Live from Music Row, Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed marketing guru, Craig Huey of The Huey Report in studio to describe his recent trip to California where he witnessed the overwhelming homeless condition and vibes of oppression.
Leahy: In studio, our very good friend, a recent California refugee, a very successful businessman with a database marketing company, Mr. Craig Huey. Good morning, Craig.
Huey: Good morning, Michael. How are you?
Leahy: Craig, I have failed the test of being a good host in previous times here when the coffee that I’ve made for you and the container in which it’s been held have not been top-rated.
Huey: Well, that’s true. But, Michael, you have really achieved a great accomplishment, this coffee is great. What is this coffee?
Leahy: (Laughs) It’s called liberal tears.
Huey: Perfect.
Leahy: By Black Rifle Coffee. And you can get it at liberaltears.net.
Huey: That’s awesome.
Leahy: It’s important to me that when guests come in studio, they have a pleasant experience, and I’m a good host.
Huey: Or a little energy.
Leahy: A little energy. And so the coffee is good today. You like it? Drinking it as we speak. (Huey chuckles) So now, Craig, you’re always so much fun to talk with. I lived in California for a period of time, but I got smart earlier. (Laughter) I left 31 years ago.
Huey: Yes. Which was probably a good time.
Leahy: And you left, what, two years ago?
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: But you have a hugely successful database and marketing company here now, based in Nashville.
Huey: In Nashville. And no regrets.
Leahy: How could anybody regret living in state income tax-free Tennessee? But you do a lot of traveling.
Huey: Oh, yeah. And occasionally you give us the reports from your travels, particularly back to California.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: How bad is it getting there?
Huey: Worse.
Leahy: It’s even worse.
Huey: It’s even worse. (Leahy chuckles) You know, I am so astonished by instead of seeing improvements, I see declines. I got to tell you, I was traveling through Los Angeles just recently.
You’re talking about a week ago. I made a trip to Arizona and made a trip to California. And in that time, I was so beyond discouraged, really discouraged, because I love California.
Leahy: It’s beautiful. There is no more beautiful place in the world.
Huey: Or weather.
Leahy: Or weather than California. But they’re ruining it.
Huey: The politics have ruined the state of California. I had to leave California from a business perspective because of its anti-business policies. I left as a personal matter because of the crime, the homelessness, and the high taxes in a state that you cannot live in or retire in, you cannot build a business in anymore.
Leahy: And now there are people, the Silicon Valley oligarch billionaire types, they can live there. And the Hollywood types, who are worth over $10 million or so, can live there. But what did you experience in Los Angeles last week that was an indication of the further decline of California?
Huey: I was around an area called Griffith Park, and it’s a beautiful area, except the homeless control the Griffith Park area. The homeless are just encamping there with their tents, and it’s become like many cities with nobody doing anything about it. And then I watch the news.
I take a look at what’s going on in the local area and it’s one attack by a homeless person against somebody walking down the street, threatening somebody at a school or church, intimidated because these people are all around harassing the people trying to come into the church. It is a nightmare for people living there.
Leahy: It really is. For like an average, an everyday person who’s trying to basically just make a living and take care of their family.
Huey: Oh, it broke my heart as a business owner to see all these retail stores. I told my wife, I looked at my wife, Shelley, I said, Shelley, can you imagine walking to one of these retail stores with all these homeless camped out in front? It wouldn’t be safe for you.
Leahy: Not exactly what you call a pleasant shopping experience, is it?
Huey: No. Not at all.
Leahy: And then you come back to God’s country, Middle Tennessee beautiful and the people are nice and no state income tax. I don’t know if I mentioned that.
Huey: I talk about the fact that there’s oppression. There’s a feeling of oppression.
Leahy: Oh, yeah, in California. And there’s a feeling of freedom and liberty in Tennessee.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Craig Huey” by Craig Huey. Background Photo “Franklin, Tennessee” by Brandon Jean.
Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed creator of the Huey Report and direct mail expert, Craig Huey, in-studio to discuss the California recall efforts, Gavin Newsom’s strategy, a Larry Elder win, and how to do it.
Leahy: You know, just because we go on commercial doesn’t mean that we stop talking to each other, because you almost caught us, folks, midstream talking about cool stuff. I’m here with Craig Huey, the digital marketing expert, the California refugee, and our good friend who’s finally come back in studio after about a month’s absence.
