South Park Makes It All Better

Leave it to South Park to set everyone straight. Last night's episode took special care to poke fun at both the starry-eyed Obama hopeaphiles and the dreary McCain supporters terrified of the end of America as we know it. Last night's episode also marked the seemingly first occasion in which a newly elected president made a fictional appearance as president less than 24 hours after his actual election. As usual, no one gets down to business quite like Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Last night's plot involved a secret joint plot by Obama and McCain to take the presidency as part of an Oceans 11-style jewel heist. Utterly brilliant stuff, a bit more subtle than South park's 2004 election battle between a giant douche and a turd sandwich, but really quite clever. The notion of politicians as characters acting out a role is quite poignant in an election cycle where folks seemed to be making the mistake of taking politicians at face value. Particularly funny was Sarah Palin, also part of the Obama-McCain hesit team, abandoning her folksy accent for a British one after leaving the podium and getting down to the real business of stealing the Hope diamond (another clever joke).

Lost in the Oceans 11 plot is the fact that Obama and McCain are working together- that this is how politics works. These guys don't hate each other and deep down are working for the same thing. (You can take that as cynically as you'd like.) While America parties and sulks, the political machinery of America whirs along, relying on partisan politics to distract people from what really goes on. To Trey and Matt I say, bravo.