Hope & Junkies

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – "Hope & Junkies" (June 2, 2026) Podcast Summary

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Episode Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand centers on the shifting political climate in California, especially in the context of upcoming elections and the heated debates surrounding homelessness, public safety, and street crime. The hosts and guests explore the distinctions between homelessness and drug addiction, discuss the evolving strategies in political campaigning, and provide both thoughtful and satirical commentary on the broader national scene. Notable guests include Lon He Chen (Hoover Institution), Steve Hilton, and Eric Erickson.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The LA Mayoral Race and National Political Trends

Main Theme: Analysis of the dramatic LA mayoral race (Pratt vs. Bass), its national implications, and what it says about the progressive movement.

• Spencer Pratt’s Campaign: Pratt’s rise is attributed to voter frustration with decay in major cities and failed responses to issues such as homelessness, fires, and crime.
  • “It's change versus more of the same.” – [01:18]
• Progressive Backlash: The panel cites San Francisco’s shift to a moderate mayor as precedent for LA, suggesting a growing voter backlash against far-left progressivism. [03:00–04:00]
• Asymmetric Campaigning & AI: Pratt’s campaign leverages innovative, AI-driven, and creative tactics to overcome funding/name recognition deficits.
  • “His message is just on. There is decay in the cities... Excuses... are illegitimate and we want change.” – Lon He Chen [04:02]
  • AI is dramatically altering campaign strategy, making "Hollywood-quality" ads achievable for anyone (Hilton, [05:48]).

2. Homelessness, “Junkie” Crisis, and Public Policy

Main Theme: Strong arguments are posed that the so-called "homeless crisis" is fundamentally a drug/addiction crisis.

• Reframing the Debate: Joe Getty urges the use of "junkies" instead of "homeless," arguing most are drug addicts, not merely lacking housing. [07:01]
  • “They're not drug addicts because they're homeless. They're homeless because they're drug addicts.” – Joe Getty [07:01]
• Enablement and Nonprofits: The podcast critiques nonprofits as politically motivated, tax-exempt entities that perpetuate the problem for profit.
  • “These groups masquerading as... here to help society... but really... to advocate for far left causes.” – Steve Hilton [08:58]
• Body-Brokers and Out-of-State Influx: A significant proportion of California's street addicts are, allegedly, imported by "body brokers" who profit from delivering them to state-funded rehabs. After funding runs out, they stay and supplement LA’s population of street drug users. [21:24]

3. Firsthand Descriptions: The Reality of Street Addiction

Main Theme: Audio from Michael Shellenberger's documentary and a viral Doug Ellin video highlight the dangerous reality in California cities.

• Drug Use and Violence: Interviews depict open drug markets, rampant violence, and a self-perpetuating cycle enabled by lax enforcement.
  • “Everyone, I mean everyone usually has a serious drug problem.” – Field Interviewee [28:44]
  • “They pay you to be homeless here... They make it so easy and normalize it.” – Field Interviewee [29:04]
• Personal Experiences: Doug Ellin shares how crime forced him to fortify his LA home, noting, "Five years ago, didn't lock a door ... now have 15 cameras, two dogs, three guns." [23:58]
• Street Culture Insights: Interviewees admit to choosing street life for its permissiveness and to being addicted to drugs like heroin, meth, and fentanyl – including a pregnant woman. [27:31–28:01]

4. Political Party Branding and Election Mechanics

Main Theme: The Republican Party's identity remains tightly linked to the Trump brand, but the voter base has evolved (“more working class now”).

• Election Prognostication: Panelists discuss likely outcomes in the CA Republican and Democratic primaries, noting high candidate counts and the effect of ballot order on outcomes.
  • “You cannot ... govern themselves if they are likely to vote for who's at the top of the list.” – Eric Erickson [37:11]
  • The importance of down-ballot offices (DA, school board) is stressed; “Do some quick research. Figure out who's a woke lunatic... and who wants to reform government schools.” – Lon He Chen [38:36]

5. Satire and Closing Commentary

• Greg Gutfeld Joke: “There are reports that the next James Bond will be a woman… Instead of a license to kill, she'll have a license to blame you...” – Lon He Chen [33:01]
• Ballot Oddities & Public Attitudes: Stories of voters encountering massive ballots, odd professions, and passionate anti-status-quo sentiment at polling places. [33:17–36:12]
• Societal Frustration: Consensus that permissiveness (light penalties, lucrative nonprofit sector) is fueling deterioration in California cities.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Quote | Speaker | Timestamp | |---|---|---| | “His message is just on. There is decay in the cities... Excuses... are illegitimate and we want change.” | Lon He Chen | 04:02 | | “They're not drug addicts because they're homeless. They're homeless because they're drug addicts.” | Joe Getty | 07:01 | | “These groups masquerading as... here to help society... but really... to advocate for far left causes.” | Steve Hilton | 08:58 | | “Everyone, I mean everyone usually has a serious drug problem.” | Field Interviewee | 28:44 | | “Five years ago, didn't lock a door ... now have 15 cameras, two dogs, three guns.” | Doug Ellin | 23:58 | | “You cannot ... govern themselves if they are likely to vote for who's at the top of the list.” | Eric Erickson | 37:11 | | “There are reports that the next James Bond will be a woman… Instead of a license to kill, she'll have a license to blame you...” | Lon He Chen (Gutfeld joke) | 33:01 |

