Not all bullies are in schoolyards these days—quite a few have graduated to the executive suites of Corporate America.

Take Charles and David Koch, multi-billionaire brothers whose lives of privilege and bloated sense of entitlement have turned them into such spoiled brats that they can’t take a joke.

Last December, the Kochs’ oil operations became the object of a spoof by tricksters called Youth for Climate Truth. Not only is Koch Industries Inc. a notorious polluter, but the brothers have recently been exposed as longtime, secret funders of various right-wing front groups trying to debunk climate change.

The young folks made fun of all this by issuing a fake news release on what appeared to be Koch Industries letterhead. The release said the Kochsters had seen the light on global warming and would be strong environmental advocates. A pretty harmless joke.

The grumpy billionaires not only failed to laugh, but also resorted to bullying. They’ve unleashed a 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 $10 phone bill! What the Kochs 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 Kochs, these lawyers file

“frivolous” lawsuits.

Find more information on Jim Hightower’s work—and subscribe to his award-winning monthly newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown—at www.jimhightower.com