It's the customer base. They selflessly bring prosperity. They are worth sheltering from the harshness of humans.Regrettably, this is what things have come to.
You don't like what someone is saying about you, and you have the stick... you cudgel them to death to silence them and anyone else vaguely thinking of speaking their mind. It is the sign of a thin skin and that you're probably doing something wrong but don't have enough of the moral high ground to take a stand and debate your case in a logical fashion.
It is the stance of an unprincipled bully.
Lou Figueroa
Every penny...
lol...