We were talking about California and the latest polls on the recall. Let’s focus on who of those possible replacements for Gavin Newsom, who’s doing well in the polls, and then whether or not he’s going to be recalled. The other question. So Caitlyn Jenner: Four percent.
Huey: Yes
Leahy: The guy in the bear suit.
Huey: 10 percent. And then the liberal former mayor of San Diego, he has 10 percent. And then there is Larry Elder.
Leahy: And where is he?
Huey: He’s around 20, 25 percent.
Leahy: Are you kidding me?
Huey: Yes. He is miles ahead of everybody else. And really without an organization, without a lot of money. His name recognition has just put him at the top. And here’s the thing, Michael. This is what’s great about this election. Gavin Newsom, there are two ballots on the ballot.
Leahy: You walk in?
Huey: No you don’t walk in. It’s all mail-in.
Leahy: 100 percent mail-in.
Huey: 100 percent mail-in.
Leahy: Not good. Not good.
Huey: We can talk about that. We should talk about that.
Leahy: All mail-in.
Huey: It’s all mail-in.
Leahy: This means the opportunity for fraud is greater, according to the 2005 bipartisan commission.
Huey: Michael, what it means is two things: Greater fraud possibility. So they have to be on alert. And then number two, they have to out-mobilize Gavin Newsom and the unions. Here’s what’s on the ballot. Do you want to see Gavin Newsom recalled or not? Yes or no.
Leahy: Yes or no.
Huey: And so if 50 plus one vote, say yes …
Leahy: 50 percent plus one vote.
Huey: Yes, then he’s out, completely out.
Leahy: Let’s say he gets 50 percent to say you should stay. Fifty point one percent say you should go. He’s gone.
Huey: He’s gone.
Leahy: The vote is September 15?
Huey: It’s September 15, which he made. It was supposed to be somewhere near November.
Leahy: He accelerated it.
Huey: Because he didn’t want his opposition to mobilize and raise funds.
Leahy: Yeah, well, okay. Because he had the advantage, to begin with.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: If 50.1 percent or more of California and two votes are counted, say you’re out, on what date does he leave the governor’s mansion? Is it the following day?
Huey: It’s like the following day. He’s totally out. That’s it. Gone forever!
Leahy: Bye-bye, Gavin.
Huey: But we’ve gotta get rid because he wants to be president. (Leahy sighs) But that’s another story. So here’s what happens. Question number two, and about who do you want to have as governor? Gavin Newsom is not on that ballot. And there are a couple of Democrats.
There are 40 candidates running. Porn stars and all kinds of things. There are some really good candidates from a policy standpoint, but they have no money. They have no campaign put together. It’s a hope and a wish.
Leahy: Hope and a wish don’t work well.
Huey: It doesn’t work well. It’s a disaster. And I know these candidates and some of them are really good, but they aren’t going to make it. The California Republican Party is filled with liberal Republicans.
It’s filled with what we call the consultant class. The consultant class is people who are caught 25 years, and they are not conservative. They are not libertarian. They’re just part of the RINO group and the Republicans.
Leahy: You know all of this well because back in 2011 you ran in a special election for Congress in a district in Los Angeles county. Long Beach area?
Huey: South Bay. Santa Monica and down to San Pedro.
Leahy: And you almost won the special election.
Huey: A couple of thousand votes and I would have won in an 18 plus Democrats.
Leahy: We are selfishly glad that you didn’t win because otherwise you probably wouldn’t be here in Tennessee.
Huey: Probably not.
Leahy: You’d probably still be representing – think – that area in California.
Huey: Probably so.
Leahy: But you’d be in the minority in the House of Representatives being fined if you didn’t wear a mask.
Huey: They’d probably throw me in jail.
Leahy: And you would probably not be as happy as you are today in the income-tax-free state, Tennessee.
Huey: That’s right. So there’s drama in California. What they have done is that the consultant class, the liberal Republicans, are trying to have the California Republican Party endorse Kevin Faulconer, the former mayor of San Diego, who’s a liberal.
Leahy: He’s a liberal.
Huey: And if the Republican Party endorses Kevin Faulconer, that could give him the ability to catch up or exceed.
Leahy: And he’s at 10 percent right now.
Huey: Right. He’s at 10 percent.
