Is it "flaunt" or "flout" -- or both?

flaunt, v.  to display ostentatiously or impudently, to show off.

flout, v.  to treat with contemptuous disregard;  to indulge in scornful behavior.

Example:  She flouted her father's rules by flaunting her new tattoo.

Karl Rove did both -- an ostentious display of his contemptuous disregard for the campaign finance regulations.   He will claim that he did nothing wrong -- which in itself is part of the contempt he is ostentatiously displaying.    There's a little taunting in there too.

The SuperPACs that were made possible by SCOTUS's Citizens United decision require that, in exchange for unlimited donations to political action committees, there can be no coordination with the campaign they support with their ads.

Karl Rove runs the chief Republican SuperPAC American Crossroads, which aims to raise an obscene amount of money to run ads that will support Romney's campaign, as well as other Republicans in congressional races.

All this flaunting and flouting?   It took place a couple of weekends ago.   The Romney campaign held a retreat for its high value donors ($50,000 a head) where they could rub shoulders with a Who's Who gaggle of the Republican party.

One of the Who's Who attendees was Karl Rove.   There was, of course, no coordinating anything about his ad campaign with anybody there.  He doesn't need to "coordinate."   Rove also gave a speech for the donors during the weekend at a place outside the retreat.   See . . .  they held it outside the place where the retreat was taking place;  and it wasn't listed in the agenda of activities of the retreat.    ergo:   it was perfectly legal.


But get this:  Rove's speech was arranged by Romney's son, Tagg Romney, and Tagg's business partner, Spencer Zwick -- who also happens to be the Romney campaign's chief fundraiser.    That doesn't prove anything either, I guess.   But it sure smells bad.

Campaign finance laws prohibit coordinating the SuperPac ad campaign with the campaign itself.   This is very clearly coordinating fund-raising efforts for both the campaign and the SuperPac.   Is that legal?


If that isn't actually breaking the law, they're at least flouting the law -- and flaunting the fact that they're flouting it.    Sort of like thumbing your nose, and saying nyah, nyah, nyah at the other side -- and at the election commission itself.

I think an investigation is in order -- and preferably a sanction and a huge penalty -- like about $10 million.

Ralph