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• LA Mayoral Race, Progressive/Moderate Divide: 00:59–04:26
• AI and Political Ads: 05:22–06:55
• Homelessness vs Addiction Debate: 07:01–09:46
• Republican Party/Trump Brand Discussion: 10:03–12:46
• Commercial Breaks/Omitted Ads: (Skipped)
• Street Drug Problem/Documentary Clips: 21:13–30:24
• Satirical/Social Commentary & Ballot Mechanics: 33:01–39:06

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Overall Tone and Takeaway

In classic Armstrong & Getty fashion, the episode blends sharp political analysis, cultural critique, and biting humor. The hosts and guests speak candidly about the failure of progressive policies in California, the enabling of addiction under the guise of homelessness services, and the dysfunction bred by political and nonprofit interests. The call for changing terminology from “homelessness” to addressing “drug addiction” underscores their main policy argument.

Listeners are encouraged to not only vote but to research down-ballot races and understand the real drivers behind visible urban decline. The episode is a passionate, irreverent indictment of the “homeless industrial complex” and a rally for reform.

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For a deeper dive into the realities and politics of California’s urban issues, and how national trends intersect, this episode pulls no punches and challenges conventional narratives head-on.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human turn someday into Right now with Body by Jake Radio. Non stop workout music and expert tips 24 7.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, head over to iheart.com, search body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

[Joe Getty]

Remember, stick to the fight when your hardest hit. It's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit.

[Jack Armstrong]

Body by Jake Radio. Where hope meets momentum.

[Joe Getty]

Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

Iheartradio.

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Steve Hilton]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pratt released a final plea to voters on Monday. Seven minute video blasting Bass's policies on everything from homelessness to the response to the Palisades fire. And he specifically addressed people considering voting for Nithya Rahman, essentially saying that she has no chance.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

Voting for Nithya is a wasted vote. It's me versus Karen. It's change versus more of the same. It's no longer a question about me or Nithya or Karen. Nithya has no path to victory. Now it's me versus Karen.

[Eric Erickson]

It's interesting how this mayoral race has caught so many people's attention clear across the country, not just in Los Angeles. And what that might mean. We got the perfect guy to talk to. We just got this text. Good morning, guys. Thank you so much for having Lon He Chen on your show. They are my favorite interviews you guys. Do I learn something new every single time? Thank you, Eric in Texas.

[Steve Hilton]

Oh, wow.

[Lon H. Chen]

Lon he under a little pressure to deliver. Lon He Chen's the David and Diane Steffey Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution and the Director of Domestic Policy Studies at Stanford University. Lon he, how are you?

[Steve Hilton]

Well, I think we should just end the interview here. Wow, that's very kind. Thank you. Always great to be with you guys. Happy election Day here in California.

[Eric Erickson]

So if. If Pratt and Hilton both make the final two, does that say anything about the progressive movement in the country? Is that like a real blow? I'm hoping to the wackadoo fringe of the Democratic Party.

[Steve Hilton]

I think it's a message. I mean, I think we have to be careful not to. Not to draw conclusions that are too broad. I mean, one of the things certainly in the city of la, there is, I think, a backlash to what the progressive politics have done to our major cities and I think we saw it in San Francisco, by the way, a couple years ago, guys, when San Francisco elected a relatively more moderate mayor, going against several very progressive candidates. And that more moderate mayor, by a lot of accounts, has produced positive change in San Francisco. I think in la it's a similar dynamic. Karen Bass has been a complete failure. She started as a far left progressive candidate. She's tried to move more toward the middle as her electoral fortunes have declined. And there is this far left candidate, Nithya Raman, who really just has not, I think, picked up and captivated the kind of interest that you would expect in a city like la. So I do think it'll be interesting to see what happens. I mean, obviously, if she makes the runoff, if Bass makes a runoff against the progressive candidate, that's one thing. But that doesn't look to be the outcome we're going to see. It looks like it's going to be Karen Bass and Spencer Pratt. And I think it's going to be a fascinating general election if that ends up happening. Pratt has been really good. Pratt has been really good at engaging in what I would call kind of asymmetric campaign tactics. Right. He's not like he's better funded. It's not like he's got more name recognition, but he's managed to really make this a super interesting race.

[Lon H. Chen]

Well, Jack made the point. I don't want to steal your thunder because it was excellent what you said, but it's with all due respect to the brilliance of some of that AI generated stuff that Pratt and his fans have come up with. His message is just on. There is decay in the cities. It's become miserable for the taxpaying, law abiding people. The excuses that are being given are illegitimate and we want change.