Leahy: Why not back a very intelligent 68-year-old native of South Central Los Angeles, black conservative, a well-known great guy, Larry Elder. Wouldn’t that be the smart thing for them to do?
Huey: It seems like it’d be the only thing that they could do. But that’s not what they’re trying to do because they do not want to have a conservative represent the Republican Party.
Leahy: Well, we’ll see how that plays out. We are now on July 29. So we’ve got six weeks until the election.
Huey: That’s correct.
Leahy: To me, I think the six weeks right now plays to Larry Elder’s advantage.
Huey: It does.
Leahy: Would you agree?
Huey: I totally agree.
Leahy: Because he’s got the name ID.
Huey: That’s right. That’s why they tried to keep him off the ballot. They knew that this could happen. And it has happened right now. Gavin Newsom on the yes versus no vote, it’s 50-50.
Leahy: Ahhh.
Huey: And remember this, it’s in the margin of error. And remember this. In California 25 percent of the registered voters are Republican. About 26-27 percent are independent. And then you’ve got the Democrats who dominate. And with likely voters, it’s like 50-50. That’s why it could actually happen.
Leahy: Let’s put on our dreaming caps for the moment. Let’s say it’s September 16.
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: And I think we need to have you in studio on September 16. I don’t know what day that is. Probably a Wednesday, but we’ll have you in studio. And let’s just say I say to you, Craig, guess what?
Gavin Newsom is out as governor. He didn’t get 50 percent of the vote. And guess what? Larry Elder tomorrow is going to be inaugurated governor.
Huey: It will be a tsunami. This is why across the United States the Democrats are mobilizing, sending in volunteers, sending in paid workers to California. They cannot allow Gavin Newsom to lose. Here’s how corrupt everything is, Michael. All the candidates, Larry Elder, John Cox, Caitlin, all have a financial limit of how much people can give.
About $5,000 an individual. Gavin Newsom on the yes or no vote has no limits. So unions are writing him checks for $5 million, $3 million, $2 million. And he is getting this money now. He has about $40 million, and he’s probably going to end up with $100 million. But here’s the thing.
Any of these candidates can beat Gavin Newsom on the money because it’s not so much about policy. People hate Gavin Newsom, his egotism, and his elitism. His socialism in California has failed policies of crime and homelessness. It’s terrific.
He can be defeated. But it comes back to this. Who is better to get the data of who their voter is and then get them out to vote. That person will be the winner. And you don’t have to have more money to do that.
Leahy: This is a consistent theme from the data marketing expert Craig Huey.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Gov. Gavin Newsom” by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Spencer Lindquist who is an intern at The Federalist and a senior at Pepperdine University to the newsmakers line to discuss his recent piece on the funding of Drag Queen Story Hours in San Francisco.
Leahy: We are delighted to welcome to our newsmaker line, Spencer Lindquist. He’s an intern with The Federalist and a senior at Pepperdine University, where he studies political science and rhetoric and leadership and serves as Pepperdine’s College Republicans President. Good morning, Spencer.
Lindquist: Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for having me on Mr. Leahy.
Leahy: Now, Spencer, where are you originally from?
Lindquist: I’m originally from the Silicon Valley in California. The home of Big Tech. And, of course, not too far from the site of this story.
Leahy: I went to Stanford Business School, so I know the Silicon Valley area pretty well. Which city are you from there?
Lindquist: I’m from San Jose right on the verge of Campbell.
Leahy: San Jose near Campbell. I know exactly where that is. And so you chose to go to Pepperdine. My daughter went to Pepperdine. Beautiful school. How do you get any work done?
Lindquist: I would say it’s a gorgeous campus. I’m blessed to be able to go there. Growing up, I went to these large public schools in Silicon Valley and they had a heavy slant leftwards.
It was a blessing to be able to go to Pepperdine and still be able to go to Pepperdine, where it has a Christian influence. And, of course, it’s just a gorgeous place to be.
Leahy: It’s the most beautiful college campus, I think, in the world. It’s literally across the street from the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. And then it’s got a beautiful hill that rises up. You are in your dorm room and you look out, boom there’s the Pacific ocean. Again, how do you get any studying? That’s a great place.
Lindquist: Yeah, it’s not easy. It’s not easy. It’s very tempting.
Leahy: Very tempting. So your story at The Federalist, which is pretty compelling. San Francisco Leftists are Funding Your Local Library’s Drag Queen Story Hour. What’s the financial history of this group?
