Mark Block needs his own Verb

MARK BLOCK, v.

Pronunciation:  Brit. /mɑːk blɒk/ , U.S. /mɑrk blɒk/

Etymology:  Cognate with Old Frisian merkia   to notice, Middle Dutch marken   to put a mark on, notice, Old Saxon markon   to design, destine (also gimarkon   to direct, command, discern), Old High German marchōn   to limit, determine (German marken   to put a mark on (now rare), German regional (Tyrol) marchen   to set up a markstone), Old Icelandic marka   to draw the outline of, put a mark on, observe, heed, Old Swedish marka   (Swedish regional marka  ) to put a mark on < a Germanic verb derived from one of the bases of mark n.¹ Some senses of the English verb are probably directly from corresponding senses of the noun; sense 29 is perhaps reinforced by Old French marchier  march v.²

Etymology:  In sense 1, apparently < Middle English adoption of French bloc  , of same meaning; but in senses 17– 20 taken directly < block v.Old French bloc   is, according to Diez and Littré, < Old High German bloh   (Middle High German bloch  , mod.German block  ) in same sense (Middle Dutch bloc  , Dutch blok  , Middle Low German block  , Swedish block  , Danish blok  ), the origin of which is uncertain. Grimm and others identify it with Middle High German bloch  , Old High German biloh   (Middle Dutch beloc  , beloke  ) ‘closure, obstruction, shut place,’ referred to bi-lûkan  , < lûkan   to close, shut. Kluge considers it a distinct word, and possibly related farther back to balk  balk n.¹

Etymology: Joined together to represent the proper name of an American politician active between c.1980-2011.

I. To fail spectacularly.

1. trans.

a. To be utterly incapable of completing the required task. 

b. To make a fool of one's self in the process of failing to complete a task. 

c. To be exposed as a fraud amid the execution of a scam. 

2011 The campaign manager really Mark Blocked his boss when he appeared clueless on a nationally televised interview. 

* * * * * 

This should be the last straw. It won't be, but then again, I love watching a train wreck in progress:

Herman Cain campaign manager Mark Block, in an appearance with Sean Hannity on Fox News just now, insisted that a relative of the second woman to publicly accuse the candidate of sexual harassment in the 1990s works at POLITICO.

"Her son works at POLITICO," Block said of Karen Kraushaar, whose name POLITICO printed earlier today after other media outlets made her identity public.

"I've been hearing that all day - you've confirmed that now?" Hannity asked.

"We've confirmed that he does indeed work at POLITICO and that's his mother, yes," said Block.

Block appeared to be referring to former POLITICO reporter Josh Kraushaar, who left for another outlet, National Journal, in 2010.

Bonus fun fact: Josh Kraushaar isn't even related to the woman who settled with Cain in the 1990s.

Not that this should surprise anyone, but the fact that Hannity and his crack research team  didn't take a few minutes to pick up the phone and call either Politico and/or Josh Kraushaar -- something that Hannity himself claims to have "been hearing all day" is pretty extraordinary in term of journalism best practices. Not at all surprising for the kind of incit-ainment that goes on at FOX, but still pretty extraordinary.


MORE: I will settle for a "Mark Block Rule."