By now you've probably heard about the political payola scandal engulfing Official Black Conservative Armstrong Williams. Having taken $240K from Department of Education, he -- coincidentally, because he believes in it -- found himself talking up the No Child Left Behind Act. This, friends, is teaching by example. He spent today touring CNN, claiming he had really learned his lesson. And on the crippled "Crossfire," Paul Begala brought up the Bush administration's less figuratively Orwellian history:

BEGALA: The Bush administration has now on two occasions been cited by the Government Accountability Office for violating something called the Publicity and Propaganda Act, spending our taxpayers' money on propaganda, that is, putting out information, but not telling you that it's from the government. Now there's calls for this relationship to be investigated in the same way.

Don't you think that the administration has a problem when, on two prior occasions, they've been cited for violating the Publicity and Propaganda Act?

Replied Williams, "I. . . can easily sit here and criticize the administration." Of course, he's paid not to. Indeed, later, when Bob Novak wondered whether this incident might lead stations to drop Williams' syndicated talk show, he confirmed: "I think the marketplace should decide" the fate of his show. And why not? It worked for his political beliefs.

Education Dept. paid commentator to promote law [USAT]

Armstrong Williams on the Defensive [CNN]