Somebody alert LA Times' Andrew Malcolm, Obama's approval rating just went up 4 points

I'm sure Laura Bush's former flak will want to type something up immediately and let all his readers know that Obama's approval rating jumped to 50 percent at Gallup on Sunday. That's up from 46 percent from just three days earlier and one of the biggest overnight increases that Gallup has measured in many months. (Obama's 'disapproval' number tumbled at the same time.)

After all, it was Malcolm who claimed that Obama's rating had “suddenly” “plunged” to 46 percent. Even though yes, that “plunge” was from 48 percent. i.e. A two point collapse. So OMG, now that Obama jumped four points, what adjective will Malcolm use to describe the surge? 'Exploded'? 'Sky rocketed'?

The sad truth is that most likely Malcolm won't write anything at all because in his role as a purely partisan mouthpiece, Malcolm only likes to write when Obama's ratings inch downward. And when they do, Malcolm makes stuff up and pretends they've “plunged.”

And in his most recent blog post, Malcolm was quite clear why Obama's ratings were down: Because American's hate the president's health care reform plan. Really? Then why, on the eve of the historic passage, did Obama's approval jump four points? I'd sure love to read Malcolm's insights on that topic.

Of course, Malcolm hasn't been alone among Beltway pundits obsessed with echoing the GOP's bogus talking point about Obama's “falling poll numbers.” As I noted last week, his approval ratings have pretty much remained unchanged since last September. But the press prefers to tell a different tale.

The sudden burst at Gallup with be interesting to watch. If Obama does see strong, across-the-board improvement at the polls in the wake of the health care passage, will the press finally start telling the truth about this issue?