I came to Washington as part of the Reagan Revolution. I was a Reagan appointee for most of his presidency, so I have a definite point of view about political matters.

With increasing frequency, people in Washington are saying that the Obama Administration is beginning to look and sound like the Carter Administration.

"In the early days of President Carter, no one laughed at him," a friend of mine who was in Washington during that period says. "Carter seemed sincere and he was a new face who spoke a lot about changing Washington and even some conservatives took a 'wait and see' attitude.

"As we got deeper into the Carter Administration actions replaced campaign words and people recognized that Carter and his appointees were in way over their heads. The more desperate they became to demonstrate some success – any success – the more they blamed America for everything. Finally, President Carter talked about the 'malaise' of the American people.

"That seemed to be the turning point for many people and the story about Carter tangling with a 'killer rabbit' and some other nonsensical spin could not distract the American people from the obvious conclusion – Jimmy Carter was probably a nice man and a decent campaigner, but he was a disaster as a policymaker and head of state. And the laughing began…

"Once he got to the White House, Carter had no idea what to do."

Those words echoed in my head this week as I watched Barack Obama desperately attempt to prolong his campaign so that he could avoid the harsh judgment which has followed many of his attempts at government. The pit into which they are dumping bailout money appears to be bottomless – a dark hole which echoes with the cries of "More! More!" from the car manufacturers, banks, newspapers and others. Every time, the begging hits a crescendo they back up the Treasury truck and dump another load of money into the darkest and loudest part of the pit.

And where is President Obama? He is somewhere holding a town meeting or shaking hands at a diner. I saw he did a town meeting in France – do they have diners there?

If they do somebody should warn those innocent people sipping their coffee that they are not safe from the campaign that never ends.

The North Koreans, with assistance from Iran, launch a long range missile. President Obama rents a town hall somewhere, powers up the teleprompters – let the town meeting begin. As long as he is talking he doesn't have to face the problem and actually do something about it.

It is as if he hopes that talk is a substitute for action and the enemies of freedom will run from all of the hot air.

But the quotes from President Obama talking about the problem of "arrogance" in America and referring to America as a nation of "citizens" with no particular religion was the closest thing to the Carter "malaise" dodge.

America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles by people who had a strong belief in God. There is no question that ours is and was always intended to be a religious nation.

And the "arrogance" charge is ludicrous. Somehow the acts of terror committed against innocent unarmed people in our country never get mentioned. Was it our "arrogance" which brought on the cowardly attacks in New York and at the Pentagon?

True, we are not a nation at war with Islam but that's only half the story. With the lack of any voices to the contrary, it looks like Islam is at war with us, Israel, Great Britain and other free countries. The silence of "moderate" Muslims is shocking. Radical Islam is at war with us from Afghanistan to Fairfax County, Virginia.

Like President Carter, President Obama has sent a signal to friend and foe alike that the light in the "shining city" is being extinguished.