Never changing but always falling

Back in mid-September, in the aftermath of Katrina, the BBC reported that:

The president's approval ratings have slumped to 40%, the lowest of his time in office.

Just over two weeks later, on October 6, the BBC reported that:

A Newsweek poll released on Saturday suggests that Mr Bush's overall approval rating has dropped to 40% as a result of his much criticised handling of Hurricane Katrina, as well as the ongoing problems in Iraq.

Then, just yesterday, the BBC reported again that on the back of the Miers nomination debacle:

Mr Bush's approval ratings have meanwhile been plummeting, and his apparent inability to push his choice through is thought likely to raise fresh concerns as to what he can achieve in his second term.

The most recent approval ratings from Fox, Pew, and Gallup? 41%, 40%, and 42%.

It would be difficult, of course, to argue that Bush’s ratings are good, but only in the world of BBC spin is it possible for an approval rating that has remained essentially unchanged (if not gone up marginally) over the last two months to be conitinually characterized as “dropping” and “plummeting”.