How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
Quote #4
RIPPER: Your commie has no regard for human life, not even his own.
Is it possible that Ripper's patriotism has become so extreme that it's fed his bizarre fantasies? Or are there too many other factors going on here to claim such a thing?
Quote #5
GENERAL: Try one of these Jamaican cigars, ambassador, they're pretty good.
DESADESKI: Thank you, no. I do not support the work of imperialist stooges.
GENERAL: Oh, only commie stooges, huh?
Another standoff. It's hard in the middle of a conflict to recognize that your enemy has patriotic feelings as strong as you do. In this little exchange, what's more important—the fact that the General and DeSadeski are trading insults or that they're in the same room sharing a smoke, noshing at a buffet, and trying to stave off nuclear doom? Sometimes patriotic talk is just bluster, to make a point. Like when, after France wouldn't support the planned US invasion of Iraq, the congressional cafeterias wouldn't serve French fries and changed the name to "Freedom Fries."
Quote #6
TURGIDSON:The duty officer asked General Ripper to confirm the fact the he had issued the go code and he said, "Yes gentlemen, they are on their way in and no one can bring them back. For the sake of our country and our way of life, I suggest you get the rest of SAC in after them; otherwise we will be totally destroyed by red retaliation. God willing, we will prevail in peace and freedom from fear and in true health through the purity and essence of our natural fluids."
Ripper starts off by appealing to the officer's patriotism—protecting our way of life, etc.—which he thinks will be completely convincing. Things start to go off the rails, though, when it becomes evident that "our way of life" includes purity and essence of bodily fluids. This is one of Kubrick's clearest statements about how mindless patriotism can slide pretty easily into lunacy. (See "Freedom Fries.")