Media repeat anti-Soros propaganda by DeLay defenders

As ethics concerns surrounding House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) have mounted over the previous month, Republicans are pursuing an aggressive strategy to neutralize DeLay's critics by linking them to financier, philanthropist and political activist George Soros. Initiated by DeLay and other House Republicans and rapidly repeated by conservative commentators, references to Soros have become a common tactic for dismissing critics of DeLay and have now found their way into daily media coverage of the controversy, often with no indication of their GOP origins. This tactic creates the false perception that only liberal organizations are raising ethical questions about DeLay and that Soros' funding impugns the motives of watchdog groups or indicates a "liberal conspiracy" to get DeLay.