I don't know, MLD. I think it's better for me to not go off on them. It then remains their problem. In the long run I feel better about myself for not stooping to their level. Some people just like to see other people squirm. I don't see that as an admirable trait.
I left my last job because the owner was one of those and I just couldn't deal with her any more. At the end just as I was leaving, I asked her, "Are you happy now?" I mean, that was childish of me and I didn't accomplish anything by it - but I had tried other methods of getting her to back down, including talking to my supervisor and the co-owner. People are who they are. She was a really angry fearful person. Maybe that comes with the territory when you own a business that has struggled for 20 years.
Many people got into it with her - I heard them. Several people quit within a year because of her.