Lindquist: The Drag Queen Story Hour, just in case we have any listeners who are not familiar with this organization. This is an organization that partners with local libraries throughout the country.
They have chapters in 29 different states as well as on four different continents. And they bring in drag queens to read the children. They often read children about topics such as gender expression or white privilege, and various different left-wing topics.
And they’re originally founded by Radar Productions, which is a San Francisco-based nonprofit. This is a nonprofit that was founded by a former lesbian sex worker. And they’ve been funded by a variety of different groups, including wealthy and prominent non-governmental organizations there in San Francisco, as well as some state and city agencies.
They have been under the management of Radar Productions from 2015 to 2018. And upon looking into the financial history of this organization, there are some striking details relating to their funding.
Oftentimes these organizations like to portray themselves as grassroots groups that are simply local networks when in reality, there is some very, very powerful money interest behind them.
Leahy: Let’s see if I can un-sort this. Now, the Zellerbach Family Foundation gave Radar Productions a lot of money in 2015, 2016, and 2018 when it was managing Drag Queen Story Hour. Who else is involved in it?
Lindquist: The Zellerbach Family Foundation is one of the big funders. There are several others. The Walter and Elise Haas Fund, also a large sums of money to Radar Productions when Radar was managing the organization.
And there are also some state and city agencies as well. You have the California Arts Council, and that is an agency of the state. The board members are actually appointed by the governor of California.
And there is also the San Francisco Arts Commission. And that, of course, is an agency of the city. And collectively, between 2015 and 2018, they gave $110,000. to Radar Productions, which put on Drag Queen Story Hour.
And mind you, this is in San Francisco. This is a city where you cannot walk 10 steps without having to dodge a hypodermic needle or human waste on the streets. And you got $110,000. going to bring Drag Queens into close proximity with young children.
Leahy: How do they fund it now? Does it look like it’s a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit right now?
Lindquist: Now it is largely they claim to be locally and independently based. So they got chapters again on four different continents in 29 different States as well as in Puerto Rico.
So this is an international organization. And they get a variety of different sources of funding now, which is not clear, evident, or available to look into these funds now because it is a bit more dispersed.
But this is really how it got started through Radar Productions. So it began as a more centralized organization. And then that was really what allowed it to grow and spread to the international scale that it enjoys today.
Leahy: I’m trying to see what their entity is that’s got the 501 (c) (3) three status. It looks like it’s just called Drag Queen Story Hour. A 501 (c) (3). That’s interesting. That means the IRS has to approve it as a non-profit right?
Lindquist: Absolutely. That is what that means. Yes.
Leahy: Put this in context. The IRS just declined to approve a Christian group for nonprofit. Did you see that story?
Lindquist: I’ve not heard of the story, no.
Leahy: It’s a big story that came out that the IRS declined to approve the 501 (c) (3) free status of a particular Christian group because they studied the Bible. The reason they said that they weren’t going to do it was because Christians and the Bible tend to promote Republican ideals.
That’s what the IRS said. The IRS apparently says it’s okay to have a Drag Queen Story Hour for a nonprofit, but not a group that studies the Bible. Seems a little bit odd to me.
Lindquist: Oh, absolutely. To put in perspective, even more, this isn’t just simply an issue of drag queens going and promoting these left-wing values to young children, although that is worth being opposed on its own merits.
This is an organization that has, on several occasions, endangered children. You have two cases of registered sex offenders and child predators being these drag queens who come and read the children. So you’ve got pedophiles reading the children in public libraries.
This is the group that has been publicly funded. It’s a public and private partnership against Christian values, against the family, and against children. You’ve got a man who was recently convicted of seven counts of child pornography sponsoring these events.
And you’ve got an additional drag queen who is not a child predator but a sex criminal nonetheless. They have a history of endangering children and putting registered sex offenders into close, confined spaces with children.
This is a public-private partnership against the safety of children, against Christian values, and against common decency that should transcend any degree of partisanship.
Leahy: Now the IRS has given 503 (c) (3) nonprofit status to the Drag Queen story. A story at Breitbart by Katherine Hamilton. A Christian non-profit is challenging the Internal Revenue Service after the agency denied them tax-exempt status saying ‘the Bible’s teachings are typically affiliated with the Republican Party and candidates.’
