I had amoebic dysentery once and it is horrible to try to kill. ...You have to take a nasty drug that causes all sorts of nasty side effects. And it stays in your system until you kill it.
The role of satire is to ridicule or criticize those vices in the society, which the writer considers a threat to civilization. The writer considers it his obligation to expose these vices for the betterment of humanity. Therefore, the function of satire is not to make others laugh at persons or ideas they make fun of.
Satire attacks two things : power, and human stupidity. Ergo : a satirical tone makes a powerful person seem less important, or it mocks a person's stupidity. Basically, satire is refusing to respect silly ideas, and sometimes the person(s) who propagates silly ideas. Satirists don't typically attack weak enemies though.