It depends on what kind of zombies you're dealing with, too. She loves zombie movies. I'm not a handy guy. And so my wife looks at me and says, are you ever going to go out and buy a literally just walked up on this scene and there were people all masked up and they've been handing

1:18:05 It was fantastic. They were never built to withstand a terrorist attack. That wasn't the point. And now, you know, If there's no food, you're not gonna see the best in people. There's no water with human nature. Desperation is a scary Yeah. Sluggo just started kindergarten the other day, and that was exciting all the way around It has children. But I tell you what I spend more time worrying about,

1:21:13 here used to believe that. I'm sure a lot of people still do. We got great people. But I do And now we're begging the Russians but they were keeping up the space station, I was like, what? How are you going to get it? me to be so ridiculous that they stopped the space shuttle program well we want to live in a community But if you don't have somebody at the top of the food chain, you're going to get kind

1:23:21 But I don't believe that's the case with this country. faith in the u.s no matter which administration's in charge again i don't i don't like to think i but I do believe that we No, I'm not. And the politicians tend to lean towards that because those are the very people that put them in office in the first place. want to stay in Washington for 36 years. Who would want to do that in their mind? So they

1:26:14 million dollars then you're a fucking moron how can you how can that not work and you and you can And if you can't figure out the legislative process in six months, you're an idiot. But it'd be more difficult. and resources into into this person i'm gonna think of it and and you know what it's worth i Literally 80% of the time that anyone who's running for Congress, anyone who's running for Senate, 80% of the time you're trying to raise money.

1:29:44 since World War II, and the Russians, the Middle East situation, obviously. Well, I think you minimize the chaos by being consistent. you start to get people probing at the perimeter trying to see what exactly is going on what they to try to resolve some issues out in the Middle East. Well, I think that, yeah, exactly. And there's certainly, I think, in the sense of how the Chinese are behaving,

1:32:51 And it's one of the scariest times ever for the folks who live there. It is what it is right now. extremist point of view. very far away. They could piss on Baghdad at this Finally, they've got this physical vision of this thing. They've got the resources from overrunningiphate that they've been talking about for years and years. Finally, they got this physical vision of this thing.

1:34:32 Is this one of those situations, too, where it's difficult to get people enthusiastic about engaging We're all tired of Iraq. and if we're just talking about ISIS, the Islamic State, we're now in a position where we've got To try to get them on board, get an allied force in there. Right, right. Do you recognize that? pseudo-federal government running Libya anymore. It's a disaster, but we can only focus on one

1:37:53 they went through um i had one of my first hires in diligence for all your information and security The Taliban have no place to go. It's like the Viet Cong. Where do we think they're going to go? So if you do this again, Well, once again, I mean, we're in that category where you kind of, you know, you broke it. You know, what kind of, it's ours. So does it just become the United States of Afghanistan?

1:40:21 and there's a massive amount of lithium and ion and minerals in the mountains what what the fuck else can anybody do other than try to figure out one way to fund If I was over there for a decade, maybe I would scratch the surface. coming up so I don't think anything, nothing big ruthless piece of shit right no absolutely yeah I mean people say well

1:42:07 you know, because that's a conspiracy. Oh, we're going to go in there because we're going to get even if that means going into Iraq box saying this is what needs to be done. Could you imagine if fucking Sarah Palin was the goddamn vice president of the United States right now? Yeah, I don't even know how we got on the subject. Now it's going to be called World Access.

1:44:09 Chasing Burmese python down the Everglades. So get there before that happens. World Access, the production company is Indigo Films out of San Francisco and Los Angeles. And what's interesting is tracking the history of sort of our developmental air platforms Some of it worked, some of it didn't. It was walking on two feet, and it looked like fucking Bigfoot.

1:46:12 We were out in the desert You're like, holy shit, I'm looking at aliens. That's a good question. I mean, you know what they got? They got a huge number of applicants. I'm not that plugged into my page or whatever. And part of it's just knowing that, you know, they're going to be in the agency. Yeah, they moved it to Woodland Hills. And part of it was based on, we've got a museum inside there that's open to the staff, obviously,

1:49:27 tech company in Palo Alto or something. They don't just sit around and throw a ball at the wall and I'm a booster. Well, who's got... Yeah. It's a really good, it was. So people should go to that one too. people with a completely different language They were very, very worthy adversaries, still are. that's a dirty secret of the He was absolutely... The Simon Wiesenthal Center said if he was alive today they would prosecute him for crimes against

1:53:22 And so we fucking hire them to run the united states facebook So, yeah, obviously, they took a left turn. living in this country, how fortunate they are to have the circumstances they have. I mean, I think that for the longest time, look, I'm a car fan. We had these amazing cars for a while, moron yeah because i can Because I can't engineer anything.

1:56:03 We wouldn't even get close if everybody was like me. How did you think of that? He was so proud of this car. There's not much you can do. bench seats landau roof i haven't heard that term in the and i remember the guy the guy said at the car dealership, he said, do you want an 8-track in that or do you want a cassette deck? That shit's not going anywhere.

1:57:55 Didn't matter where it was. It's not even a radio. But it would have been good cover. I mean, I spent all my time in operations. I will say this about operations and working undercover is if you like to act, and I found that I did, then it's great. You ever have a guy dress up like a chick? Nothing like that. Oh, really? Not like Fat Bastard from Austin Powers.

2:00:02 And in terms of surveillance, people make quick decisions. But if you like to act, then operating undercover is fantastic. They wanted to lighten it up and talking to cool people. I did this show for SyFy this air of mystery that keeps people tuning in. I'm a fairly simple guy, so when I go to some of these places, literally I'm kind of staring there slack-jawed and amazed at what I'm seeing,

2:02:10 But not to say that it's not entertaining. And it gets weary after a while. Or eating shit. So everything that we're doing is basically you've got to work to get there. We think of these spots that you need to visit, I realized if I don't leave now, I may not make my flight. So should we wrap this up? Oh. Mike, thank you very much. His handle is MBCompanyMan.

2:04:35 And thanks also to our sponsors. And Onnit.com. Mwah.