And ‘Christians Engaged describes itself as educational Christian and nonpartisan operates out of Garland, Texas. Three main goals, as described in the nonprofit, to waken, motivate, and empower ordinary believers in Jesus Christ to pray for our nation and our elected officials regularly.’ That’s one of those goals.
Listen to the full first hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed GOP candidate for Nashville’s Fifth District, Robby Starbuck in studio to discuss his bringing with Cuban immigrant parents and his first job at MySpace.
Leahy: In studio, Robby Starbuck is with us. Good morning, Robby.
Starbuck: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
Leahy: We just ran up the stairs.
Starbuck: We sure did.
Scooter: You guys need a little time to catch your breath? I got some perfect music.
Leahy: Robby needs less time than I do.
Scooter: I got here specifically at this time to make sure we got our exercise. It was one of those things, you know, where you hit every red light, every single red light on the way here.
Leahy: I do that some mornings.
Scooter: It happens. But in the nick time.
Leahy: Scooter goes 30 seconds. 15 seconds!
Scooter: I’m looking over and I’m in the last element in our thing here. And I’m like, uh oh, they’re not back. This is going to get weird.
Leahy: Robby Starbuck. Robby welcome to The Tennessee Star Report.
Starbuck: Thank you for having me. I’m very excited to be here. I know that pretty much all of my neighbors are in love with this show. The where they were very excited.
Leahy: Your neighbors have very good taste.
Starbuck: They do. They’re smart people.
Leahy: This is your first time in studio.
Starbuck: It is. It is. So I’ve been on a couple of times, but this is the first time I made it here for the full show.
Leahy: It’s totally more fun to be in studio.
Starbuck: It is.
Leahy: Even if we have to race up the stairs.
Starbuck: That makes it more fun.
Leahy: So that Scooter doesn’t have dead air when he opens up the show.
Scooter: There will be something on the air. I don’t necessarily want to know me, but there will be something. (Leahy laughs)
Starbuck: Well, tell me it’s not memorable. We’ll never forget the first time I was in studio.
Leahy: We will remember that. So Robby Starbuck, you have announced that you’re running for Congress in the Fifth Congressional District. Tell our listeners a little bit about yourself.
Starbuck: So if you don’t know me already, I started out sort of making my name in Hollywood as a director, producer. I directed and produced some of the biggest stars. Oscar-winning actors, actresses.
Leahy: See that’s kind of cool, right? Making a name in Hollywood?
Starbuck: Yeah. It’s not as cool as it sounds. That was where I had to make that decision to come out as a conservative. And it was a no-brainer for me because my family came from Cuba.
Leahy: Where in Cuba is your family from?
Starbuck: Ciego de Avila? It’s kind of a rural area. It’s not by the beach.
Leahy: And when did they come out of Cuba?
Starbuck: It was in the 60s. They all came at different times. So I can give you, like, one year, because the nature of it was like, say, like my grandpa. My mom came first, but my grandpa was held for a few years.
And the State Department had to get him out. So it was all in different stages, and some of my family members never got to leave. Some of them have died in Cuba, and some of them are still stuck there.
Leahy: Now, did your father come from Cuba?
Starbuck: No. My dad didn’t come from Cuba.
Leahy: Where’s your dad from?
Starbuck: I think he was born in Oklahoma.
Leahy: So your mom came here in the 60s? Where did she live when she first came here?
Starbuck: Florida. So my family started over completely. I mean, they lost everything. Even my great-grandpa started over as a janitor working two jobs.
Leahy: So they came with nothing. They had assets in Cuba.
Starbuck: They had their home stolen, their car stolen, every possession they had. I mean, for people that don’t know the history of Cuba, I mean, they took everything at gunpoint, and that’s it. You get to come with your shirt on your back. There was a legal process for it. They follow that process.
Leahy: A legal process for stealing your property.
Starbuck: Exactly. A legal process for stealing your property and then kicking you out basically.
Leahy: That could never happen here.
Starbuck: Oh, yeah. You know what? That’s the reason why I came out because I saw that there were all these steps that my grandparents, my mom had warned me about my entire life, about how this happened. How did we get to that place?
Leahy: How old was your mom when she came here?
Starbuck: She was 17.
Leahy: In 1962.
Starbuck: It was like 60, 63, 64.