[Steve Hilton]

Yeah. And what really animated that, of course, were the fires back in Palisades and in other parts of LA, the devastating fires in early 2025. And that was what started this groundswell of, you know, things are not right. You had Karen Bass off on an international trip being wined and dined while her city was burning, and it created a level of anger at the status quo that I think has continued to this day. And you add to that, you know, not just the failed response to the fires, but the ongoing homeless problem, the continuing issues around crime and public safety being a problem in the city of Los Angeles. All of those things combined have created an energy for change. And I think that's absolutely what we're seeing. And that's spot on. The reason why Spencer Pratt is gaining momentum and is part of the discussion is because people want change. It's a very simple message. Do you want more of the same, or do you want something fundamentally different? And that's what Pratt stands for.

[Eric Erickson]

It is interesting, though, those ads, how much attention they get in there. Whatever you guys in the political running for office world, call earned media and unearned media and all that sort of stuff. But if you can come up, get somebody, because there's nothing stopping me from making a creative ad in the next half hour that looks like, you know, Hollywood spent a million dollars on it. Now, in the modern world with AI, how much does that change the landscape of running for office?

[Steve Hilton]

Oh, it's such a great question. I mean, it has fundamentally altered the landscape. We have. We have seen so many changes in how campaigns are waged over the last 15 years. I mean, I remember, guys when Twitter was new, right? And this. That sort of totally changed the way that campaigns had to respond to things because the news cycle went from, you know, 24 hours to eight hours to eight minutes. And now you layer on top of that the additional social platforms, whether it's Instagram, TikTok, et cetera. And then now AI and the ability to generate videos and content, pictures, you know, everything, and the visual medium being able to do these videos, I mean, that is really the next step forward. So campaigns have changed a lot. And those of us who, you know, sort of learned how to wage campaigns and be in that venue in the 2000s and 2000s, it's a totally different ballgame now. I mean, I feel like, as the kids would say, an unk, because I'm totally, you know, out of it in a lot of ways because there's so much technology and it's moving so fast.

[Eric Erickson]

An unk?

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah.

[Eric Erickson]

Don't want to be an unk.

[Steve Hilton]

That's what they call me.

[Lon H. Chen]

I like to know when I'm being insulted, so I'm going to file that one away. We're talking to lan He Chen of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Lan he, next to your towering intellect, I, Joe Getty. I'm like a golden retriever. But I would like nonetheless, partly because we're gonna go big on this at the bottom of the hour to attempt to recruit you to not using the term homeless or homelessness because these people are drug addicts. They are not homeless because they're drug addicts or, I'm sorry, they're not drug addicts because they're homeless. They're homeless because they're drug addicts. The animating detail of their lives is their drug addiction, not their lack of a fixed address. And again, we're gonna go big at the bottom of the hour. I just, I think we need to call. And I think the homeless is. The very term, is a tool of the less.

[Eric Erickson]

Well, that's one of Spencer Pratt's main messages.

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah, yeah. And we'll be hammering that. Go ahead and comment if you like, or we can move on to other fair.

[Steve Hilton]

Well, you know, I think it's a. It's a really good point, which is that we have to understand what's causing the problems we're seeing on the streets.

[Lon H. Chen]

Right.

[Steve Hilton]

And I do think that there has been a failure to address head on some of the challenges, whether it's drug addiction, whether it's the need for mental health access, whether it's, you know, I mean, there's all sorts of different reasons. But I think that we do. We have. I think this is not just the case with the homeless issue. I think with a lot of issues, what we're failing to do as a society is to deal with the. With the root causes of some of these challenges. And people like to paper it over. That's definitely, definitely the case. And I think this is one of those issues where we're seeing a lot of papering over. I think you guys are making a really good.

[Eric Erickson]

Well, it's because if. If you can make it somebody else's fault and not their own personal fault, then you can raise money for it and say, we need to have a program and gazillions of dollars and hand it out to people, and it only

[Lon H. Chen]

makes the problem worse to your cronies.

[Steve Hilton]

Yeah. Or my favorite. My favorite is the nonprofit.

[Eric Erickson]

Oh, yeah.

[Steve Hilton]

Something that drives me nuts. I mean, how many of these nonprofits. I was speaking to someone the other day who's doing a lot of research and work on different nonprofits, quote, nonprofits in California that have really become nothing more than shell organizations for activating threats. Left. And look, I have no problem that people should vote. That's a great thing. But when you get into political activism and actively lobbying for some of these causes, that's when it becomes a problem. And I think, by the way, the U.S. department of justice should look into these nonprofit groups that are abusing their nonprofit tax status, because that creates a big, big problem in so many parts of our state, in our country is you have these groups masquerading as, you know, we're just here to try to help society. But really what they're. There to do is to advocate for far less causes.

[Lon H. Chen]

Jack, do you have more on California? I was gonna go national. So lan, he. Any thoughts on the Republican brand at this point and to the extent. And to what extent is it still, you know, synonymous with the Trump brand, what's happening with the Republican Party?

