Editor's note: While Sid Miller's office did not respond to our call seeking comment, his spokesman provided details about the post's removal to the Austin American-Statesman. This editorial, originally published 10/30, has been updated with that information.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller thinks he's a pretty funny guy.

So much so that he touts as one of the perks for following his public Facebook page the chance to read his regular "joke of the day."

The Sid Miller page's idea of a belly laugh Sunday: Have you heard the one about a depressed person calling a suicide hotline and getting an opportunity to enlist as a terrorist martyr?

That's a real knee-slapper. You can read the full text of this sad excuse for a joke here.

The bar for calling out the state's agriculture commissioner has to be a high one, otherwise a news organization would need to assign a writer to the Miller beat full-time. He and his staff keep his social-media spigot wide open, and the gusher of commentary regularly offends even the most reasonable people.

But settling on suicide — not to mention broad-brushing Pakistanis as terrorists — as fodder for humor crosses the line into mean-to-the-point-of-dangerous territory.

If depression and a prevention hotline are laughing matters to Miller and his staff, perhaps they have never known a person who has suffered mental illness. Nor spent any time with the family and friends of the thousands of Texans who commit suicide each year.

In 2015, the most recent year for which state suicide numbers are available, 3,403 of Miller's fellow Texans took their own lives. That's more than double the number killed by homicides, according to a June analysis from the University of Texas system and UT Health Northeast.

For those ages 15 to 24, suicide is the second-leading cause of death; for ages 15 to 64, taking one's own life was the fourth-leading cause of death.

Not only is suicide a serious topic, ridicule of those living with mental illness is a perfect example of what allows the perpetuation of the stigma around it.

As a newspaper that has devoted considerable editorial space to spreading the truth that diseases of the brain are no different than diseases of other parts of the body, we find it deeply disturbing that a state leader's social media equates this topic with humor.

A hat tip to our former colleague Bobby Blanchard, who now runs the Texas Tribune's social media operation and first spotted the Facebook post.

The item disappeared from the commissioner's page after Blanchard highlighted it. While Miller's office did not respond to our Monday morning call for comment, a spokesman later told the Austin American-Statesman that it was removed because "suicide is never funny. " The spokesman also said a staffer, not Miller, was responsible for the post.

Here's our suggestion to Miller and his team: Step away from the social media funny business and spend a few hours observing at a suicide call center. Or better yet, ride along with one of Travis County's mobile crisis outreach teams.

Then give some thought to how anyone could have thought the Oct. 29 post was a laughing matter.

What's your view?

Got an opinion about this issue? Send a letter to the editor, and you just might get published.