Leahy: That was after the revolution. So she was probably 13 during the revolution. 59, 60.
Starbuck: And so for them, it was one of those things where they were far enough away, where nobody had really pushed up on them. And I think this is one of the things people can kind of relate to now is if you feel like it’s not at your front doorstep yet and you see the stuff happening right now in society.
Leahy: First they came for the. Then they came for the. Then they came from you.
Starbuck: One of the biggest regrets you’ll hear from Venezuelans and Cubans is that not enough people stood up. They kept waiting, thinking it’s not going to hit my doorstep.
Leahy: And then it did.
Starbuck: And then it did.
Leahy: Venezuela. I’ve been to Venezuela before.
Starbuck: It was awful.
Leahy: It was a great, beautiful place way back. Way back in 1972, 73. I guess it was a long time ago. You weren’t even born then. (Laughs) So where did your mom and dad meet?
Starbuck: They met in California. So part of my family still lives in Florida, part in Cuba and then part in California. So my mom and her great grandparents, I’m sorry. Her grandparents, my great grandparents, and her parents moved to California to start over there because one of them had gotten a job there. She met him I want to say, is West Covina was where they met.
Leahy: Southern California. And now what did your mom and her parents do for a living in California?
Starbuck: My grandpa ended up doing insurance. Super exciting. He was in insurance sales.
Leahy: We have a lot of insurance people listening to us.
Starbuck: I was being serious. It is super exciting. I mean, the stories that he has about his time and insurance is actually some exciting about that. For instance, a lot of people don’t know there are tornadoes in California. That was something that most people have no idea about. But there are tornadoes.
Leahy: I didn’t know that.
Starbuck: And so there’s a certain amount of tornado damage every year. I always found that interesting. So he got a job in insurance.
Leahy: What did your mom do? Did she go to college?
Starbuck: She was in real estate. Was actually the first person to go to college.
Leahy: So your mom’s in real estate and your dad in a meet and West Covina? And they get married. Where did you grow up? I grew up partially in Temecula. So my childhood is a little interesting. I graduated at 16.
Leahy: From high school.
Starbuck: So I actually left home and had simultaneously finished my first year of College in a gifted program in California.
Leahy: Are you gifted Robby?
Starbuck: Here’s what’s interesting about that program.
Leahy: We have a gifted person in here.
Starbuck: What’s really interesting about it is that the program is now being trashed in California because they say that program is a racist because there are too many Asians in the program.
Leahy: And so your mom is Cuban. And that program, from what you graduated, is now being trashed as racist.
Starbuck: It’s being trashed as racist. And another kid, let’s say, who has sort of accelerated learning and is ready to move ahead faster, won’t be able to anymore. They’re gonna be pushed back.
Leahy: They got to move it back. Dumb it down right?
Starbuck: I mean, I thought we were supposed to celebrate exceptionalism and like wanting to push ahead.
Leahy: America traditionally celebrates exceptionalism.
Starbuck: We should. We always should.
Leahy: I don’t know what this thing is we’re in right now.
Starbuck: It’s definitely not that. It’s the antithesis of it. So I left at 16 and essentially started my life.
Leahy: So let’s go back. What did your dad do for a living? He was also real estate.
Leahy: Real estate. And so you grew up in which said you grew up in?
Starbuck: Temecula was the initial place.
Leahy: And Temecula is where in Southern California?
Starbuck: It’s kind of about an hour, 15 minutes north of San Diego.
Leahy: So is it Orange County?
Starbuck: No, not Orange County. No, it’s Riverside County.
Leahy: Riverside County. A little deserty?
Starbuck: It’s bigger now. There’s an Indian casino there.
Leahy: Where was the special program?
Starbuck: It was all over the state of California so you could qualify for it.
Leahy: You graduate from high school at 16 Temecula, and you’ve got your first year of college. What happens then?
Starbuck: I went to work while doing college for a guy named Brad Greenspan. He started a site called MySpace.
Leahy: So you were working for MySpace.
Starbuck: Not only that, but he had a website called Live Video. It was the first video streaming website on the Internet. And everybody thought this was a crazy idea.
Leahy: So you were going to college where I was going at the time.
Starbuck: I ended up switching to Saddleback, which was a college where I was able to work and then go to school.
Leahy: Where did you start?
Starbuck: Saddleback, Orange County. And I was able to work there like it was my work.