[Steve Hilton]

Well, it is, I think, synonymous for a lot of people. And one of the things that's really struck me is the continuing strength of the President's brand in Republican circles. I mean, I just want to talk about specifically within the Republican Party, how powerful his brand remains. Because if you look at what happened with Tom Massie in Kentucky, you look at what happened in the Indiana, with the Indiana legislators who voted to not redistrict to go against the president. Now many of them have been ousted. You look at Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, the senator down there, and there's other examples as well. But what has struck me is the enduring presence of the President in how Republicans think about their politics. And then by translation that also means, yes, I think because he's got such a big influence within the Republican Party more broadly, the President's brand and the Trump brand is still very much seen as synonymous with, with the Republican Party. How long that goes, what that looks like, I can't predict that. I will say that it's been enduring for sure.

[Lon H. Chen]

My only quibble is that I think you're saying the Republican Party, it's the primary voter, the core of the core. And I just wonder to what extent they actually reflect Republicans en masse and perhaps wobbly independents who might lean Republican.

[Steve Hilton]

You know, it's a good, it's a good question because the makeup of, of the Republican voter base has changed a lot over the last couple of years. Right. I mean, it is predominantly a more working class party now. And that wasn't the case, you know, four or five years ago. So people that vote Republican now, they probably wouldn't have voted Republican five or 10 years ago. And then you've got a lot of people who would have voted Republican 10 years ago who now, you know, can't do it anymore. So it is interesting. The party's undergone transition and as a result, we have to, we have to look at that voter base as being really different today than it was a decade ago.

[Eric Erickson]

I don't remember if we've ever done predictions with you before. Are you the kind of guy that doesn't make predictions?

[Steve Hilton]

I mean, I make predictions with the caveat that I'm wrong.

[Eric Erickson]

Do you think the two Republicans make the final two in California?

[Steve Hilton]

Yeah. I think the numbers are still there for Steve Hilton to make it through in the governor's race. The top two, it's going to be really close because, you know, the Republican split between Sheriff Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, I think, I think will ultimately hurt, hurt Steve Hilton. So hopefully there's some consolidation there and he's able to get through to the top two. I do think Spencer Pratt makes it through. Yeah, I think, I think there's just so much energy there. So I'm hopeful with both.

[Eric Erickson]

Boy, that'll be a fun race to watch if he makes the top two to vote early.

[Lon H. Chen]

Vote often, folks. You too, Lon he. You're good for three or four votes, I'm sure. Lon Hee Chan, David and Diane Steffey, fellow American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution. Director of Domestic Policy Studies at Stanford University. Always enlightening. Thanks, Lonnie.

[Steve Hilton]

Hey guys, have a good time. Thank you. Have a good day.

[Eric Erickson]

Yeah, I agree with my thing. Platinum definitely makes it top two. I hope Hilton does, but it's gonna be tough.

[Lon H. Chen]

Oh yeah. Fingers crossed. So a quick word from our friends at Incogni. Every scam text, sketchy email, spam call you get starts the same way. Somebody found you on a data broker site and now they're using AI to mimic your kids voices and call you and say, hey, I'm getting arrested. I'm in.

[Eric Erickson]

T.R. help.

[Lon H. Chen]

Dad. It's so insidious. But Incogni can help.

[Eric Erickson]

So you got the spam filters, the call blockers, they don't do the trick. The real fix is to disappear. And that's when Incogni does. They contact hundreds of data brokers, legally force them to remove your information. That's why we're using Incogni to get our names and info away from these data brokers. And you'll notice a drop really fast in your spam calls, emails and texts.

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah, it Incogni is a trusted website you can use to put data brokers on notice they cannot sell your data. Rely on it. Contact hundreds of these data brokers forces them to delete your personal info. Go to incog.com armstrong you get a big discount. I N C o G N I.com Armstrong incogni.com Armstrong got a couple of

[Eric Erickson]

funny things I want to point out. A bunch of news we need to get to, by the way, like 30

[Lon H. Chen]

headlines we ought to touch on.

[Eric Erickson]

Almost certainly won't get results in California tonight. So don't be, you know, thinking that's the way this is going to play out. It'll take a while because they're going to be close a lot on the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay here Armstrong and Getty.

[Eric Erickson]

Armstrong and Getty here for hims, there are all kinds of great weight loss approaches that fit into your world out there. They've got them at hims with a wide range of affordable GLP1 options.

[Lon H. Chen]

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[Eric Erickson]

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[Lon H. Chen]

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[Jack Armstrong]

to be a star? No problem. Anyone can shine on TikTok. Post your first video today. Real life, real story. Real you. Download TikTok and get started. Turn someday into Right now with Body by Jake Radio. Non stop workout music and expert tips 247 hey.

[Joe Getty]

Head over to iheart.com search body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

[Joe Getty]

Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit. It's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit.

[Jack Armstrong]

Body by Jake Radio where hope meets momentum.

[Joe Getty]

Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

I heart Radio.

[Eric Erickson]

There is a Skyline Chili egg roll in the house. How is it? Well, since you guys have absolutely no guts whatsoever and since I'm a team player, I'm gonna try it out.

[Lon H. Chen]

It's not the world's most rigging endorsement. I love Skyline. Can I just say that for the

[Steve Hilton]

record, this is the lowest point in my career?

[Lon H. Chen]

I've had some low ones. So his review was and oof.

[Eric Erickson]

And then he called it the lowest

[Lon H. Chen]

point of his career.

