AB

Politicians After Scandal

Oct 31, 2013

JS
Stage· 329 messages
Oct 31, 2013

Join Jeff Smith as he discusses the dynamics of post-scandal political rebuilding.

AB

Andrei Berman · 6:40 PM

I'm here. you?
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:41 PM

yo
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:41 PM

Hello folks.
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:42 PM

we're live at Jeff's spartan office in downtown manhattan
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:42 PM

decidedly professorial in here
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:42 PM

i think he's f---ing with me there
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:43 PM

organization not my strong suit
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:43 PM

Jeff why don't you quickly tell the masses the basics about yourself
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:43 PM

OK
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:43 PM

here goes
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:43 PM

i'm not terribly organized either...a traint of political junkies I think...ideas > logistics
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:43 PM

i was 22 yrs old, had just finished a black studies degree at UNC
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:43 PM

came home to StL
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:43 PM

forget my aside...keep going
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:43 PM

worked in city pub schools
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:43 PM

founded a charter school
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:44 PM

and went back to school for a polisci PhD
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:44 PM

then, right when i was digging into my PhD dissertation
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:44 PM

Iraq started
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:44 PM

and my congressman Dick Gephardt
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:44 PM

stood shoulder to shoulder with W in the Rose Garden to support it
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:44 PM

and i'm like
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:44 PM

WTF?
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:44 PM

so I decided to run for Congress
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:45 PM

and if that sounds ridic, you're right: it was.
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:45 PM

I was a 29 yr old adjunct prof with no pol connex, no money, no base, no media relationships, basically a clown
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:45 PM

or as Daily Kos might've said a "Some Dude"
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

i was running against russ carnahan
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

dude's dad was a 2 term Gov
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

Mom was a US sen
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

grandpa an congressman and ambassador
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

sis sec state
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

my dad was a college coach and my mom was a teacher
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

so i was kind of f8cked
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:46 PM

I'm 28 with minimal political connex...a former teacher too...working basically as an adjunct for a political consultant and a bit as a journo...maybe I should challenge Charlie Rangel?
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

oops sorry
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:46 PM

LOL
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:47 PM

but i rounded up 650 vols and we made it a race
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:47 PM

i ended up losing by 1%
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:47 PM

heartbreaker.
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:47 PM

along the way i made a mistake.
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:47 PM

btu the next part of jeff's bio will probably explain why i really ought to reconsider
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:47 PM

no not that part
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:47 PM

well that's sad too
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:47 PM

but then the part after that
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:48 PM

signed off on a postcard that my aides brought to me, that an outside consultant wanted to do, highlighting carnahan's crappy attendance record - hardly showed up for work in the state Lege
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:48 PM

i said "don't tell me any details"
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:48 PM

and they didn't.
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:48 PM

and then when caranahan filed a complaint after the race
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:48 PM

i signed an affidavit saying i didn't know anything about it
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:48 PM

which was, of course, a lie.
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:48 PM

so no big deal
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:49 PM

well sort of
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:49 PM

yeah, happens all the time, right?
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:49 PM

jeff goes onto win a state senate seat
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:49 PM

he's a cause celbre among the netroots types (is that even still a thing?)
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:49 PM

and is on the fast trek for another congressional run or run at statewide office
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:49 PM

given his height and secular judaism he was being likened to paul wellstone, yeah?
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:50 PM

Obama bro
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:50 PM

lol
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:50 PM

that and the liberal politics and on-trail dynamism, i mean
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:50 PM

ok, wellstone more, but...
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:50 PM

;)
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:50 PM

and being an academic i gues and really committed to civil rights
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:51 PM

so years removed from the original congressional run (which by the way is the subject of a great documentary called Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington anymore?") jeff is a regular old state senator doing his thing in jefferson city
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:51 PM

AND THEN....
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:51 PM

drum roll please
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:51 PM

the feds jknock on my door
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:51 PM

"don't worry you're not a target!"
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:52 PM

"we just have a few q's abt this guy skip ohlsen"
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:52 PM

(the dude who did the postcard
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:52 PM

and when they got to me
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:52 PM

asked me q's
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:53 PM

so skip ohlsen was a sketchy dude, huh? they caught him because he tried to put a bomb in his ex wife's new dude's car, right?
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:53 PM

bingo
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:53 PM

and he was locked up by that point
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:53 PM

wow, so he was like political operative meets the unibomber? Kinda wanna do a screenplay about just him...you're boring by comparison
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:53 PM

and when they asked if my aides dealt with him, i didn't say everything i knew, which was that they did
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:53 PM

ya tot
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

dude was ruff
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

anyhow
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

then i find out weeks later
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:54 PM

so he ratted on you to get his sentence reduced, as is common with federal prosecutors
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

so wait
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

my best friend
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

steve brown
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

he knows what happened with the postcard
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

and the feds had knocked on his door too
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:54 PM

but he wasnt home
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:55 PM

so we spend the next month plotting on how we're gonna avoid trouble
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:55 PM

little did i know
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:55 PM

that entire time, my best friend was wearing a wire
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:55 PM

OOOOOOO NO HE DIDN'T!!!
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:55 PM

If Carmelo Anthony were here right now, he'd be all "Stop Snitchin"
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:55 PM

so basically the feds wanted me to wear a wire on other prominent pols
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:56 PM

and that wasn't happening
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:56 PM

i don't think i knew this part of it...the feds said you could have gotten off if you'd worn a wire on OTHER pols?
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:56 PM

so i spent the next yr loading and unloading food trucks on the loading dock of a the food warehouse in SE Kentucky
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:56 PM

in federal prison
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:56 PM

yea, my best shot to stay out of prison
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:57 PM

★ Spotlighted from Rachael Workman

“did you have a wife and kids by that point?”

JS

Jeff Smith · 6:57 PM

so great q rachael
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:57 PM

i did not
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:57 PM

in fact, 2 days before the feds knocked on my door, my gf had moved into my house
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:57 PM

then the day i found out my boy was wired
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:57 PM

i went to her office
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:58 PM

i was like "listen baby, you didn't sign up for this shit. you might not wanna fully unpack."
AB

Andrei Berman · 6:58 PM

★ Spotlighted from Jordan Birnbaum

“I'm confused about the postcard. What made it illegal?”

JS

Jeff Smith · 6:58 PM

(postcard was illegal because it lacked a disclaimer - "paid for by xxxx")
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:59 PM

and any coordination b/w campaign and outside group is prohibited tho it happens every day, with a wink and nod
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:59 PM

anyway
JS

Jeff Smith · 6:59 PM

i told my then gf, rachael, that i'd give her a night to get her stuff and wouldn't come home...that i was prob headed to prison.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:00 PM

and then she was just like, yo i didn't need a nite. i wasn't with you because u were in politics. i'm stickn witchu
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:00 PM

i was like day-umm
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:00 PM

that's loyalty.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:00 PM

and she did. rode wit me the whole way
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:00 PM

came down to KY every month i was there
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:01 PM

(there was no clander in the postcard - it was totally factual, matt)
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:01 PM

dude she is the best.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:01 PM

i'm lucky to have her
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:02 PM

then i knocked her up right when i got out
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:02 PM

★ Spotlighted from Rachael Workman

“RIDE OR DIE”

AB

Andrei Berman · 7:02 PM

★ Spotlighted from Jordan Birnbaum

“Selective prosecution. They went after you because you are an outsider.”

JS

Jeff Smith · 7:02 PM

well, jordan, many people thought that, yep
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:02 PM

and you know what, just to finish on Teresa, my then gf?
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:03 PM

Just a heads up for those who are not in the comment section...check it out...there's a lot of funny banter there...rach can you explain how they can particiapte in the convo?
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:03 PM

this is funny - her dad is a preacher in amarillo TX
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:03 PM

and i had to call him, ask for his baby daughter's hand
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:04 PM

"yo, i know i'm an unemployed, agnostic Jew felon, , and, um, you're going to be a grandpa again, and um, would you still perform the ceremony?"
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:04 PM

that's remarkable
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:04 PM

and gives me so much hope for my forthcoming wedding (well not that forthcoming but we were engaged saturday s I told you off the air...or off the tawk)
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:04 PM

he was like, "well, i reckon y'all got things a lil outta order, huh buy?"
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:04 PM

boy
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:05 PM

★ Spotlighted from Rachael Workman

“super chill, non-stressful phone call.”

JS

Jeff Smith · 7:05 PM

"...but every baby's a blessin"
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:05 PM

whew
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:05 PM

and big congrats, Drei! be glad you didn't have to make a phone call like that!
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:05 PM

so now that heff is out of prison, why don't you tell us what you're up to
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:05 PM

so i got out
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:05 PM

and then we'll get to the meat of this convo
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:06 PM

started consulting on affordable housing policy which was a passion while serving in the state senate
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:06 PM

then i applied for professor gigs cuz i love teaching
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:06 PM

and got a faculty gig at the New School in the Urban Policy grad program
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:07 PM

and then i write about politics for The Atlantic and some other mags as a contributor
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:07 PM

Jeff is making quite a name for himself as the go-to pundit on post-scandal politics
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:07 PM

and i work on prison reform, as a board member of a few orgs that work to 1) teach entrepreneurship to prisoners, and 2)
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:07 PM

MSNBC, good podcasts, etc
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:07 PM

a start up that's trying to put a tablet with edu and vo tech software to every prisoner in the country
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:08 PM

really defines social entrepreneurship, right?
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:08 PM

called American Prison Data Systems, check em out online
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:08 PM

anyway, thanks for the props drei
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:08 PM

wow often I'm a touch cynical of so-called "venture philanthropy" but that sounds super legit
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:08 PM

what's it called
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:08 PM

thanks v much jordan
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:09 PM

anyway ya it's totally legit
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:09 PM

★ Spotlighted from Jordan Birnbaum

“I LOVE this Jeff smith guy!”

AB

Andrei Berman · 7:10 PM

the charity is in fact not called thanks v much jordan...so i was just sptlightign jordan's comment so that those not in the chat know what he was refering to
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:10 PM

i'm on the advisory board along with several former heads of state depts of corrections and a former US deputy secretary of education
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:10 PM

it's called American Prison Data Systems
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:10 PM

so you're sort of like the good side of th eprison industrial complex
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:10 PM

and rachael
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:10 PM

now my wife and I just had our second kiddo!
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:10 PM

well, you know, we're aspiring to be the good side of it - very well-put, drei
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:11 PM

B?c look:
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:11 PM

the single best indicator of whether or not a person will fly straight when he gets out, is if he gets an education in prison
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:11 PM

that's what I wanna spend the next phase of my life working on ya know?
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:11 PM

i met some amazing dudes in prison
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:11 PM

brilliant dudes
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:12 PM

did a TED talk about their entrepreneurial talent/potential
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:12 PM

of course they were selling drugs before
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:12 PM

but the terms they used to discuss their slinging weren't unlike those you'd hear at Wharton
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:12 PM

and given that you were in federal prison, were most of the prisoners high-level drug dealers...ie the dudes who climbed the coporate ladder of the black market
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:12 PM

promotional incentives?
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:12 PM

"don't never charge no first time user"
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:12 PM

new product launch?
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:13 PM

"when you get a new supplier, better have some long time crackhead try that shit first"
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:13 PM

territorial expansion?
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:13 PM

a soft launch of sorts
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:13 PM

a veritable focus group
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:13 PM

"when that nigga on the west side got chalked, i had my dope boys out on his corners 'fo the body was cold"
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:14 PM

Drei - good pt
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:14 PM

state gets the small time dudes
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:14 PM

higher on the food chain, thatz the feds
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:15 PM

do you think that makes federal prison more or less scary
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:15 PM

★ Spotlighted from Jordan Birnbaum

“It would be fun to think of the corporate titles for drug dealers. Like, what would Director, customer Service be called?”

JS

Jeff Smith · 7:15 PM

that's a great question, Jordan
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:15 PM

like the common wisdom is scary but i'd think the high level dealers might be a tad less daunting because they presumably had more rationality to their pre-jail existence
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:16 PM

i don't know that it makes prison more or less scary
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:16 PM

but look
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:16 PM

you gotta go in with the idea of, i can learn from these dudes
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:16 PM

i got a PhD, they used to call me "Senator," etcc etc, but they used to be like, "man, i got my phd on the street"
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:17 PM

and you know, i did learn a ton from them, not just about the business of drug dealing, but about patience, forgiveness, and trust.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:17 PM

listen
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:17 PM

you walk the compound that first time
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:17 PM

it's sad and scary all at the same time
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:18 PM

scary b/c you this 5'6", 117 lb white politician and, well, phsyically you're just noit in their league
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:18 PM

but sad, so sad, because everyone's hollering at you, hollering at each other, like it's a high school reunion - they know each other from previous bids in diff prisons
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:19 PM

and then you stop and think about
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:19 PM

it
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:19 PM

most of these dudes never went to a high school reunion
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:19 PM

prob never to a graduation
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:19 PM

for many,m this is the closest they'll get
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:19 PM

that's poignant and depressing stuff
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:19 PM

yep. thanks i guess.
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:19 PM

that there is that level of collegiality to a degree
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:20 PM