Leahy: So you were in Orange County working for the MySpace folks, working for Brad. And he had a couple of different websites. So did you work just for MySpace or for other websites,
Starbuck: It was a whole company. A bunch of different things. So we produced original content, original shows.
Leahy: I mean, when you say you work for him, did you write code?
Starbuck: No, I was producing shows.
Leahy: How old are you?
Starbuck: 16. So how do you monetize all this stuff on the Internet?
Leahy: How do you connect with Brad.
Starbuck: Through a recruiter. Actually, a guy named Trent, who I’m still really good friends with today, who I flipped from being a Bernie Bro to being a Trump voter. He was my recruiter. He recruited me there.
Leahy: How did you connect with this guy?
Starbuck: He found me. Honestly, I’ve never asked him how he found me, but he found me.
Leahy: Had you done some video stuff?
Starbuck: I had done some video stuff, and I had sort of large social media already then. And I think that’s how he found me. That’d be my guess. That was my assumption.
Leahy: Was there a MySpace office or did you work out of your house?
Starbuck: There were multiple. So there was an office for E Universe, which was the parent company. And then you could work from home, work from the studio if you were shooting stuff. It was very free.
Leahy: Where was the universe located?
Starbuck: There was an office in LA. and then there was a satellite office in Orange County.
Leahy: Did you work in the satellite office?
Starbuck: I did both. It was depending on what we were doing.
Leahy: How old were you when you did this?
Starbuck: 16.
Leahy: Are you thinking, how did this happen?
Starbuck: Not really.
Leahy: Was it because you were gifted? (Laughs)
Starbuck: No. You’re never going to forget that.
Leahy: Yes. Every time we introduce you, ladies and gentlemen, the gifted Robby Starbuck. (Laughs)
Starbuck: No, no, actually, I wish they had a different word for those programs.
Leahy: I’m just teasing.
Starbuck: No, I know. It was really funny the first time I met with Brad was like, look, the weird thing for me here is like, don’t talk about your age with people because they’re gonna feel really weird answering to a 16-year-old. So you just look young. It was like this thing at work that you just didn’t talk about.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Robby Starbuck” by Robby Starbuck.
Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed creator of the Huey Report and direct mail expert, Craig Huey, in-studio to reflect on his recent trip to California citing a “spirit of fear” as citizens continue to wear masks and heavily fined ticketing for non-compliance.
Leahy: Craig Huey, our favorite new California refugee. Did you ever think you’d be in studio on Music Row talking about your new home in Tennessee?
Huey: Never. Absolutely. Never dreamed of such a thing. Never dreamed of ever living in Tennessee? I have throughout my life spoken probably in every state in the nation to different groups.
Tennessee, I can’t remember ever coming to Tennessee to speak to a group. It’s never been on my radar until this move that we took.
Leahy: So here’s sort of my take on this. I think you’re a surfer as a kid. Grew up in the ’60s? A Beach boy kind of kid. Southern California.
Huey: My California house is right on the cliffs of the beach.
Leahy: There is a sunny disposition from people that grew up in California in the ’60s? It’s a positive can-do disposition, isn’t it?
Huey: When I was in college, this was back in the early ’70s and I tell you, I was able as an entrepreneur to make the decision not to become a teacher because I have a secondary education credential, but to be a business owner.
And I knew so many entrepreneurs who were able to do what they couldn’t do today. And that is to take a dream and build that dream and build a profitable company. California under Ronald Reagan became the entrepreneurship capital of the world.
Leahy: It’s interesting you say Ronald Reagan because there’s that sunny disposition. There’s that optimism there’s that can-do attitude. The classic in many respects, California in the ’50s, ’60s, and the ’70s was the epitome of the American dream. Plus, the weather was great, right?
Huey: (Laughs) The weather is awesome. And of course, the socialist Democrats call it the weather tax that they can do their socialist policies because people will stay there because of the weather. So the weather tax. But you know what? The weather is great, but the government is so bad and so oppressive. In fact, I just flew back to Tennessee last night.
Leahy: So you went to California?
Huey: I had to go to California.
Leahy: You had to go behind the lines back to California. Tell us about that. By the way, you do look tan, rested, and ready. Did you go surfing?
Huey: I didn’t go surfing but we went down and got the California sunshine.