[Eric Erickson]

That's a couple of Cincinnati Reds announcers really having a good time. I love it when baseball announcers do that sort of thing. There should be more of that, not less. Because you have so much downtime. If you have a couple of entertaining people or one entertaining person, there's plenty of time to talk about lots of

[Lon H. Chen]

things I missed the era of my life when I was a, a rabid baseball fan and B, had time to watch and listen to more baseball. They were trying a chili egg roll on the air, whatever that is.

[Eric Erickson]

An oof.

[Lon H. Chen]

Oh, yeah, the great baseball announcers. I feel warmth for them, like they're old friends.

[Eric Erickson]

Couple of things for you. There was a Babylon Bee headline. Jill Biden is still making the rounds and doing the interviews. I can't believe I was reading the Wall Street Journal review because they did an interview with her. They took the whole she thought he was having a stroke thing seriously. Obvious lie. But anyway, Babylon be with this headline, Jill Biden explains she thought Joe Biden had a stroke during the debate, which is why she left him up there to die. Wow.

[Lon H. Chen]

Wow. Oh, and you know, that reminds me, I'd read in, I think it was the Free Beacon. Elsewhere in the book, Jill describes being worried that Sleepy Joe had accidentally, quote, drugged himself with sleeping pills or cough syrup. That she presents this as a plausible scenario does little to dispel concerns that the president's brain was not functioning and she knew it all along.

[Steve Hilton]

Right.

[Eric Erickson]

Different topic. We talked about 60 Minutes and Scott Pelly and that whole blow up an hour two, if you want to get the podcast and check that out, is quite the scene. I mean, I mean quite the work scene. You just, you have a star employee just laying into the new boss and the boss eventually saying, you're not going to intimidate me and gets up and walks out. And then everybody cheers. So you got quite the dynamic there. Anyway, I left this out. This is from Eric Erickson, fellow radio person Scott Pelley being a insufferable P word, he says. But anyway, 60 Minutes boss Nick Bilton. Scott Pelly says to him, I find it. I'm going to try to do it like Scott Pelley. I can't do it that slow though. We don't have all day. I find it odd that you would take this job knowing that you would never be welcomed here. What a douchebag thing to say.

[Lon H. Chen]

You're fired.

[Eric Erickson]

I think you. You said you give it 48 hours, cool down over maybe, maybe I don't know how valuable they think Pelly is to the whole project. That would really hurt it because you got to put up with a jerk if he's about important to the the sports team or the show or whatever, but that guy pulls that whole I'm the boss here routine out. Get the hell out of here.

[Lon H. Chen]

Speaking of being a baseball fan, the beloved, formerly San Francisco Giants started winning when they kicked Barry Bonds out. Not that they didn't win with him, but yeah, good point. Scott Pelley's Barry Bonds.

[Eric Erickson]

He really is.

[Lon H. Chen]

And I bought a swole as him, too.

[Eric Erickson]

He is. Well, he'll have plenty of time to tan and work out soon.

[Lon H. Chen]

As I mentioned to Lon Hee Chen coming up, the agreement, the spreading agreement that it's drugs, not quote unquote homelessness from some surprising sources wherever you live. You need to listen to this and start spreading the word.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty turn Someday into Right now with Buddy by Jake Radio. Non stop workout music and expert tips 24 7.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, head over to iheart.com, search body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now.

[Lon H. Chen]

Awesome.

[Jack Armstrong]

Health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

[Joe Getty]

Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit.

[Jack Armstrong]

Body by Jake Radio where hope meets momentum.

[Joe Getty]

Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

I heart radio. Well, they're not homeless. They're drug addicts. Most of these people are addicted to fentanyl and meth.

[Lon H. Chen]

So Spencer Pratt there, who we've been discussing specifically in the context of junkies ruining the cities of the west coast and other cities around America, and a couple of things. Number one, he pointed out to Bill Maher the other day that 60% of the junkies on the streets in California came from elsewhere. I think he was talking about San Francisco, LA specifically. That's something we've been talking about for years and years. And Amy Reichert, who's a commentator based out of San Diego, it's pointing out that body brokers, they're called, literally recruit drug addicts from other states, buy them a plane ticket to California, then get paid for delivering them to rehab centers and sober living homes. There have been several prosecutions for this, but after the junkies get kicked out of drug treatment because they're not really serious about it anyway. And plus, you know, it's hard to kick drugs and they're no longer profitable. They're stuck in California. They go straight to the skid rows of the various cities where the quote unquote homeless nonprofits can monetize them.

[Eric Erickson]

I was surprised that Bill Maher was surprised that a lot of the drug Addicts living in your town or state are from somewhere else. I mean, because he's pretty, you know, unhappy with the current state of California, even as a lifelong Democrat. And I just would think he'd be aware of that. Like, I live in a town that's got more drug addicts than the town next to it, because the town next to it doesn't put up with it. I mean, just they. They make these decisions.

