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610 CKTB| The Whiskey War is Past: Canada’s Asymmetric Arctic Nightmare is Now · Kvetch & Release

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Right now, though another regular run Tuesday, a good peal
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: of our's former newspaper publisher and broadcaster John Litkey is here.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Good morning John.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Good morning Jeane.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Dude. I have to tell you you hit it out
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of the park last Tuesday, tying Donald Trump and his
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: policies to Hollywood movie scripts and TV shows. I can't
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: tell you the number of people who came up to
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: me listen to the show and said, man, this lid
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Key guy Like I started thinking about what he was saying,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: and people were telling me, what about this policy? Doesn't
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: it sound like you know this TV show and that Oh,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: so you really did it last Tuesday. That was fantastic.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Now you're on this morning and I think you're going
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: to hit it out of the park again. You have
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: a whole theory around Greenland, So explain this to me.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Well, there is a really great South Park episode that
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: I want to start things off with, and it is
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: the nineteen ninety six the Great Red Wings up against
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: the Pee Wee hockey team in South Park and it
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: is just it is brutal. The Red Wings are playing like.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: It is the nineteen ninety six.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: Stanley Cup Finals and they just tear apart. These kids,
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: they put them into the boards. There's teeth, butter popping out,
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: blood everywhere. It is just the stuff of like as
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: a kid growing up watching TV, that's the cartoon you
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: want to watch. It was great, And that's kind of
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: like what's happening right now with the United States and
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: their conquest for Greenland. Quite frankly, it's this situation where
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: it's a completely asymmetric power base and it is not
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: the type of war that we're actually used to when
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: it comes to Greenland, the Hans Island. It was actually
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: a disputed territory for many, many years, and what we
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: had Canada and Denmark were both fighting over it, and
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: it was called the Whiskey War because it was the
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: most gentlemanly war that ever occurred. We would show up,
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: we'd take down their flag. We'd leave them a bottle
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: of Canadian club. They'd show up, they'd take down our flag,
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: They'd leave us a bottle of schnapps.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: And this went on for.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Decades, decades, and it all actually just was resolved a
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: couple of years ago in twenty twenty two, where we
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: just sort of decided, you know what, this is kind
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: of sailly let's just draw aline right down the middle
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: of this piece of rock that nobody lives at, and
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: that can be the end of it. And wouldn't that
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: be great if that was the situation that we were
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: dealing with right now When it comes to having a
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: conversation about, you know, territorial acquisition by the United States. Instead,
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: it's like we're all living in Donald Trump's nightmarish land
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: where I don't know. I just I read a Globe
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: mail story today about how we're actually drafting up plans
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: for a military invasion of the country by the United States,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: and our strategy was, well, we're pretty much going to
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: be the Taliban because we don't really have an armed
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: forces that can defend against the US, so we just
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: envision a bunch of skirmishes by individuals. And it's just like,
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: what world are we living in right now?
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Gene, Yeah, no, kidding. Well, the thing I don't understand, John,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: is that there is a military base, a US military
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: base in Greenland, and the folks in Greenland are saying, well,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: you know what, you know, put a million soldiers here, Like,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: we don't mind build a couple more bases. We just
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: don't want to become US citizens. I think that's reasonable.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Well, and this is the thing.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: The US agreement with Denmark allows for an unlimited number
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: of troops to be stationed there, for putting missiles there,
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: for stationing any military assets. They've got a completely open
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: door policy. So yeah, I mean, we're just again, I
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: keep saying this week after week after week, we're heading
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: towards where might makes right. And that's a very scary
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: situation to be in because it allows for other players
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: on the or in stage, you know, China, Russia to
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: continue their territorial extansionist quests. And if the US can't
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: be relied upon as being that you know, moral arbiter,
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: the scales of justice on the global scene. I mean,
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: I don't want to envision what this world looks like
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: that we might be moving into because the US has
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: been that force for democracy, for stability for a very
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: long time, and I don't want to see a US
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: that can act like Russia with immunity.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, here's the domino effect. If the United States
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: takes Greenland, however they do it, then why can't China
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: take Taiwan? And I'm sure China would argue, well, if
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: you do that, you know, for teed we're going to
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: do this. And you know, for as long as I
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: can remember, the United States has always said that if
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: China takes Taiwan, which they claim they own, it could
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: cause possibly World War three. So I mean, what's the difference.
