Not all of the bullies are in schoolyards these days – quite a few have graduated to the executive suites of Corporate America.
Take Charles and David Koch, two multi-billionaire brothers whose life of privilege and bloated sense of entitlement have turned them into such spoiled brats that they can’t even take a joke. Last December, the Kochs’ oil operations became the object of a spoof by a merry band of tricksters called Youth for Climate Truth. Not only is Koch Industries a notorious polluter and spewer of global warming gasses, but the brothers have recently been exposed as longtime secret funders of various right-wing front groups trying to debunk the very existence of climate change.
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The young folks made fun of this by issuing a fake news release on what appeared to be Koch Industries letterhead. It said, in essence, that the Kochsters had seen the light on global warming and henceforth would be strong environmental advocates. A pretty harmless joke.
The grumpy billionaires, however, not only failed to laugh, but they quickly resorted to bullying. They’ve unleashed a snarling pack of lawyers to demand that the identities of those who produced the parody be given to the Kochs so they can sue them for damages. What damages? The lawsuit says the brothers want reimbursement for “costs associated with spending time and money to respond to inquiries about the fake release.”
Good grief – Charles and David are two of the 10 richest people in America, and they’re whining about a ten dollar phone bill! What the Kochs really are trying to do, of course, is to bully their critics – make fun of us, they’re saying, and we’ll bury you in legal bills.
By the way, these billionaire bullies have also financed front groups that attack public interest lawyers, Why? Because, say the the Kochs, These lawyers file “frivolous” lawsuits!
“A Conglomerate’s Tack To Challenge a Parody,” The New York Times, February 14, 2011.
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