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah, yeah. And, you know, there's a reason all the junkies call Seattle free adult and why they've got such an enormous junkie problem. It's because they make it so comfortable to be a junkie there. It's the enabling on steroids. Anyway, I wanted to get to a couple of pieces of fairly long audio, but I think they're both worth it. This is so interesting. Doug Ellen was the guy, the showrunner, the creator of the show Entourage, which is always very entertaining. He's a Hollywood entertainment type. He made a video around his house.

[Eric Erickson]

He'd have to be very wealthy then.

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah. Oh, speaking of wealth, I meant to say that. Oh, yeah. Judging by his pad there in his neighborhood. Yeah. This, this segment, if enough people heard, it could cost many, many millions of dollars to the homeless industrial complex. Please don't murder us. We're nice fellas and our kids seem fond of us, so. Because the amount of money being handed out is in the tens of billions of dollars at this point. And that's just in, you know, the great state of Cal. Unicornia. Anyway, so this is Doug Ellen with a video he just made and put

[Doug Ellin]

out LA Times gaslighters. It's weird. One of 15 cameras that I now have at this house. Two German Shepherds, three legal guns five years ago, didn't lock a door here. But you know what happened? Two animals invaded my house. And no, I'm not racist, because they were wearing masks. I don't know if they were white. I don't know if they were Jewish. I don't know if they were rabbis. I know they were animals because they invaded my house. I know. I don't care what their excuses are like. A lot of you care. I know invaders of home should get 20 years, but I'm not paranoid. So I don't believe your bull about the stats and the crime because everyone in my neighborhood has got the same problem. They're all putting cameras and hiring security guards because we're all getting broken into. It's not made up, it's not false. And this city has collapsed in the last five years. There Denying it unless you have an agenda, and I don't know what that is, but you say, oh, Spencer Pratt has no experience, so how can we possibly think about this? What experience did Karen Bass have? Rick Caruso, who we know can build things, who we know can fix problems, when you made sure he couldn't win. So right now you're putting people in the same position that you did with Trump, who I did not vote for, by the way. You put them in by making sure we had no options. Okay? And that's where we are in la. And we want to fix this place because we don't want to be forced out. I'm one of the people who made this city look great. I did it for years. I glorified it. I meet people all the time that moved here because the show that I created and they hate it here now.

[Lon H. Chen]

Hate that is a convert to sanity.

[Eric Erickson]

Yeah. It's too bad it takes somebody at that level to start to feel pain before you can, you know, get attention. You'd think every single one of us going to the store like I did last night and waiting for someone to come unlock your shampoo would be enough, right?

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah. And then the second piece of audio I want to play for you is a. It's a teaser essentially from Michael Shellenberger's new documentary with, I can't remember, his co documentary documentarian. But the entire theme of it is what we've been trying to hammer for years. The quote unquote homeless problem is a drug problem. I think 80% is an underestimate of what percentage of people in the junkie camps are there because they're junkies. What I referred to, for lack of a better term, is the righteous homeless. The folks of, you know, not great intellect or had the devastating medical bill or whatever, and they just, they can't afford housing and they've ended up on the street. You almost never see them. They don't commit crimes. And I would be delighted to have well administered fraud free programs for people like that. But at least 80% of the people that the just gigantic piles of money are flowing toward, it's actually to the NGOs that the bums and junkies only get a tiny percentage of it. It's the ripoff artists that get the money. But the vast majority of those people are drug addicts, plain and simple. Here is a sample of Michael Shellenberger's new piece. Oh, you should know. They talked to a woman a fair amount. She is visibly pregnant, which ups the ante of horror. The rest of the people are tattooed, faced, living in a tents, you know, just. Well, they're junkies. Broad daylight. I saw someone get raped. I've been raped, bullied, picked on, stripped naked, robbed. Somebody gets stabbed. Be like someone robbed me with a

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

machete today of all my stuff

[Steve Hilton]

with crowbars and bats.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

I saw dude get shot in the back of the head. Somebody getting shot, do they live?

[Jack Armstrong]

No, you will end up getting hurt out here.

[Steve Hilton]

The other homeless people are like your worst enemy.

[Jack Armstrong]

These people do not play out here.

[Lon H. Chen]

Besides, I have weapons. I have, I have protections. Okay, what kind of weapons? Bats, hatchets, nice mace, tasers and what's your drug of choice, brother?

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

Heroin, crystal.

[Lon H. Chen]

Beth. Meth and heroin. Crystal.

[Joe Getty]

Math.

[Lon H. Chen]

Math. I don't know anybody that does. I don't know anybody doesn't smoke.

[Doug Ellin]

Matt.

[Lon H. Chen]

No. We saw a woman who was pregnant just now. What is she smoking? She's smoking fentanyl and she's eight months pregnant. So are you seeing more people showing

[Eric Erickson]

up in psychotic states naked now than say yes two, three years ago? Yes, I think so.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

I don't know what they're putting in this stuff. I don't know if it was aliens. I'm not trying to sound crazy.

[Eric Erickson]

No, no, it's fine.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

Must be causing all these like psychological breakdowns. And I think that they had put

[Lon H. Chen]

like a transmitter or something because I

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

was able communicate and it looked like

[Lon H. Chen]

I was talking to myself.

