Satire As (Non-Consensual) Surgery

As a man can  feel quite healthy, and still have a mortal illness, so with the body politic and so with our moral and spiritual life.  Satire is best conducted like surgery in the Ancient Roman manner, without anesthetic, cutting deep into the struggling patient to excise the corrupted part.  Only when the patient sees the great stinking glob pulled from his entrails will he thank us; until then, he will protest that he felt fine, and does not need our help.  Now,  you could say that non-consensual surgery is, like torture, a national disgrace and a sinful act in its own right, since it violates all norms of decency, respect for persons, and our civil rights. To which I see fit to respond: We are at War with Evil. In such a War, we must enhance the steps we to restore the moral health of  body politic and those who lead us. Dungeons are here to stay, whether those of Homeland Security or the Public Satirist.  To separate good from evil, or truth from falsity, takes the steady hand of a heart surgeon,  since corruption conceals itself in every human heart.  Nor am I exempt. Not a day goes by that I do not rue the pleasure I take in inflicting pain. But then again, who can blame me for enjoying my profession? I am doing this for your own good.