Publications may think twice about criticizing Minnesota – because they may feel the wrath of the indignant Minnesotan.

That's what happened this week, when Washington Post writer Christopher Ingraham published a story on the Post's "Wonkblog" that didn't make Minnesota look very good.

In fact, the Post declared Red Lake County, Minnesota, as the ugliest county in the United States. Six other Minnesota counties ranked in the top 10 for ugliest places to live. (The map was based on federal data that looked at climate and topography.)

And this ranking didn't go unnoticed. It was the latest in a series declarations that have annoyed Minnesotans near and far – remember "grapegate"? – and they weren't going to sit back and accept the ranking that challenged the state's beauty.

Within 15 minutes of Ingraham's story being published Monday, indignant Minnesotans appeared.

News of the ugly ranking spread. They started a petition. Minnesotans from all over began tweeting photos to refute the ugly claim, many using the hashtag #ShowMeYourUglyCounties to highlight the state's beauty. It prompted an

" target="_blank">indignant Minnesotan Twitter account. Even Sen. Al Franken chimed in.

By Wednesday, Ingraham extended an olive branch to Minnesota in a second post, in which he wrote: "Hell hath no fury like a Minnesotan scorned,"

" target="_blank">noting "Only Minnesotans have taken a public stand to defend their state's honor" even though other states also didn't fare well in the ranking.

So here are some of the best tweets we could find from those disgruntled Minnesotans: