What might surprise you, though, are the show's obvious conservative leanings. Here we have a concoction of characters and scenarios so outrageous and inappropriate that one might expect them to be the inventions of a typically contemptuous liberal looking to shock our pants off. But South Park seems to be more forthright than pious, candidly reflecting a new brand of anti-liberal sensibilities that seem to have taken root in the current values of American youth. Even more apparent is the fact that this cultural shift from liberal to conservative is the result of the basic ambivalence that has permeated our political leanings for decades.

In this time of C-average politicians, fanatical right-wingers and petulant leftists, it doesn't come as a shock to find that many of us are searching for ways to define our ambiguous political sensibilities as a nation. Not long ago, our worlds were rocked by the discovery that we had enemies, that we, nice little Americans just minding our own business and saving up for our SUVs, had somehow offended a large group of people with our chutzpah and Green Peace stickers. It was a rude awakening, and it fueled a movement in the media that had already begun to wreak havoc in mainstream popular culture: mainly an insurgence against the liberal mentalities that once guided American moralities.

Eric Zamorano, an avid South Park fan, feels that in many ways, the public has lost its sense of trust in government. "I think people are basically confused and wary of anyone or anything that comes off too earnest. With this show, there's no preaching, there's no reverence. But its honest about the way issues today don't really fall into neat social categories like they once did."

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone pointed out the basic feeling of ambivalence with today's political parties when they were asked how they felt about the last two presidential elections. "I would care more about it if [there were] like one guy that was just like okay," Parker replies. "Right now you kind of have two shitheads, so it's kind of like you can vote for shithead one or shithead two. There are people out there going, 'What? I don't know what to do, do you?'"Stone adds.

We see a direct reflection of this sentiment in South Park. "There's this episode where the kids set up an election to replace the school mascot," Zamorano recalls. "They have a choice between a giant turd sandwich or a douche bag. It's brilliant."

We saw the dawn of political commentary in comedic cartoons with Bugs Bunny during WWII. Since its debut in 1989, we've witnessed more irreverent commentary than even "that pesky wabbit" could convey in the sarcastic depiction of the American family in The Simpsons, with its beer-bellied father, delinquent son and repressed homemaker mother. Newer shows, such as King of the Hill and Family Guy have further blasted through the carefully constructed, politically correct ideals embedded in our society. They've belittled the American family with unreserved sincerity. And we love it because it is more truthful, more direct and ultimately more reliable than the watered-down expression we might find on a news network.

"It never gets old," another South Park advocate, Republican Adrian Diaz insists. "I think it's because Trey Parker and Matt Stone are able to comment on issues without censorship or a need to be politically correct. It's more like a gut reaction to the stuff going on today. I think a lot of people feel the way [Parker and Stone] do. They just don't know how to express it. These guys are geniuses."

Although South Park has been known to defile both liberal and conservative extremes, most of the show's political views seem to be right-winged. This seems to be a testament to the phenomenon outlined in Brian C. Anderson's book South Park Conservatives that sees more areas of the entertainment media revolting against liberalism. And what better way to do so than with inappropriate humor, satirized stereotypes and really bad language?

Like its contemporaries, the show is animated in a simplistic style that somehow never gets old. With round heads and peg-like bodies, the characters are only distinguishable by the clothes they wear. South Park's construction-paper animation has a kind of appeal that can't be explained and seems to at times soften or heighten the shocking, blush-inducing content and crude language of the show that follows the misadventures of fourth-graders Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman who live in a rural town in Colorado called South Park.

"I love the fact that you have these really rudimentary visuals," comments Grettel Balzer, a 30-year-old Republican therapist. "And then you have this really heavy social commentary. It's hilarious. It shows no mercy. I laugh and I get to feel like someone out there isn't scared of telling it like it is."

Parker and Stone have remained committed to putting out a show that addresses all current events. In the aftermath of September 11th, South Park was the only show that dared to address the bombings when the Emmy-nominated episode entitled "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants" aired on Comedy Central. From satirizing Bush's program to send every person in Afghanistan one dollar to a scene reminiscent of an Elmer Fudd/Bugs Bunny chase between Bin Laden and Cartman, the episode is a significant illustration of the show's decidedly political nature.

