The Dept. of Agriculture, as well as the rest of the Obama administration, should have been taking notes in June when Andrew Breitbart and his criminal pal James O'Keefe, tried to get some U.S. Census workers in hot water after the duo posted some dubious, edited, gotcha videos on Breitbart's web site. (Sound familiar?)

Here's how the Census Bureau responded to Breitbart/O'Keefe online smear campaign [emphasis added]:

“Census Bureau policies and training are clear and require all employees to honestly submit accurate time records. Workers are instructed to report hours they work, which would include their time traveling to and from training. This is no different than the training session that Mr. Keefe attended in New Jersey, and during his previous employment with the Census Bureau last year. In his video, Mr. O'Keefe, an admitted criminal, does not disclose that he previously worked for the Census Bureau for nearly two months in 2009 without incident, allegation or complaint. That employment with us was well before his indictment and prior to his conviction of a federal crime last week. The Census Bureau obviously does not condone any falsifying of or tampering with time sheets by its employees. We are investigating the allegations in Mr. O'Keefe's selectively edited video and will take appropriate administrative action with staff as warranted.”

Think of all the drama that could have been avoided this week if people in power followed the Census Bureau's lead.