.Infuriating a good many Texans, Keith Olbermann took a broad swipe at the Lone Star State. "A mind may be a terrible thing to waste," smirked Olbermann. "But if you waste 15 million of them, apparently you get Texas." He was referring to a recent University of Texas poll that found 60 percent of Texans "either believe humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time or are not sure." Throwing in a hint of social Darwinism, he said "Ultimately, Texas may not have to secede from the union. It may just collectively drop off like a vestigial tail":
Olbermann's broadcast set off a wave of Texan outrage across the Web. Among the heaps of "don't mess with Texas" sentiment, one Texan commenter said that insulting the second most-populous state was simply bad business:
Media people need to build and hold the largest audience possible. It appears that Mr. Olberman is not aware of the economics of commercial broadcasting.
Of course, Texas isn't a monolith. On the same message board another Texan sided with Olbermann:
I have to agree with him...we're about to re-elect [Governor Rick] Perry a SECOND TIME, after he made it more than clear that he intends to sell off control of our highways to private companies for tolling (in some cases, foreign-owned companies). He even attempted to put toll booths on some of our existing freeways....Anyway, Keith wins on this one, in my book.