because it shows the real reality of institutionalization
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:20 PM

yeah but of course shit can jump off *real* quikc
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:20 PM

you're pretty much grouped with your homies and your homies look out for you, once you prove your mettle somehow
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:20 PM

otherwise it can be rough
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:20 PM

your homies were black or white?
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:20 PM

esp for the chomos or suspected chomos
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:21 PM

as prison, i know, is the most segreagted place in the nation
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:21 PM

or so i've heard people (ie, you) say
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:21 PM

my homies were black - the other dudes from stl
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:21 PM

but, i got a lotta flak at first from white dudes for eating with blk dudes my first night
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:21 PM

how quickly did it take you to make friends and get ingratiated with a group...did you know any of any other inmates prior to being put in
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:22 PM

the only integrated eating group was the warehouse crew - we didn't have to wait in the interminable line because outside contractors - the truck drivers - were waiting on us to unload boxes
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:22 PM

i dfidn't know any of them but a bunch knew me from having been my constituents back in StL
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:22 PM

ie, the truckers would feed you in advance, knowing that if they didn't they weren't getting out of there for a while?
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:23 PM

naw
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:23 PM

u had to go back to the compound to eat lunch at 9:30-9:45 am
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:23 PM

before the rest did
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:23 PM

because we couldn't keep all the deliverymen waiting
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:23 PM

and the normal line was at least an hr for every meal
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:23 PM

prison's like India
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:24 PM

you spend half your time in line
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:24 PM

anyhow have you ever visited a prison?
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:24 PM

lock-ups but not "prisons"
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:25 PM

the county jail in my hometown is pretty tame I suspect as far as prisons go
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:25 PM

you got put in the dunk-tank or what?
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:25 PM

drunk-tank
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:25 PM

more people should visit prisons.
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:25 PM

actually that wasn't what uw as referrign to but i was falsely taken into the local PD by an undercover cop on new years eve when I was 16
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:25 PM

had to call my dad
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:25 PM

that shit sucked
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:25 PM

people are starved for companionship, someone to talk to, esp someone on the outside.
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:26 PM

but one of my best friends from growing up is in state prison on a first degree murder charge
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:26 PM

and i haven't visited him
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:26 PM

You should.
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:26 PM

a source of mixed feelings for me
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:26 PM

Whatever he did, he did. But I suspect he's hurting.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:26 PM

★ Spotlighted from Matt Sandler

“How did you end up getting affiliated with your homies in the joint, or did it happen just because they recognized who you were and accepted you into their group”

JS

Jeff Smith · 7:26 PM

you go in and you get a #
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:26 PM

because, while initially i thought he was wrongly concivted, i came to this point where i said, man i havent seen him since he was 14 and he did this at 20 and now we're 28 and maybe he was a worse person than I thought
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:27 PM

but you are right
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:27 PM

I should
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:27 PM

when you walk up the compound that first time, it's like deafening. everybody's like "yo whatup 044???"
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:27 PM

that was my last 3 digits
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:27 PM

ppl know what city you came from - or what District - by the last 3 digits
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:27 PM

but for me it was diff
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:27 PM

and I have another buddy--the best dude ever--who was recently locked up for a vehicular homicide charge in seattle...works at micrsoft, from Brooklyn, just a regular dude behind bars...but i'd imagine a lot of dudes are "regular" and our efforts at
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:28 PM

ppl got the StL post-dispatch in there
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:28 PM

they read about my case
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:28 PM

pretending otherwise are sort of silly
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:28 PM

that was really the source of my initial street cred in there - that my best pal wore a wire but i hadn't
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:29 PM

well-said - the people in there aren't that diff from us - there are assholes and pieces of shit and dumb motherfuckers, and there are talented bright people, and trustworthy people, and people, i'd do just about anything for.
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:29 PM

so how intimately acquainted are they with each case regarding people who come in
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:29 PM

that's right matt, and then of course i never ratted on anybody in there, and could be trusted to look the other way
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:29 PM

great q Drei
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:29 PM

like you said they knew yours but were they aware you'd come to THAT particular prison and when
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:30 PM

when you get to prison, most of the time they ask you to show your papers
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:31 PM

cause they wanna see if you snitched
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:31 PM

look matt
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:31 PM

★ Spotlighted from Matt Sandler

“That makes sense, they respected you for the story you came in with which included you not being a "rat"”

