More certain than death and taxes (to borrow an old cliché) is the political season. Inclined individuals and groups of individuals never ever stop plotting, jockeying, manipulating, conniving and trying to raise enough money, by hook or crook (to borrow another old cliché, but that's what political season is, a cliché) to propel them to an elected office of some kind. The biggest prize, of course, is the presidency of the United States. That season is beginning to heat up. And although it never really fades away, the actual campaign will launch in a matter of months.

After the historic election of Barack Obama the last time around, and the sudden rise to power of the Democrats, the big question is whether the Republicans will permit the pendulum to swing the other way or will they wind up getting Obama re-elected? Obama, of course, was elected the first time primarily because he was black. And he was a perfect front man for all the anti-American hatred represented by the ultra-liberal, left-wing of the Democratic Party.

Others, of course, attribute a good deal of competency to Obama, but we remain persuaded that his race, augmented with the fact that the dude can speak fairly well, made him a natural for the kook side of the Democratic Party. Although he had little to no qualification to be President, it wasn't difficult to persuade a guilt-ridden electorate inundated with political correctness to make an attempt to atone for the many sins of their fathers and put a black man in the White House so they could declare themselves so much smarter than everyone else. Granted, the electorate's decision was greatly motivated by the longtime scourge of Republican stealing and corruption, which doesn't seem to have abated in the least. More on that later.

Even though we voted for him, there was never any doubt in our mind that Mr. Obama and those he brought along to run our country, would self-destruct if left to rely on their own competencies. After all, being black (okay, half black) and a bona fide narcissist he was and is bound to view the world from the perspective of the oppressed who believe all their misery to be heaped upon them by the rich and powerful and that the only remedy is to take from the haves and redistribute to the have-nots. And that's exactly what's been happening. While not altogether Marxism, socialism, Islamism and/or communism, elements of all have been packaged and are driving the bus. Perhaps, in light of the terms being used around the world these days, it should be called “social democracy.” It has spread rapidly throughout South America and is now taking root in the Middle East, as ordinary denizens of these areas are taking to the streets and toppling the dictators and despots that have been running these countries for decades.

The Obama administration, in so many ways, is calling this “socialized democratization” in other parts of the world a good thing and, more importantly, the American electorate is buying into the mantra and may very well be setting the stage for what is to happen to the United States in 2012. More to the point, the Republicans seem hell-bent on making it happen every bit as much their policies of corporate greed and despotism, stealing and corruption helped to bring Obama about in the first place.

Now we don't have a clue as to whether “socialized democratization” has any good in it for the world; we're just observing and arguing that there are some interesting parallels between the United States and what is taking place in the more volatile parts of the world and it is likely to impact the coming presidential election here. In what is doomed to be an over-simplification from the outset, the only thing that seems to stand in the way of America becoming just another socialized democracy in the vein that much of South America has become already, and the Middle East is becoming rapidly, rather than the republic we've been, is the Republican Party. And there is little to no sign that they have a clue as to how to win back the White House.

The Republicans, for whatever reason, have decided that all they need to do to get back in power is to decry from the mountain tops that Obama's spending habits and clear plans to implement a massive redistribution of the nation's resources needs to be stopped. Wrong! That will not be enough. They must change their priorities and image. “Cut spending” has become their battle cry. But as we have already said in as convincing terms as possible in an earlier column that spending is not near as much the problem as the stealing. And make no mistake, there is a huge difference. Spending the electorate likes far more than any one likes to admit; stealing is what they abhor.

While the Republicans enjoyed a significant resurgence in the last mid-term election and took back control of the House, we doubt seriously it was the idea of Obama spending the nation into bankruptcy and the GOP's promise to cut spending were altogether what drove the electorate's decision. This, of course, is what the Republicans would have us to believe. But we do not. We think the mid-term table-turning was more the natural progression and result of the Obama Gang's performance, and that the Republican's would be well advised not to interfere too greatly with the self-destructive propensity of the Obama administration if they hope to win back power. That and by making some effort to convince the electorate that they have learned their lesson and are now ready to represent the people instead of their own self interests and those of their ilk. The GOP seems to be doing the exact opposite.

As they unleash their assault and seek their “spending cuts” at the expense of school teachers, education in general, collective bargaining rights of public sector employees, essential nutritional and health services to the poor, Obamacare, disease control, infant nutrition, clean water and the like while they protect the money pit rat holes of foreign aid packages, corporate welfare, agricultural subsidies, defense and many more Republican untouchables, the GOP is sending a clear message that with them a return to the old ways of Republican stealing is all but certain if they regain power.

If that remains the case and the GOP comes to the table in November with a candidate that promises only that, the American electorate, we feel certain, will hold its nose, give Obama a second term and make the demise of this republic a certainty. Just leave Obama alone and let him self-destruct and drag his multiculturalism and diversity into his own pit of ruination is what I would recommend. Else get prepared for the “socialized democratization” of the Republic of the United States of America. And Imam-type leadership in the White House.