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: Well, and this is what's scary.
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  Speaker 2: And we know that the US.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: Has built in self defense mechanisms for Taiwan if there
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: is a Chinese invasion. Primarily all of the chip factories
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: have already been as I understand it, pretty much outfitted
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: for demolition upon an invasion because they don't want that
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: technology to be exported and stolen by the Chinese government.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: It's creating a very uneven playing field. Where can I
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: understand what Trump supposedly wants screenland for right, you don't
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: want Russia moving in, you don't want China moving in.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: It makes more sense for it to remain in the
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: Western world. But there's ways that we can get to
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: that without having to have these you know, territorial conquests conversation.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but let's listen to what you're dealing with. In
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: his letter to the Norwegian president over the weekend, complaining
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: that the Nobel Committee, well, he blamed the government he
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: doesn't even know how the Nobel Peace Price is handed out.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: He blamed Norway for not giving him the Nobel Peace Prize,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: and then he went on to say that, you know,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Denmark's only claimed to Greenland as they landed a boat there,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: and he actually went on, I mean, just like a
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: petulant child, Well, we landed boats there too. We got
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: boats that go there too, claiming that you know, if
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: you've got a boat that's gone there, the place can
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: be yours. I mean that the logic and the arguments
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: behind this whole thing are so absurd. I'm just waiting
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: to wake up and I'll go, oh, yeah, of course,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: it was just a dream.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: You know. There was a really good show called The
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: Circus that was on Showtime I believe, Yes, yes, which
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: and it showed the Trump administration term one and all
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: of the inner workings of just how you know, much
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: of a cluster what it was, quite frankly.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And it was a really entertaining show.
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: And then Biden came in and I stopped watching the
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: show because I don't need to watch a procedural drama
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: about a you know, relatively competent administration. That's kind of boring.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: For TV quite frankly. So we had those four years
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: of a little.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Bit of an interlude there was. You know, it wasn't
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: great four years quite frankly overall. But I didn't sign
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: up for this new reality. I mean, the era of
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: polite Arctic diplomacy is dead, and being an ally is now.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: It seems conditional, and it seems that if the superpower
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: wants to get it, they get to have it. And
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: this friendly game of whiskey Wars is something that just
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: is going to be relegated to the past.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: And yeah, my verse might is that I'm so glad
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: you brought up that whiskey war thing. I've read about
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: that years ago. Hey, listen, I'm asking all my guests
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: all week long this one question I've got about. I've
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: got about ninety seconds left in your opinion. What is
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: our prime Minister's new world order? What's the new world Order?
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: Oh gosh, with this question, Jean, what a ridiculous scandit.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: I don't understand this new era of Canadian strategic blunders.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Quite frankly.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: Maybe he's just looked things through a banker's lines, But
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: I don't think we need to be posing up with China.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: I don't think we need to be posing up with
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: powder like what is going on here? Quite frankly, these
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: are not the good guys on the world stage. And
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: I get it we've lost our traditional ally the United States.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: They're going off on their own wayward way. But I
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: mean we could cuddle up with, you know, the Europeans
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: instead of going to dictatorships, quite frankly, And it really
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: doesn't help when he actually says new World Order? What
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: the heck like talk about like handing it over to
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: the opposition?
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: No kidding, Well, get out the tinfoil hats. I mean,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: I'm asking everybody and nobody can. I always say to people,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: explain it to me, Like I'm twelve, and this whole
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: New Order thing. I haven't had one really good answer yet.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: Well maybe we'll get it from the government, but I'm
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: not keeping my.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Fingers scross for all right, great talk into every Tuesday, John,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: You always hit it out of the park. But my
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: friend will do this again next Tuesday.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Looking forward to it.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: All right, there he goes John Letke, a former newspaper
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: publisher and broadcaster. He has the best ideas, we have
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: the best fellow and guests on this the show, don't
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: we so much fun