[Steve Hilton]

My job was to intake homeless individuals on the street.

[Doug Ellin]

I don't have to be on the streets.

[Lon H. Chen]

I just choose to be. You just choose to be. A lot of people are out here because they want to be out here. Everyone, I mean everyone usually has a serious drug problem.

[Steve Hilton]

They kind of just kind of quit society.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

This right now is literally by choice.

[Eric Erickson]

Did you get the sense that I

[Doug Ellin]

have cared whether they're wrong person?

[Lon H. Chen]

No, Def.

[Steve Hilton]

And I'm not trying to be like

[Lon H. Chen]

crazy with it, but definitely not.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

I mean if we're going to be realistic. They pay you to be homeless here.

[Lon H. Chen]

They make it so easy and normalize it. Drug dealers are just being let go over and over and over.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

It's like the cops are. It's like they're your neighbor, you know,

[Lon H. Chen]

they enable them because they allow the

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

open air drug market, open street danning like that with the cops just across the street like watching them.

[Lon H. Chen]

I think they've given up on the people that are out there on the street.

[Field Reporter / Interviewee]

I've never seen anything like it. And I've been in a game for 30 years, dude. Never seen anything like it, the game

[Lon H. Chen]

being being a street drug addict. One of the main points of it, and it was kind of hard to hear because everything's got to have loud, stupid music over it, is that some of the counselors and medical people they talk to are saying the super meth is. That's what Spencer Pratt calls it, is absolutely destroying people's minds. He's seeing way more psychosis and we're enabling that. We're letting people do drugs as long as possible with no repercussions. So they can ruin their mind but good. So they can never function in society to keep the money flowing.

[Eric Erickson]

Any scromming?

[Lon H. Chen]

Didn't see any scromming. Boy, that eight month pregnant chick smoking fentanyl, saying, yeah, well, this is by choice. I want to be out here.

[Eric Erickson]

That's rough.

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah, it is. But let's keep helping her do it. No repercussions. Last thing we want to do is any repercussions for breaking the law. Cops just watch. They watch the open air drug market.

[Eric Erickson]

Scromming is when you scream and vomit at the same time, which I've never done. I don't think.

[Lon H. Chen]

The mess, the, the girl. What's the worst?

[Eric Erickson]

Drawing attention to yourself? I'd rather vomit quietly in the corner.

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah, absolutely. It's like many acts done by human beings. It's best enjoyed, you know, solo. Yeah.

[Eric Erickson]

Crowding is from the extra strong pot, right?

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah. Yeah. They're seeing more and more of that in the hospitals too. Do you think the message we've been trying to, you know, get across is starting to catch on?

[Eric Erickson]

I. I don't. I don't get it. I mean, I would think you live in a lot of cities where you drive to work or take your kids to school or you're running errands on the weekend. You see these people all over the place.

[Lon H. Chen]

And the homeless industrial complex and their friends in the government have convinced you that. Yeah, Poor unfortunate people.

[Eric Erickson]

Yeah.

[Lon H. Chen]

And I can't afford the.

[Eric Erickson]

I've known a few people like that about. They go to the store and see stuff locked up. Had a friend like this, very nice person, but when she would see stuff locked up at the store, her reaction would be, man, and it's the stuff they need the most that they lock up. That was her reaction.

[Steve Hilton]

Wow.

[Eric Erickson]

As opposed to they're just shoveling into the trash bags and then selling it.

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah. Cal Unicornia, where realism goes to die.

[Eric Erickson]

They're scumbag thieves. There's scumbag thieves. There's a certain percentage of the population that will steal from you rather than work. It's always been true. It'll always be true. And unless you have systems in place to keep them from doing that, it will happen.

[Lon H. Chen]

There are negative consequences. As Doug Ellen was pointing out is clearly a man of the left. You've made it so easy to be a criminal. Now there's crime everywhere. And he said:5 years ago I didn't even lock my doors. Right now he's got 11 cameras, two dogs, multiple guns and all of his neighbors are doing the same. Just. Yeah, keep blaming it on housing prices. Chase Louise,

[Eric Erickson]

do a funny Greg Gutfeld joke among other things when we come back. Stay tuned.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Lon H. Chen]

There are reports that the next James Bond will be a woman. Yeah. Instead of a license to kill, she'll have a license to blame you for whatever happened to her.

[Steve Hilton]

In her dreams.

[Eric Erickson]

Got a text from somebody who voted in California. I voted in person this morning. Was ballot number one. I was line leader in kindergarten, so it's no surprise. Anyway, this person this is in California in line before they opened, everyone in all caps was talking about how much they hate the people in charge in California right now and are hoping there is change. Really passionate discussions going on all ages. Black guy, Mexican dude and his wife lady who moved from Chicago and said California is worse than Chi town. It was very interesting eavesdropping.

[Lon H. Chen]

Wow.

[Eric Erickson]

Hard to say if that is just representative of that area or not. So I'm looking at an actual paper ballot in California. I'm going to vote in person today. I don't know. I haven't voted in person in forever. But I'm just going to show up and from what everything I understand, don't let me vote. Somebody said they tried to show their driver's license. They're like, you don't need that. Which is hilarious. There are 60 people on the ballot for governor in California. 60. Did you know that?

