Throughout history cartoonist have been taking on the world of politics. This has been especially true here in the United States. If you look back through newspapers over two hundred years old you will see many cartoons lambasting the political figures and issues of their day. Now that we are in the twenty first century print cartoons are still a vital and robust part of the political scene but animation is becoming much more popular. They are basically the same thing; using a simplistic venue to express complex and troubling issues. One of the leaders in political satire over the last few years has been the Comedy Central basic cable network. They may have started as a minor network that showed old comedy flicks and watered down stand up comedy acts but they have reinvented themselves with their original programming. One series that is closest to the old time editorial cartoons is ‘Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States’. It takes the current executive administration and their political opponents and looks at them as children. This is a bizarre alternate universe were George H.W. Bush is president and his son George is just a small child. All of the real George W. cronies are present also as children. On the surface it appears to be an animated sit-com about a bunch of very strange children but just a little underneath it is biting political and social satire. Admittedly this is not the strongest in the Comedy Central animated line up but it does deliver its message in no uncertain terms. It also has a distinct viewpoint which may not be fully appreciated by the portion of the population who support President George W. Bush. It is, however, silly, politically incorrect and funny. Since the current Bush administration is about to come to an end it looks like this series will end after only two seasons. The first is already available on DVD and is now followed by the second. Both are released by Comedy Central through their parent group Paramount.

In this universe the parents are the ones in political power. President Bush (voiced by Dave B. Mitchell) is in charge but at home Barbara manages their children Lil’ Georgie (voiced by Chris Parson) and his younger brother Jeb (Dave B. Mitchell). Jeb is usually shown as an almost feral child that has to be handled by Georgie who typically treats him more as a pet than a younger brother. He gets into trouble that usually results in an accident that would kill anyone else. Young Georgie is usually surrounded by his best friends; Lil’ Condie (voiced by Kari Wahlgren), Lil’ Rummy (voiced by Iggy Pop) and Lil’ Chaney (voiced by Donick Cary). Okay, it has been awhile since the real Donald Rumsfeld has been part of the Bush inner circle but just remember this is a cartoon. Condi has a big crush on Georgie but he is not ready to view girls that way. She is the overachiever of the group. Chaney is at times scary. He has been known to eat living flesh and drink the blood of animals. Rummy is the perpetual scapegoat even for the adults.

The republicans are not the only ones made fun of in this series. The Lil’ democrats are there in force. Lil’ Hillary (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) is the girlfriend of Lil’ Bill (voiced by Chris Parson) and likes to take on liberal causes for fun. Then there is Lil’ Barack Obama (voiced by Tim Meadows) who is extremely liberal and the opponent of the Lil’ republicans. Various other politicians and world figures come and go through the series such as Lil' Karl Rove (voiced by Kevin Federline). This season does include all the major players on the world scene today. All of the personality traits shown by the children are just exaggerations of how the actual person is generally seen by the public. The general methodology here is reductio de adsurbum taking these traits to extreme levels. It is a solid format especially suited for a parody such as this one. At times the humor goes a little too far but we do still have freedom of speech in this country.

The very first scene demonstrates just how far the writers will go to make an abusive point. Lil’ Bush announces that he has something to tell the nation. He is endorsing John McCain for president because they are having sex. What follows is a graphic use of photo shop to place the cartoon Bush and McCain’s head on various bodies in intimate poses. Just as a little point of fact here this is an uncensored DVD. As the episode gets started for real Georgie and the gang is giving Lil’ Al Gore (voiced by Chris Parson) a swirlly. Lil’ al just hopes it is a low flow toilet. They were caught on film by Lil’ Wolf Blitzer and the footage shown on the Situation Home Room segment of the Lil’ Lou Dobbs on the Beltaway Elementary School news. St. Patrick's Day is almost there and the gang is worried that the Lil’ Dems will ruin it with their liberal ideals about tolerance. As punishment for their prank their teacher makes the gang work with Lil’ Hillary on the parade float committee. The Dems want to include everyone including little people and gays. This is too much for the gang so Georgie has to come up with an idea. Georgie decides to have his own parade and exclude anyone he dislikes. The gang is reluctant since he has a lot of plans to get into trouble but no plans to get out. In desperation they turn to Lil’ Rove.

All of the episodes are pretty much long the same lines. Some the topics were taken from the current events so the satire has lost some of its edge at this point. One such case is when Georgie and the cronies get in trouble Poppa Bush sends them down to New Orleans to help in the post Katrina reconstruction. They wind up stealing a military vehicle and break a levee flooding the city. In another episode Lil’ Bill throws a ‘rainbow party’ which upsets momma Bush. She decides that Georgie needs a purity ring so in an elaborate ceremony they exchange rings. Georgie decides that his father is a better match so he now wants a same sex purity wedding.

For the DVD Paramount has included all the second season episodes plus a selection of extras. These include something that is becoming a regular thing with Comedy Central called quickies. These are little one off bits from the other original series on the network. There are also commentary tracks on selected episodes and a music video with Georgie and the gang. This is fun albeit date material.