Having fallen for some satire in exactly this manner over the years, I appreciate the admonition.
Sorry, Jim, I disagree.
The power of satire is in its ability to string the reader along until the absurdity of the premise is exposed. Good quality satire, such as that written by John Semens, often does just that.
To be effective satire should never be obvious. Labeling it as such caters to the superficial, uninformed reader. We are better than that and should have a higher standard of expectation for our readers.
More people get their news from MAD Magazine than any other news source LOL.