Breaking social barriers is nothing new for Comedy Central’s hit sitcom South Park. But on April 8, the show might just have accomplished the impossible in less than 22 minutes: humbling rapper Kanye West.In a blog post issued after the episode aired on April 8, West acknowledged that the episode portraying him as a gay fish probably made a valid point. “SOUTH PARK MURDERED ME LAST NIGHT AND IT’S PRETTY FUNNY. IT HURTS MY FEELINGS BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOUTH PARK!” West wrote. “I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY EGO THOUGH. IT’S COOL TO TALK SHIT WHEN YOU’RE RAPPING BUT NOT IN REAL LIFE. I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM. I NEED TO JUST GET PAST MYSELF. DROP THE BRAVADO AND JUST MAKE DOPE PRODUCT.”Later in the post, West reluctantly got down on his knees and swallowed his gay fish pride.”EVERYTHING IS NOT THAT SERIOUS. AS LONG AS PEOPLE THINK I ACT LIKE A BITCH THIS TYPE OF S– WILL HAPPEN TO ME. I GOT A LONG ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE I’M NOT ACTUALLY A HUGE DOUCHE BUT I’M UP FOR THE CHALLENGE.”For more than a decade, South Park’s iconoclastic style has cut down a slew of self-righteous celebrities. Yet unlike so many sitcoms, the show has been able to maintain abnormally high ratings for more than 12 years. Trey Parker and Matt Stone created South Park in 1997 and continue to write, voice, direct and animate. An integral element for the show’s success can arguably be attributed to the writers’ abilities to fantastically mirror the rampant absurdity that characterizes our modern society.Parker and Stone have successfully transformed many divisive topics into cinematic gold, spoofing everything from Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 presidential election, Terry Schiavo, Jesse Jackson, concentration camps of tolerance, scientology, as well as  hoaxing characters to eat their own parents.Though the show has infuriated many viewers, millions of avid fans who acquiesce to many of the show’s political and social messages have tried to label the writers under today’s political standards. In 2001, the Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan classified himself and other right-leaning fans of the show as “South Park Republicans.”While the term Republican may not necessarily apply, Parker and Stone undoubtedly share many classically liberal viewpoints while displaying a harmonious loathing for far-left elitists. This extreme loathing was especially evident in their 2004 puppet film, “Team America,” which graphically insulted both Neocons and liberal elitists.Stone, a registered Republican, claimed, “I hate Republicans, but I really … hate liberals,” according to a 2006 New York Times report.In a 2004 interview with In Focus magazine, Parker, a registered Libertarian, described his own political sentiment: “We find just as many things to rip on the left as we do on the right. People on the far-left and the far-right are the same exact person to us.” Only a cartoon can accurately portray our world’s laughable insanity.And that is precisely why South Park is so beloved among so many people, especially college students.In the end, Parker and Stone have proved that nothing is too big or too powerful for a 22-minute cartoon to bring to its knees. Not even the self-proclaimed “God’s gift to music.” And that’s exactly how things ought to be.Scott Burns is a 19-year-old political science and business sophomore from Baton Rouge.–Contact Scott Burns at [email protected]