South Park really gets some hyperbole these days. I've almost watched every season, starting from being young and catching it on late night TV. Every season has arse blasted multiple things, from religion, to politics, to social beliefs, to music, to games, to culture, to good old toilet humour that has no reason to exist other than shock.
It's funny each time watching complete silence from some camps when they're not in the spotlight whilst it's the religious camp saying South Park is the 2nd coming of Satan, then they're quiet and it's someone politically getting wound up, then they're quiet and it's someone who's a music/sports/games fan who's in the spotlight getting wound up. That is South Park. It's often a litmus test for can the subject of the jokes handle it and move on accepting it's a cartoon TV show, not a University course. This doesn't mean you cannot critique TV shows/humour, but try and do so in a grounded way, not reaching for the sun.
Ultimately, if you do not like seeing yourself or your beliefs as the source of a joke, you stop watching South Park and have nothing to do with it. Writing articles that are border-lining on insane hyperbole whilst thinking this is a neat and easy way to blame all the ills of the world on a TV show is, in my opinion, a carelessly researched stance. It is, however, okay to laugh at times, even around serious things. No one sits down to watch South Park to honestly expect an education, just as you do not attend a stand-up show to get an education. It'll never be easy to prove this, but I think it's a safe bet countless people who act online like they're above all forms of humour and only deal in sanitised states of purity, often, at home, behind closed doors and in private kick back and laugh at some jokes. I refuse to believe anyone can truly go through life without ever laughing or finding it funny to hear some of the on the line jokes. What happens with many online is they feel pressure and an ever increasing need, never, absolutely never, to show that they're human and can both be progressive and have a laugh/bit of fun around serious topics. If you do not act super serious and morally on point 24/7 you're instantly denigrated to someone who is problematic. Such a stressful and ever increasingly unrealistic way to live your life. This has nothing to do with anyone being truly repugnant online before anyone jumps on that statement, but as I said earlier a normal everyday person being able to understand true humour from serious dialogue and being able to laugh every now and then. Even if it's at their own expense.
PC Principal and the Donald Trump election things being what the AVClub almost seem to be solely focussing on. With the usual throwing in of "alt-right" to try and get it to stick around South Park/Matt and Trey. About 50% of the article I'd say. This was 2 seasons. People weren't raised on 2 seasons. There are 18 seasons before these 2. If we ever reach season 30 people will still be hung up on these 2 seasons... And trying desperately to link the_donald if it hasn't been deleted to South Park. Let's not put some onus on the parents, extended family, friends and any failings of education systems for some of the behaviour of youth turning into adults, but as usual, video games, TV Shows, rap artists and so on.