Thanks.
The article’s not entirely clear (because it’s not its focus), but it looks like there may be yet something ELSE Gramm did to screw over America in this whole process. I’d like to know more about this “energy swap:” Enron invented carbon credit trading. Did Wendy Gramm first issue a waiver from environmental regulations based on trading swaps?
Ever notice how corrupt, Southern politicians always are portrayed as having quite the long drawl? I always thought his was anti-red-state bias by the media, but there may be something to it.
The long drawl is partly the result of a parasite which formerly infected Deep Southerners. They’d remain intelligent, but their speech faculties were damaged. So whereas Northerners were known for taking a lot of words for saying not much, Southerners were forced to take the time to carefully consider their words. (I’ve never seen the original study; I learned it from a college-level immunology instructor who had studied at Tulane, so I’ve believed it, but can’t swear to it.)
But the point is that this problem with parasitic infections has long, long been eradicated. The drawl has been perpetuated simply because it’s how people expect Southern gentleman to talk. In other words, it’s almost always a deliberate affectation, a put-on.
Slick Willie didn’t use the drawl. He was aiming to come across as a good-ole-boy who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, so affected more of a hick accent.