We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are not created equal.

What a difference that word makes. What an effect a single word can have on the meaning, reception of, and reaction to what someone says or writes. In the midst of the political campaign season, words and their meanings became all the more important as opposing political parties attack one another over the smallest slip-ups in a speech.

The most recent victim of this kind of attack is Missouri Rep. Todd Akin. The now infamous Rep. Akin, for those who don’t know, was vilified when he made a comment about “legitimate rape” and a woman’s ability to prevent pregnancy. A way, in his own words, “to shut that whole thing down.” Now, we all know he got the biology wrong. No reputable academic, practicing physician, or other medical professional agrees with Akin’s comments. There is, in fact, no way “to shut that whole thing down.”

But we already knew that.

What I don’t know, and what should befuddle and perhaps enrage the American public, are the outlandish attacks directed at Akin despite multiple apologies, a hundred-thousand dollar ad-buy explaining his major points, and the knowledge that Akin is human and that we all screw up.

Everyone can and should be mad at the Congressman. Perhaps he shouldn’t win the US Senate seat for which he’s running, though honestly, I don’t know why. Akin is a military veteran with years of experience in business. He has no mental issues. He is not a felon. He is at least 30 years old, a resident of Missouri, and has been a citizen for more than 9 years. (Akin, in fact, is a 65 year old Missourian raised in St. Louis who has represented his district in Congress for more than 10 years.) Akin is more than qualified to be a US Senator. He just suffered from a single occurrence of “foot-in-mouth disease.”

Seemingly, though, many American politicians suffer from this ailment. Recently, the vast majority of these individuals are Democrats. However, they hardly receive the same treatment from the media, and hardly experience the same kind of outrage over their own awful and outrageous comments.

Take for example Vice President Joe Biden. Since he was elected Vice President, Biden has committed some of the worst gaffes in recent memory, including but not limited to: breaking into an Indian accent while talking about call-center jobs, explaining to a crowd in Virginia that Obama will win North Carolina, and thanking Dr. Pepper (yes, the soda) for running Scott Community College in Davenport, Iowa. The President of the college, who he was trying to thank, is Dr. Theresa Paper. Now, all of these are forgivable, right? Nothing, save maybe the Indian accent thing, came close to the awful quality of Akin’s comments last month, right?

Well, good ol’ Joe Biden isn’t one to be outdone by the young guy from Missouri. Biden is king of the gaffe. So, campaigning in Virginia on August 17, Biden opened his mouth and inserted his foot yet again. “They’re [Republicans] going to put y’all back in chains.”

Biden said this to an audience that was about half white, half black, about 75 percent Democrat, and about 100 percent offended after his little remark. Later in the month Democrat superstar Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York said in regard to Biden, “Was he talking about slavery? You bet your ass he was…You bet your life it was stupid.” But beyond this outcry, and condemnation by the Romney campaign, Biden has received no consequence for his actions. No drop in poll numbers, no threats of removal from the ticket, not a negative article to be found in the New York Times, nothing.

But this is a common thing with Democrats. President Barack Obama said that small business owners don’t build their own businesses. (Someone else did that, right?) Earlier in the term, Obama lamented the task of working with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, America’s most vocal and committed supporter around the globe. And who can forget Nancy Pelosi’s “We have to pass it, to know what’s in it.”? A reference to the job-killing, trillion dollar law we fondly call Obamacare.

Democrats get a pretty blank check when it comes to their words. No one holds them accountable to say intelligent, or at the very least, sane, things. But when one Republican says something dumb, everybody pounces.

This isn’t coverage by a nonbiased media. This isn’t the heralded “Fourth Estate” of government – the one that protects and informs the people. This is a concerted effort by the liberal mainstream media to protect Democratic, progressive, and some might say anti-American candidates from being beaten by formidable, intelligent Republicans.

So, to my fellow Republicans, watch your mouth. The media will do whatever it can and will spin whatever you say to help the Democrats. We will win on the issues. To those on the other side of the aisle, continue doing what you’re doing. The media may not report the dumb things that come out of your mouth, but some of us are watching and we tell our friends. And trust me, my friends know why they shouldn’t vote for you.