SATIRE

n. an obsolete kind of literary composition in which the vices and follies of the authors enemies were expounded with imperfect tenderness. in this country satire never had more than a sickly and uncertain existence, for the soul of it is wit, wherein we are dolefully deficient, the humor that we mistake for it, like all humor, being tolerant and sympathetic. moreover,although americans are " endowed by their creator" with abundant vice and folly, it is not generally known that these
are reprehensible qualities, wherefore the satirist is popularly regarded as a sour-spirited knave,and his every victims outcry for codefendants evokes a national assent.

(ambrose bierce)

PS: put that in your pipe and smoke it