Delay in python startup.

[Tobiah]

I don't have a lot of information, so here goes a shot in
the dark.  One day I started experiencing a delay when
starting python.  I'm on Ubuntu 16.04.  It takes three
seconds to get a prompt when I type 'python' on the command
line (Python 2.7.12).  When I run a script that imports
packages, it takes longer, up to 17 seconds just to do
the imports.  Python3 is not affected, and is snappy as
expected.

That's all I know.  I'm hoping someone else has seen this.
I'm about ready to wipe the drive and upgrade to 18.04.