Satire and mocking have been staples of liberalism from the beginning.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

I wonder how many "liberals" on this board were offended by reading Voltaire in high school and college?

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. Or Jonathan Swift? Now that is a modest proposal.

[treestar]

2. Nobody likes it

I see people complain here when they are mocked by other people here - how dare you mock us for protecting whistleblowers, our freedoms from being spied on, etc.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

3. The beauty is, nobody has to like it.

...

[kcr]

4. Satire doesn't mean merely offensive

I've had a different takeway from all this and wonder if too many don't understand what satire actually is.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

5. Part of satire is ridicule.

Whether it's "offensive" or not varies by the person. Le Fanatisme ou Mahomet could be taken as very "offensive", that doesn't make it any less poignant.

[kcr]

6. Yes, but ridicule in and of itself doesn't mean satire

I think to a lot of people, satire=mockery they like and approve of.