And this illustrates the problem with being "shocking" just for the sake of being "shocking", and calling it entertainment. You can never stop ... once you've done something "edgy", it's no longer on the edge. If your whole stock in trade is "edginess", you have to keep outdoing yourself in the outrageousness department, or you're dead.
South Park isn't purely based on pushing the bounds of decency and civility; that's why they're still around.
Sooner or later, though, they'll jump the shark.
Howard Stern is empty shock value... South Park is admittedly shocking - but they're also saying something with it.
Actually, I kindof hate to see conservatives become too vocal in their praise of South Park, Right now, Matt and Trey slam mostly liberal ideas, because "it's more fun to bash them". If conservatives expect them to never touch one of their sacred cows (no inference to the current episode intended) they'll be disappointed and shown to be the fickle folk we/they are.
I think if there's one over-riding principle in South Park, it's that they don't want to be put in a box. If we try to call them our own, they'll fight it, and it won't be pretty (especially if they are right yet again) :~D