Signaling Strangelove: The New Yorker Cover’s Brilliant Take on SignalGate

Artwork: Barry Blitt

Barry Blitt’s masterpiece perfectly captures the essence of the Trump administration. It’s a visual terror warning worthy of Kubrick himself.

By Michael Shaw

Barry Blitt’s latest New Yorker cover masterfully captures the essence of the SignalGate scandal. The illustration, depicting administration officials gleefully riding a missile downward like deranged bronco busters, smartphones replacing ten-gallon hats, unmistakably references Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove.” The cover’s title, “Left to Their Own Devices,” is a stroke of genius – a clever play on words that not only nods to the technological aspect of the scandal but also suggests the dangerous consequences of leaving Trump and his proxies unchecked.

What the cover encapsulates is this administration’s behavior on all fronts: act first, communicate poorly, and damn the consequences. The SignalGate scandal reveals not just technological and procedural carelessness but an absence of coherent policy regarding the Yemen bombing campaign and the protection of vital shipping lanes in the Red Sea. It’s not about officials misusing technology; it’s about treating matters of war and peace with shocking nonchalance.

With Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense—a man whose hot-headed temperament and lack of experience make him genuinely dangerous—we’re witnessing a perfect storm of incompetence and aggression. The casual mention of targeting a “top Houthi missile guy” as he entered a residential building, followed by congratulatory messages and emojis, reveals a disturbing lack of gravity in decision-making. And with not one military official on the thread, Vance’s political concerns about the timing are a serious tell.

What we’re seeing isn’t just a security lapse—it’s a fundamental failure in governance that puts lives at risk. The illustration captures this perfectly, showing those in power hurtling us towards potential disaster while seemingly oblivious to the gravity of their actions.

Blitt’s cover and David Remnick’s accompanying article offer a scathing critique of the administration’s Strangelovian approach to global affairs. Because what we’re witnessing in this theatrical mirror is Pete, J.D., Tulsi, Mike, Susie, Stephen, and the rest—Signal or no Signal—quite literally not worrying and loving the bomb.