[Lon H. Chen]

Wow.

[Eric Erickson]

It's a very long ballot. Why do all these people run?

[Joe Getty]

What.

[Eric Erickson]

What are they? What do they. What is going on there for most of the 60? I mean there. We all know there's like a half a dozen who actually thought they were had a shot at being governor. But what are the other 50 people doing? You have any idea?

[Lon H. Chen]

I'd be guessing. Have you ever known anybody that for fun?

[Eric Erickson]

I wonder how fun it is. I wouldn't think it'd be that fun. Lots of different. You have to put your profession on, which is kind of odd. Wonder why you list your profession. When did we decide that that is such A major piece of information that of the two things I know about you, and I only know two things. Your party preference and what you do for a living.

[Lon H. Chen]

Anyway, my friend called for jury duty the other day and the judge asked, what do you do for a living? What does your spouse do for a living? Looking at.

[Eric Erickson]

Through.

[Lon H. Chen]

I like to find people looking through

[Eric Erickson]

some of these 60 people. Real estate agent. Retired nuclear engineer. Businessman. Immigrants organizer. Human rights attorney. Eric Swalwell is a U.S. representative. I sleep with Chinese spies. That's what I do for a living. I like people that just put father. You might have a job, but putting father is fine with me. Musician, songwriter, social worker, farmer. Housing affordability advocate. I wonder how you're gonna vote. Communications executive. Another father. Chiropractor. Chiropractors can vote in America. They should be allowed to. Seems like a mistake. Anyway, 60 people on the ballot of all different walks and stripes, and most of them Democrats. I wonder what you think you're getting out of that.

[Lon H. Chen]

I'll have to ask somebody to get on the ballot. Is there one?

[Eric Erickson]

I'm guessing it's like. Yeah, I'm guessing it's like $75 and that's it.

[Lon H. Chen]

I'll bet just, like, win the Nobel Prize.

[Eric Erickson]

But I wonder. I wonder. And. And at the end of it, you have the opportunity to write in after the six. If you don't like any of the 60 options on there. It's an alphabetical order and you have to go way down before you get to Hilton. Then there's a person in between. Then. No, it's not an alphabetical order. I don't know what order.

[Lon H. Chen]

It's randomized.

[Eric Erickson]

Okay, well, Hilton and Becerra are one person apart, and those are the likely. I hope two people that end up coming out of this, because the top two run against each other for November 3rd, when we all vote all over the place to decide who gets what.

[Lon H. Chen]

I remember it was decades ago that I first heard about ballot order being randomized because political scientists figured out that people vote overwhelmingly for the first person, which is crazy. Well, it's proof democracy can't work.

[Eric Erickson]

That is pretty much all you need to know. Yes, you cannot. People cannot govern themselves if they are likely to vote for who's at the top of the list.

[Lon H. Chen]

Well, and it's even worse than it sounds at first blush because it's a person who thinks, I don't have any idea who any of these people are, but I should vote, and I'm going to vote for, well, the first person.

[Eric Erickson]

And sometimes that's me. There are races where I'll get in there and I think I don't know anything about this race at all.

[Steve Hilton]

All.

[Eric Erickson]

But I've never thought. So I'll go with whoever is first on the list. Go by party or something. Or think I'd rather have a dad in this job than a, you know, community organizer or whatever you're basing it on. But whoever's first on the list, you're a certain sort of moron.

[Lon H. Chen]

Well, I don't think. It's not a conscious decision. They just are going to pick somebody and just they overwhelmingly pick the first person. You don't have more just a human tendency.

[Eric Erickson]

You don't have any more control over your human tendencies than that.

[Lon H. Chen]

Don't vote.

[Eric Erickson]

No kidding.

[Steve Hilton]

I know.

[Eric Erickson]

I'll go for controller here. I'll vote for Herb Morgan because he's first on the list. I don't know anything about him.

[Lon H. Chen]

Hey, you know, today's the perfect day to repeat this. And depending on when your primaries are, this advice is for you as well. Vote for your city attorney or your whatever your prosecutor. Remember when George Soros got all those radical leftists into those jobs?

[Eric Erickson]

Yeah.

[Lon H. Chen]

And is still doing it. Refusing to enforce the law. Like we've been talking about this half hour and school board stuff. Do some quick research. Neglect something and do some quick research. Figure out who's a woke lunatic trying to teach your kids to change their gender and who wants to actually reform government schools. Those are important elections.

[Eric Erickson]

I'm looking at the race for lieutenant governor, which is a. I haven't made my decision yet. I'm still trying to weigh the pros and cons of various candidates for that

[Lon H. Chen]

important job final primary. Bit of trivia I found really interesting. I was looking up who had primaries today and discovered that the first primaries in the nation are in March and the last ones are in September.

[Eric Erickson]

And then they come.

[Lon H. Chen]

Yeah. In the country.

[Eric Erickson]

Country votes November 3rd on and lots of stuff. If you missed a sec, make it the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.