A Southern Accent Is A Sign Of Intelligence

Since Rick Perry threw his had into the Presidential race a couple of weeks ago I have heard a number of "educated" commentators making fun of the way he speaks.  Perry, being from Texas, speaks differently than we do in South Carolina, but it is still a Southern accent.  I am tired of people prejudging us Southerners by the way we speak.  Many people across the nation, when they hear a Southern accent think "ignorant" or "stupid."  I would like to make the argument that we Southerners are, in fact, smarter than those from North of the Mason-Dixon line.
In the last 50 years or so, the majority of the men elected to the office of the Presidency have been Southern.  LBJ and the Bush's were from Texas, Carter from Georgia and Bill Clinton from Arkansas.  Even though Reagan was from California, he lived on the Rancho del Cielo and had more "good ole boy" in him than most.  That means that most of the country for the past 50 years have entrusted the governing of this nation the majority of the time to a Southerner.
The South has also contributed such talent as Tennessee Williams and Lewis Grizzard to the world of literature, Forest Whitaker and Reese Witherspoon to the world of acting, and Elvis Presley and B.B. King to the world of music.  This is just to name a few.  Just think of Dr. King making his "I Have A Dream" speech with a Northern brogue - it just doesn't have the same meaning does it?
One of the reasons I think that we Southerners are so smart is we spend more time and effort on things that actually matter and less on the way we speak.  In my opinion, Yankees put way too much effort into the simple act of talking.  For instance, my Northern brothers and sisters pronounce the sweet liquid used on pancakes and waffles as "seer-up."  How do we Southerners pronounce it - "sirp".  That is just one example.  Just think how much time and effort we save my dropping the occasional syllable from a word or adding a syllable or two to a word to add emphasis without having to say another whole word.
I would like to change the way people think of people with a Southern accent.  A lot of broadcasters from different parts of the country go to school to lose their accent and learn to speak "Standard English" in hopes of making themselves sound more intelligent.  I would propose if they really want to sound intelligent they should learn to speak with a Southern accent.  On second thought, that is not a good idea.  You have to be born with a Southern accent in order to speak it properly.  Think about it, most of the time when a Northern actor attempts a Southern accent they sound more mentally handicapped than Southern.
In closing, I would just like to ask my Northern friends to please not judge us by the way we speak.  Think of all the contributions we have made to society.  Y'all must not hate us too much because y'all fought a war a few years ago to keep us part of your Union.  I'll make a deal with you, if you will stop making fun of the way we speak and assume that we are less intelligent, I'll try to do the same for you.  After all, we are all Americans.