JS

Jeff Smith · 7:31 PM

"papers " - your case file
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:31 PM

but look matt, let;'s say you go in there on a crack charge
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:31 PM

and you got 3 years
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:32 PM

dudes are like ":wha?"
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:32 PM

because they know you ratted out dudes to get that lil bit of time
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:32 PM

so ppl steer clear of you
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:32 PM

and then some people are suspected chomos
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:32 PM

in addition to steering clear of you do they actively make your lfie more difficult
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:32 PM

and if you can't produce papers which show otherwise, you're prob gonna have a real ruff time
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:32 PM

chomos=child molesters
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:33 PM

for chomos, yes Drei. or for anyone caught snitching within the prison.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:33 PM

that's just a recipe for trouble
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:33 PM

like
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:33 PM

if ppl see you talking to a CO
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:33 PM

you're fucked.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:33 PM

Correctional Officer, sorry
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:34 PM

"chomo" - pedophile
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:34 PM

how do you learn the lay of the land? did you talk to people prior to going in
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:34 PM

naw Drei
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:34 PM

but look
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:34 PM

politics prepared me for prison
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:34 PM

i know that sounds fucked up
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:34 PM

but a) you gotta deal with a lotta sneaky motherfuckers in politics
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:35 PM

b) i had a tough district
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:35 PM

it was like 55% black, 7% bosnian, 7% latino, etc etc
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:35 PM

i had to learn how to be comfortable around ppl diff from me
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:35 PM

did you quickly make one or two particularly loyal/trustworthy friends in prison--guys who were veterans and would really help you out
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:35 PM

which ended up being a blessing in prison
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:35 PM

yeah man
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:35 PM

i really did
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:36 PM

My inmate supervisor at the warehouse, he was a mentor to me. as was this other dude in the warehouse crew, Big E
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:36 PM

that job was a blessing
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:36 PM

how do they determine your job and how much of your day is spent on said job
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:36 PM

the other dudes in the crew were 230, 250, 260, 280, 315, and 350
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Jeff Smith · 7:37 PM

the prison thot they were fucking with me putting me in such a taxing job
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:37 PM

but really they were helping me b/c when u come in at 117, it's a good thing to be friends with the biggest dudes on the compound
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Jeff Smith · 7:38 PM

they give you whatever job they wanna give you Drei
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Jeff Smith · 7:38 PM

i applied to teach civics, since i have a polisci phd
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Jeff Smith · 7:38 PM

declined.
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Jeff Smith · 7:38 PM

applied to teach black history.
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Jeff Smith · 7:38 PM

nope.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:38 PM

personal finance budgeting.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:38 PM

eh-eh.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:38 PM

job interviewing/resume writing.
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Jeff Smith · 7:39 PM

Nope.
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Jeff Smith · 7:39 PM

got 5 course proposals vetoed
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Jeff Smith · 7:39 PM

then, with a month to go, they finally transferred me to the Education dept
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Jeff Smith · 7:39 PM

since i'd fallen off a 13 ft high freezer
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Jeff Smith · 7:39 PM

and my back was all fucked up
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Jeff Smith · 7:40 PM

couple days later the MO Lieutenant Gov came to visit me
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Jeff Smith · 7:40 PM

an hr later they transferred me to the edu dept, thinking that i had a lil juice and might get in their ass
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:40 PM

so i walk down to the Head of Ed dept and he's like "Edu level?"
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Jeff Smith · 7:41 PM

and i was like "PhD."
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Jeff Smith · 7:41 PM

and he was like,. "ok, we'll let you sweep the classroom."
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Jeff Smith · 7:41 PM

★ Spotlighted from Matt Sandler

“Jeff, If you haven't written a book about your experiences, you should”

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Jeff Smith · 7:41 PM

thanks matt. i'm writing one about prison reform and weaving in my experiences.
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:41 PM

alright we're gonan start wrapping thigns up here
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:42 PM

and interestingly we didn't even get oto chat about political scandals ind epth
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:42 PM

so we will save that for another time
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Jeff Smith · 7:42 PM

sorry we didn't get to political scandals more generally, but another time, def Drei
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:42 PM

but my last question in re to prison...do you remain in contact with any of your close inmate friends and how long are they still in for? if any have gotten out or are getting out have you lent any post-jai guidance to them
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:43 PM

yes, i do. with a couple guys still locked up, and with a couple guys who've gotten out.
JS

Jeff Smith · 7:43 PM

i send books and shit to the dudes still locked up, and try to give help on job leads etc
AB

Andrei Berman · 7:44 PM

ok thanks for joining us everyone
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Jeff Smith · 7:44 PM

thanks all.