When asked about the criticism they have received about addressing such sensitive issues, Parker insists that he and Stone poke fun at them because they are just as affected by them as everyone else. "Any serious issue you throw at us, we will probably start joking about it within a minute," he states. "For us, it is the only way we can get to the corner of the truth of any issue. It's how we think - you have to think about something pretty seriously in order to make a joke about it."

Although the two have starred in such films as BASEketball and Orgasmo, Parker and Stone are more lovingly known by their fans for their co-creation of South Park, the show and movies, and more recently, the war-on-terrorism spoof Team America. The film was made using puppets and is loaded with the kind of political commentary you see on South Park, including a direct hit on American priorities when Team America hires an actor to defeat the Taliban. Diaz loved this absurd satire. "Team America rocked. They ripped on American celebrities for thinking they have so much clout. I mean, they are just the popular kids in this country. It's not like they have the power to stop wars. South Park does that too. It makes fun of celebrities so high on themselves they think they can save the world."

Take a look at how South Park has dealt with some the most formidable issues circulating society today...

Sex Education in Schools
This one's one of my favorites and begins appallingly with Cartman showing his friends how to "milk a dog" by masturbating it. Outraged parents petition for the school to teach their children sexual education, and things rapidly run awry with the school pervert teaching kindergartners how to apply a condom with their mouths and culminating with a bloody gender war between the fourth grade girls and boys. The moral of the story, delivered by the all-wise school chef, is that parents should take the responsibility for teaching their children about sex because the subject itself is too loaded with pitfalls and taboos to leave such a delicate task to a stranger.

The Michael Jackson Trial
South Park addressed the Michael Jackson trial with its usual indecorous flair, complete with scenes in which Jackson, who has moved to South Park under an assumed name, holds a slumber party with the gang and eventually horrifies his own child when his face begins to melt off. South Park's take on Jackson's culpability is surprisingly logical. They portray Jackson as an innocent man-child but skewer him for trying to be a father. A man who refuses to grow up has no business fathering and raising children.

Pro-Choice Movement
The leftist pro-choice movement has received its share of slams from South Park, as have stem cell research lobbyists. In an episode that opens with a scene of one of the South Park moms about to get an abortion and punctuated by the kind of laughter one hears on those docile family network sitcoms, Cartman stumbles upon a truck wreck of aborted fetuses and attempts to sell them to different research laboratories, haggling for prices. If that's not enough to make you cringe, he ends up in front of "Unplanned Parenthood" buying fetuses from women who are scheduled for abortions.

Environmental Activists
In another episode, South Park blatantly bashes environmental activists, when an organization called "Earth Day Brainwashing Association" comes to town to hold a festival. They use incantations like "Republicans are ruining the Earth" and "Global warming will kill us all. The Republicans are responsible," in an attempt to hypnotize the boys and get them to help organize the "Earth day Brainwashing Festival." Stan sums it all up when, running from the wrath of a group of bloody meat-cleaver wielding "Earth Day Brainwashing" members, he deduces that "environmental activists don't use logic or reason."

However inappropriate the nature of South Park's humor can get, it is evident that Parker and Stone have stumbled upon a medium that has become a vastly successful mechanism for the expression of beliefs that are obviously shared by a large sector of today's youth culture. Still, there is no denying that South Park is geared toward a specific audience. "It's definitely not for everyone. It's one of the things I love about it. But people who are easily offended shouldn't watch this show," Diaz asserts.

There are many who take one look at the show and label it homespun trash. "To them it's just a juvenile show about a bunch of foul-mouthed kids," Jamey Codding wrote in a review of the show's heralded fifth season, "What they don't notice, though, is that the show has developed a conscience and, quite often, arrives at a point of startling morality. Sure, it rarely takes the virtuous road to get there, but that's what makes South Park so damn refreshing and funny."