First, this isn't a sequel to Dr. Strangelove, though it obviously references Stanley Kubrick's brilliant and darkly comedic critique of human folly and the existential risks of nuclear warfare.
Second, it's definitely an attempt to show that not much has changed from the 1960s portrayed by Kubrick and now. The political landscape of the 21st century—with its paranoia, overreliance on technology, and obsession with celebrity—is ripe for a modern parody. Enter Dr. Commonhate, or How I Learned to Stop Thinking and Love the Algorithm.
The premise is simple: A paranoid, Trump-esque president hires a crazy wannabe metaphysicist/failed podcaster, Mr. Steve Commonhate, to predict future terrorist attacks. Armed with the “TimeStrike 3000™ (proudly biased by design),” a pseudo-scientific system that’s equal parts algorithm, mystical nonsense, and thinly veiled bigotry, Commonhate begins producing wild forecasts that justify reckless preemptive strikes. The result? America attacks imagined threats before they can exist, plunging the world into chaos.
Much like Dr. Strangelove lampooned the Cold War’s nuclear paranoia, Mr. Commonhate would skewer the post-9/11 era’s obsession with terrorism and preemption. Instead of the Doomsday Machine, you have Commonhate’s ridiculous TimeStrike 3000™. Its predictions are vague and absurd: “An angry goat in Turkmenistan will detonate a bomb in 2047.” Instead of General Buck Turgidson’s gung-ho warmongering, we have President Chump, whose showman-like tendencies and bombastic simplicity contribute to the absurdist panic throughout the story.
The characters could be obvious caricatures of modern archetypes. President Chump is the ultimate narcissistic leader, obsessed with his own perception of strength. Mr. Commonhate is a biting satirical combination of Silicon Valley “visionaries,” selling flawed tech as humanity’s savior, and the current plethora of armchair expert podcasters who traffic in declarative statements on any subject no matter how complex.
This will work best if everyone is taken to task - so-called Conservatives, so-called Liberals, the government, Silicon Valley, celebrities, and everyone in between. Think the dark moral apathy of Robert Altman's The Player. Though I would have a heroine, maybe based on Naomi Klein, who is the only one defending Reason and Love.
Why does a story like this matter now? Because the mechanisms of fear and preemption are still at work, not just in military policy but in everyday systems: predictive algorithms, the coming dark promise of AI surveillance, and “pre-crime” strategies. Currently, these tools promise safety but reinforce racism and paranoia. The TimeStrike 3000™ exaggerates this tendency to its comedic extreme, exposing how technology can amplify humanity’s worst impulses instead of solving its problems.
This isn’t just a rehash of Dr. Strangelove—it’s a reflection of how far we’ve come (or haven’t) since the days of nuclear brinkmanship. The stakes may have changed, but the absurdity remains: a world so afraid of the future that it destroys itself in the present. With its mix of biting satire, absurd humor, and sharp cultural commentary, Mr. Commonhate could be the defining political comedy of our time. Or it could just distract us for a while with some good jokes.
