Take its title character. Lil' George Bush is a pushy if none-too-swift lad making mischief with his pals from Beltway Elementary: Lil' Condi, Lil' Cheney and Lil' Rummy (pint-size versions of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld). Another thing: Lil' George resides in the White House.

This new Comedy Central cartoon show does take lil' liberties with the truth. For instance, Lil' Bush is set in the present, yet George H.W. (not current president George W.) Bush is the nation's chief executive. And though Lil' Cheney mutters in an indecipherable growl, his practice of biting off the heads of live chickens has no basis in real life.

On the premiere, Lil' George and his chums go to Iraq in hopes of tracking down some good news about the war to cheer up his dad for Father's Day.

But once they arrive, where will the kids look?

"Right here: Baghdad!" says Lil' George between explosions. "It's got 'Dad' right in it!"

The episode's other tale finds Lil' George, inexperienced with the opposite sex, betting his friends he can get a girl to kiss him. "What about me, Lil' George?" says Condi, who suffers from an unrequited crush on him. "Yeah," says Lil' George, as oblivious as always, "you can be in on the bet, too."

Created by Donick Cary, whose credits include writing for talk show host David Letterman and a stint on The Simpsons as writer-producer, Lil' Bush is "this fantastical Bush World bridging the two Bush presidencies, where anything can happen."

"Now that I've gotten inside Lil' George's head, I really like the guy," adds Cary. "He's got nuclear weapons and little-kid emotions!" Indeed, when Lil' George is left by Dad unsupervised in the Oval Office, he launches nukes at schoolmates Lil' Hillary (Clinton) and Lil' John Kerry.

Although Cary thinks D.C.'s political scene resembles a class of rowdy 10-year-olds, he contends the man who inspired Lil' George is better suited than most to a show like Lil' Bush.

"Somehow, this president that we have lends himself to thinking in a simplistic, cartoonish fashion," Cary says. "He's always been about sound bites, one-word answers, move ahead, act from the gut."