Should Professors Know the English Language?

Rush made a big deal today out of a former Harvard and now Princeton professor of African-American studies, who said "surcame" when he meant "succumb." (Truth to tell, if the transcript is accurate, he didn't speak very grammatically at all..but it's easier to write grammatically than to speak grammatically when you're in an interview type situation.

Nevertheless, some of Obama's base, incuding African Americans, are upset with him because he hasn't gotten far enough. You've got to find this amusing. Republicans think he's gone too far and is an out-and-out socialists, the out-and-out Socialists think he's just a wimp. This despite all the Executive Orders Obama has signed in his first few months in office...

RUSH: Cornel West is a professor of what? (interruption) Well, African-American studies, yeah, but he's professor of pretty much everything. He used to be a Harvard. Something happened there. He's now at Princeton, and he was on television yesterday afternoon and interviewed. We have two sound bites. Question: "Where was this country two years ago when President Obama took office, and in your estimation, where have we moved to today, professor?"

WEST: Two years later, we have missed the opportunity, unfortunately. We didn't get the kind of leadership that we should. The president didn't have enough backbone. He became too milquetoast. He would not fight big business, would not fight big banks. He actually surcame too easily to big business and big banks -- and, of course, the obstructionism on the right was helping push him to the center; and now, of course, he's being pushed even more to the center, which means we...are...in...deep trouble.

RUSH: (laughing) "We are in deep trouble." (laughing) Obama is sworn to destroy all of these elements of our economy as he can, Cornel West. They're just not happy. It hasn't happened soon enough -- and you know what "surcame" is, that's right. It's in the transcript. It's what he said. He said, "He actually surcame too easily to big business, big banks..." Somebody look that up. (sigh) Just do me a favor, look it up in there. It's s-u-r-c-a-m-e. Look it up in the Urban Dictionary before we go off on this. "He actually surcame too easily." I think that's what he meant was "succumb," but "surcame," maybe that's what he thinks is "succumbed." I don't know. (interruption) The past tense of succumbed "surcame"? (interruption)

Well, yeah, that's what it would be: Surcome. But that's s-u-c-c-u-m-b, there is no s-u-c-c-a-m-b. (interruption) No, don't ask Mario Cuomo. Ask Jesse Jackson, he might know. Al Sharpton. "He surcame too easily..." We'll find it. It's gotta be a word. Look, he's a professor at Princeton and used to be at Harvard. There's gotta be definition of it. Look, we don't know everything here, and before we go off too deep on this, somebody look it up in the Urban Dictionary or whatever dictionary you can find it if it exists out there somewhere. Surcame: S-u-r-c-a-m-e. "He would not fight the banks. He actually surcame too easily to big business, big banks," and so that prompted the interviewer on television to say, "You sound disappointed in your president."

WEST: I'm disappointed with my dear brother Barack Obama. I did 65 events for him. I wanted, in fact, to inaugurate a new era in which working people are at the center. When you look at his economic team you saw those coming out of Wall Street, tied to corporate America. What about workers? Where's the jobs program? Bill Clinton became a masterful opportunist in triangulating, trying to steal the thunder from Republicans and actually did tremendous. Will Barack Obama be a Clinton and do damage or will he be an FDR or a Lincoln, as he said he would, and stand up for working people and poor people?

RUSH: Hmm. Time will tell, Cornel. We'll keep a sharp eye out for you and we'll let you know since you're so depressed about this.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: By the way, folks, during our obscene profit time-out, we conducted an exhaustive search, and we cannot find the word "surcame" in any dictionary, not even the Urban Dictionary. Obviously Professor West is breaking new ground here in the English language as well as in all of his other fields. He has a Ph.D. from Princeton with a doctoral thesis entitled "The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought." So we'll see if we can find, somewhere in Marxist literature, "surcame." If it's anywhere, it will be there.