Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass has given voice to what many are asking about Barack Obama.

Is this vacation in ritzy Martha's Vineyard while the nation frets over the economy Obama's "Killer Rabbit" moment?

"I think it's a little too early yet for the president to be attacked by a rabbit," cautioned a veteran Chicago Democrat wise in the ways of Obama. "But it's close. Real close."

Anyone who thinks Obama is safe from a rabbit attack has forgotten what happened to President Jimmy Carter In 1979. Carter was attacked by a swimming rabbit, and the subsequent "Killer Rabbit" stories helped destroy his presidency. It led to the election of Republican Ronald Reagan in a landslide and an unprecedented economic revival.

There are eerie similarities. Like Obama, Carter was at that point where he was constantly viewed as weak and ineffectual. His fellow Democrats had lost patience with him. Liberal writers who once fawned on him had turned against him.

And like Obama, Carter foolishly left the White House for a "vacation." Carter went home to Georgia for some fishing. Once his canoe hit the water of a pond, a terrible thing happened. A rabbit swam near with anger in its eyes.

The White House compounded the mistake by not releasing a photo of the event, while acknowledging the existence of such a picture. This gave editorial pages free reign to imagine what the encounter with the rabbit might have looked like, using cartoons to absolutely destroy what was left of Carter's credibility.

Kass's fellow columnist at the Trib, Steve Chapman, points out that if the economy wasn't so bad, Obama wouldn't look half as weak and ineffective. I don't know about that. Much of what Chapman lists as Obama accomplishments are either misunderstood by the public (FinReg) or hated by the voters (Obamacare). While it's true that if the economy were humming along and the jobless rate was going down, Obama would look much better for re-election, you have to have policies in place that would lead to that happy conclusion. Obama's policies never had a chance of working because they weren't grounded in reality. Ergo, Obama, through his own devices, is probably destined to be a one term president.