I don't think it's reading comprehension, per se. I think that many people are simply satire challenged.
The problem with satire with the rats, unless it is clearly marked satire at the top, middle and bottom, what was said or printed could be true.
If last week, one had published that Durbin compared Gitmo to the Nazis as satire, then Durbin said what he did this week, where did the satire stop?