{"id":2928,"date":"2026-03-04T20:52:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/williamjcobb.com\/blog\/?p=2928"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:26:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:26:35","slug":"on-dr-strangelove-62-years-later-general-jack-ripper-in-charge-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/williamjcobb.com\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/on-dr-strangelove-62-years-later-general-jack-ripper-in-charge-now\/","title":{"rendered":"On “Dr. Strangelove” 62 Years Later: General Jack Ripper in Charge Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So there\u2019s nothing quite like the genius of Stanley Kubrick to underscore the absurdity of our present Wag-the-Dog war on Iran. In\u00a0Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb<\/em> (1964), General Jack Ripper is a lunatic starting WWIII over an issue of foreigners invading our country to steal our \u201cprecious bodily fluids.\u201d His monologues sound like an RFK Jr. press release. The IMDB website description is a good beginning to this comparison: \u201cA mentally unstable American general orders a hydrogen bomb attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to global nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.\u201d We only have to make minor edits to sum up our current international crisis: \u201cA mentally unstable American President orders a missile attack on the Islamic nation of Iran, triggering a path to global holocaust that politicians at a war room in Mar-a-Lago, while noshing on boiled shrimp and cocktails, do everything to encourage.\u201d Their exuberant glee in the destruction of another country and the killing of many \u201cforeigners\u201d is particularly disgusting. Reports are coming out that military officials are telling our troops that Trump has been anointed by Jesus to start Armageddon. (“One combat unit commander reportedly said that the war is ‘part of God\u2019s divine plan’ and that ‘President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth'” (https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2026\/3\/4\/headlines). Our Secretary of War now brags about having \u201cno mercy.\u201d Lord help us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA mentally unstable American President orders a missile attack on the Islamic nation of Iran, triggering a path to global holocaust that politicians at a war room in Mar-a-Lago, while noshing on boiled shrimp and cocktails, does everything to encourage.\u201d Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[342,343],"tags":[344,345],"class_list":["post-2928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stanley-kubrick-films","category-war-on-iran","tag-stanley-kubricks-dr-strangelove","tag-trump-madness"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t