If you accept donations  from people for your political action committee (PAC), and then use those donations to buy a book that you wrote (thus earning yourself some royalties), wouldn’t that fit the definition of money laundering in the criminal sense?

ABC News reports that Sarah Palin used money from her PAC to purchase copies of her book Going Rogue: more than $60,000 worth to be more precise.

A lot of hay has been made about this, and most groups are drawing lines along partisan boundaries.

Personally, I’m no fan of Palin, and this strikes me as a bit underhanded. As the report indicates, other politicians have done similar things, including VP Joe Biden (who refused royalties on the books in question).

However, the books were intended as premiums for donors who contributed over $100 to Palin’s PAC. If you donated a c-note to her PAC with the understanding that you would be getting a copy of the book, and knowing that somebody had to pay for the book, were Palin supporters really hoodwinked?

That being said, would Palin supporters be happy to hear that they also helped foot the bill for her book tour, from which she stood to gain some serious lucre?

Maybe.