South Park Republicans

I'm always surprised when I find that some people are still confused about stuff that I've known for years. Especially stuff that's not secret. In this case, I'm referring to the show South Park. I'll tell you up-front that I've always thought that it was a stupid stupid show for stupid stupid people. And if me saying that offends you, then you really are watching the wrong show because the show's meant to teach you to stop being offended. But I've always been amazed at the number of seemingly intelligent people who have fallen for South Park's charms. I guess one man's crap is another man's cheesecake.

But what I don't like is the ignorance regarding South Park's ulterior motives. Namely, that it's a Republican show pushing a Republican agenda. But it's not a secret. The creators of the show are admitted conservatives and there are tons of Republicans who love the show. My god, each episode could be an extrapolation from a Rush Limbaugh radio show. And it's the same brand of humor that Ann Coulter's been pimping for years. So why are so many people still ignorant about it?

And it was always so obvious. From the commercials alone, it's not hard to see their anti-liberal bias. And I've seen parts of enough episodes to confirm my belief. Sure, they also attack social conservatives, but they're not social conservatives. They're libertarian, anti-government conservatives, and libertarian conservatives hate social conservatives. And it's not that they're conservatives who inadvertently let their bias slip through; it's the whole point of the god damn show.

It was always a subversive show to get young people laughing at cripples and poverty and insults and everything else. It's a form of nihilism that ends up with you letting Bush and Co. do anything they please. You're supposed to stop caring about anything, including religion, and just let the free markets take care of themselves, as you will take care of yourself. And let the crippled and the poor vanish away.

And I bring this up because of a post at Crooks and Liars. Apparently, this is the first C&L has heard of this theory, and it is scoffed at. But it's totally and undeniably true. I wrote more about it on the comment's board over there, so if you want to read a roughdraft of what this post should have said, be my guest. But it's too late, and I've got too much stuff to do tomorrow, so I'm going to bed.

But here's some starter literature to read regarding the South Park Republicans:
The Omniscient Wikipedia's take on it

A 2001 post from South Park lover Andrew Sullivan (before his relatively recent move away from the darkside), in a blog post which supposedly coined the phrase "South Park Republican".

And a later Sullivan post.

This is far from conclusive, but you wouldn't be reading my site if you were the type who relied on others to do your research for you.

Oh, and I'll add one last thing: I really think that the reason smart people are fooled by South Park is that they believe the show is working on this really deep level which is making fun of what the show seems to be about. That the joke was that people could be so mean and cruel; and that we were supposed to see through it and laugh at bigots and hatred. But it's not. It really is as straight-forward and insulting as it appears. There's no deeper level. You're laughing at Limbaugh material. Next time you watch the show, try imagining Rush Limbaugh's voice delivering those lines, and you'll hate the show as much as I do.

I should add that I'm inherently biased against all cartoons, with The Simpsons as one of the few exceptions. And don't even get me started on anime. I hate that stuff more than anything. I'm just not a cartoon kind of guy.