"Unlawful"

I'm trying not to post every little thing that annoys me about this year's election campaign (and there are many), but I've been reading various articles about Sarah Palin's abuse of power (like this one) and I'm just wondering... what the hell does "unlawful" actually mean, and why are we using this word?

Don't we normally call stuff that's against the law "illegal"? Why are we not calling what she did illegal? Is it a social faux-pas when referring to elected officials? Is it because that would put her in the same league as drunk drivers and armed robbers and terrorists? Is it because saying she did something "illegal" would make everybody wonder why she's not being thrown in jail as she should be? (Or at least kicked out of the governor's office and off the ballot for VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, for god's sake).

Sarah Palin broke the law, specifically one of Alaska's ethics laws. What she did was illegal, not "unlawful". And this is the first time that I can remember that there is a major candidate on the ballot in a national election who was actually officially found to have used her office for illegal purposes. It would be like Richard Nixon running for VP in 1976. Can you imagine? And some people are still planning to vote for this trollop!

I guess none of these people listened to their hero George Bush when he said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me... can't get fooled again."