Leahy: You look like you got the sunshine. By the way, I just have to say this one of the times you were on, I got a call from one of our regular listeners and they said, you know, thank you so much for having that young man, Craig Huey on. (Huey laughs) I said, really? Oh, he sounds very young, although he’s got a lot of experience. He is a young man.
Huey: Young at heart. But I love that. It’s very encouraging. But here’s the thing, Michael. There is such a difference between being in Tennessee flying to California. You can tell the second you get off the airplane.
Leahy: So what’s the first sign that you’re behind enemy lines?
Huey: Fear.
Leahy: Really?
Huey: You see such fear in regards to the pandemic. The brainwashing that has gone on, the conditioning that has come on, the fear of kids looking at you if you’re not wearing a mask.
Leahy: Hold it. Even now, after all of the vaccinations?
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: If you’re not wearing a mask, kids look at you like your Darth Vader or something?
Huey: You add the vaccinations. You add the fact that how many people have already had COVID and have already had it, the masks are ridiculous. But if you look at the high school kids on track, they’re running in the heat with masks.
Leahy: Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No. No. They can’t be doing something that stupid in California.
Huey: Probably 30 percent, 40 percent of the people are driving by themselves with a mask.
Leahy: Okay. How did so many people become so stupid?
Huey: If you listen to the local media and if you are on social media, the brainwashing that has gone on, I was talking to one driver, and he was telling me Dr. Fauci said, I needed to wear this and I’m going to do it. I said, well, Senator Dr. Rand Paul said this was political theater.
It was politics, not science. He said, well, I’m going to trust Dr. Fauci, not Dr. Paul. And there’s a moral superiority, Mike. They feel they’re protecting other people with a mask. And that if you don’t have that mask, you’re harming people.
Leahy: Did people give you a hard time for not wearing a mask?
Huey: I can’t believe how many people were saying you don’t have a mask on.
Leahy: Set the stage here. Where were you when this happened?
Huey: One place is walking along the beach.
Leahy: You’re walking outside along the beach?
Huey: Yes.
Leahy: Just you? You and your wife?
Huey: My wife and I are walking along the Beach, and we have somebody come up and say, Be very careful. You don’t have your mask on. And down the road is the security. The city of Manhattan Beach hired private security people to go out and give $500 tickets to people who don’t have a mask on the beach.
Leahy: On the beach?
Huey: In the fresh air.
Leahy: I’m stunned at how stupid exactly these rules are.
Huey: Oh, it’s terrible.
Leahy: No wonder you left California.
Huey: It is so oppressive. There’s the spirit of fear. I was in a restaurant. My wife and I went to this Italian restaurant, and we walk in and they go, put on your mask, put on your mask because you’re going to walk 20 feet to sit down.
So we put on this mask and we sit down. And in some restaurants, they keep it on to the foods there and then keep pulling it up. But in this one, we had it on. We sat down and the waiter came up to us, and I said something like, we don’t have our masks.
You don’t need to wear your mask unless you want to. He says I have to wear my mask. I cannot stand wearing the mask. And I’m so mad at Governor Newsom because he said that on June 15, he extended the emergency orders to June 15.
And then he said, everybody who is at work and employee and of any company has to wear a mask. Even after June 15. He says I can’t stand wearing this mask. And you can’t see if people are smiling.
You can’t see if people are angry. It becomes a faceless society, and it is a political symbol of obedience to the state. I’m bowing down to it. I’m obeying false science, and I’m obeying the politician.
Leahy: For decades, we’ve cultivated a spirit of conformity in our public schools. A lack of intellectual curiosity and a lack of common sense. (Dumb voice) I’ll just give the answer the teacher wants and what answer the teacher wants? I think particularly in California, what is the fruit of the poison tree?
Huey: The whole thing with schools. And we have to be careful here in Tennessee. Most listeners can think back to when they were in school. It’s so much different today. My wife, who was 15 years a teacher in public schools and who specialized in special needs kids, says about 35 percent of all the teachers should be fired because they’re incompetent.
They don’t care. Beyond the incompetence is the fact that there’s political indoctrination going on that teachers now have, whether it’s math, science or history, are indoctrinating the kids. And it’s happening here in Tennessee as well as everywhere else in the U.S. And it’s finally come to light because of the Critical Race Theory.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Welcome to California” by Famartin. CC BY-SA 4.0.
