The New Yorker's 'Breaking Bassad' Cover Is Brilliant

One of these things is kinda like the other.

"Seems like there’s never a shortage of real life villains to make even the most conscience-free fictional character look comic in comparison—alas," New Yorker cover artist Barry Blitt said, explaining why he plopped Walter White and Bashar al-Assad on the cover of The New Yorker. Blitt has track record of giving us timely and funny covers, (see: Clint Eastwood and the infamous empty RNC chair).

This week's cover hits that odd sweet spot where American pop culture and foreign policy meet. Right now, people can't stop talking about the end of Breaking Bad and the controversial heroism of Walter White. And there's a group of people who still are rooting for America's favorite crystal meth dealer to walk away from the series unscathed. Pair that with the debate of what to do Syria, and the fear that Bashar al-Assad could get away with allegedly using chemical weapons on his people unchecked (just like Walter), and you've got a great cover that speak to our times as only art sometimes can.