This period is identical in so many ways to the Carter years in the White House.

Americans were down on America during those years. They had suffered through a lousy economy, high unemployment. They were discouraged by high fuel prices. And inflation.

The President had little good to say about the country. He did not use the word “malaise”. But his depressing remarks in speeches and interviews made clear he felt America was slipping.

“The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways,” Carter told us. “It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul of our national will.  We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.”

Someone could have made a fortune marketing Jimmy Carter glasses – featuring the darkest of lenses.

Does any of this sound familiar? Pollsters tell us Americans are very much down on America these days.  We are suffering through a lousy economy, high unemployment. Many are discouraged by high fuel prices and inflation.